‘The White Lotus’: The Significance of Tanya’s Obsession with Monica Vitti
In The White Lotus: Sicily Episode 2 on HBO, Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) tells her husband, Greg (Jon Gries), that her “Italian Dream” is to become Monica Vitti. Greg makes her dream come true before telling her he’s leaving Sicily the next day for work in Denver, Colorado. Find out the strange connections and significance of Tanya’s obsession with Monica Vitti.
‘The White Lotus: Sicily’ Episode 2, ‘Italian Dream’: Monica Vitti
In the second episode of The White Lotus: Sicily, Greg wants Tanya to have a perfect day.
“My fantasy day in Italy is, well first, I want to look just like Monica Vitti and then this man in a very slim fitting suit, he comes over and he lights my cigarette and it tastes really good,” Tanya begins. “Then he takes me for a drive on his Vespa. Then at sunset, we go down very close to the sea to one of those really romantic spots. Then we drink lots of apéritif and we eat big plates of pasta with giant clams. We’re just really chic and happy.”
Greg complies with Tanya’s wishes, despite the resort manager Valentina’s (Sabrina Impacciatore) dismay. The couple poses for photos with the scooter before they tour Sicily. However, after their wonderful day, Greg shatters Tanya’s happiness with the news that he’s leaving in the morning. When Tanya asks him not to go, Greg reminds her that he can’t afford to quit his job because he signed a prenup. Then he speaks to someone he loves in the middle of the night.
“Yeah, she’s clueless as usual,” Greg tells the unknown caller. “I’ll be home tomorrow. I’ll give you a call when I get in. Yeah, I love you too.”
‘The White Lotus: Sicily’: Who is Monica Vitti, and why does Tanya choose her for the ‘Italian Dream’?
Monica Vitti was an Italian actor known as the “Queen of Italian cinema. She won five David di Donatello Awards, seven Italian Golden Globes, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award. Vitti was known for starring in Michelangelo Antonioni’s films in the 1960s.
Vitti’s breakout role was in the International film L’Avventura (The Adventure). In Tanya’s Italian Dream, she became Monica Vitti in L’Avventura. Antonioni directed the drama and filmed it in Rome, the Aeolian Islands, and Sicily. It is about the search for a young woman, Anna (Lea Massari), who goes missing during a boating trip in the Mediterranean. The woman’s lover, Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), becomes infatuated with her best friend, Claudia (Monica Vitti), while they search for Anna.
Before Anna went missing, she complained to Sandro that she was unhappy with his long business trips, and he didn’t seem to care. Tanya wants to become Monica Vitti in The White Lotus: Sicily; however, she’s more like Anna than Vitti’s character, Claudia.
In the end, Sandro finds another woman to replace Claudia when they check into the same resort as Tanya and Greg in The White Lotus: Sicily — San Domenico Palace Hotel. The terrace that Greg stands on while making his secret phone call is the same one that Vitti stands on in the final scene of L’ Avventura.
Is Greg cheating on Tanya in ‘The White Lotus: Sicily’?
The underlying theme of The White Lotus: Sicily is infidelity, but we don’t know yet whether Greg is cheating on Tanya. His phone conversation sounds like he’s going home to his wife or lover. However, it could be a relative or someone he loves platonically.
The addition of the film that Tanya attempted to recreate by becoming Monica Vitti only points more toward cheating. Does Greg have a wife and kids at home, like the story behind the Testa di Moro statues all over the resort? He could!
The other interesting comment from Greg in episode 2 was when he complained about the prenup that Tanya made him sign. Is he only with her to attempt to get some of her money? It certainly sounds like it.
When did Monica Vitti die?
When Tanya insists she is Monica Vitti in The White Lotus: Sicily, Valentina informs her that the Italian actor is dead. Monica Vitti died on Feb. 2, 2022, at the age of 90, according to the BBC. It’s another interesting choice that creator and director Mike White chose to include Vitti in the subplot of the HBO series the same year that she died.
The White Lotus: Sicily airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO until the season finale on Dec. 11, 2022.
