Jia Tolentino

There's no chance he remembers her, which I hope she is to her advantage.

There's no chance he remembers her, which I hope she is to her advantage.

Those three actors, when they are doing, having fun, but primarily, like, in a way that's like I'm performing a woman on vacation having fun.

Those three actors, when they are doing, having fun, but primarily, like, in a way that's like I'm performing a woman on vacation having fun.

They're so profoundly self-conscious when they're around each other. And then the way it totally collapses and changes as soon as one of them leaves the room. It's just, it's amazing. It's amazing stuff.

They're so profoundly self-conscious when they're around each other. And then the way it totally collapses and changes as soon as one of them leaves the room. It's just, it's amazing. It's amazing stuff.

Right.

Right.

Well, and they make it clear in almost everything the parents say that the primary sort of locus for them and like what is a good family is the sort of successful performance and edifice, right?

Well, and they make it clear in almost everything the parents say that the primary sort of locus for them and like what is a good family is the sort of successful performance and edifice, right?

It's like you have to not basically like you've got this beautiful facade, like don't let it slip. Leslie Bibb, she has that line where she's like, Well, you know what they say, the bigger the front, the bigger the back or whatever. Yeah, right. You know, and it's like – and this is an operative line for everyone but especially that family. It's like they're – it is so core to their identity.

It's like you have to not basically like you've got this beautiful facade, like don't let it slip. Leslie Bibb, she has that line where she's like, Well, you know what they say, the bigger the front, the bigger the back or whatever. Yeah, right. You know, and it's like – and this is an operative line for everyone but especially that family. It's like they're – it is so core to their identity.

You feel that these children have heard since they were like little kids in perfect Christmas outfits posing for their perfect Christmas picture in front of a giant, you know, tree at a country club that like – The virtue exists in the performance of that virtue. Like there is no sense of the internal unless it is what you're projecting.

You feel that these children have heard since they were like little kids in perfect Christmas outfits posing for their perfect Christmas picture in front of a giant, you know, tree at a country club that like – The virtue exists in the performance of that virtue. Like there is no sense of the internal unless it is what you're projecting.

Right. And I think that here there will be this sort of reinvention sort of recurrence thing that will be happening that's sort of thematically consistent with the setting and Buddhism and whatever. And it's like Rick is, you know, he is... on his second, third, fourth iteration of a life, it feels like.

Right. And I think that here there will be this sort of reinvention sort of recurrence thing that will be happening that's sort of thematically consistent with the setting and Buddhism and whatever. And it's like Rick is, you know, he is... on his second, third, fourth iteration of a life, it feels like.

There's that moment where he and Greg, who's still going by Gary, Tanya's Greg, it's like they talk about doing this and that, and it's like every fucking white American is here for having done this and that.

There's that moment where he and Greg, who's still going by Gary, Tanya's Greg, it's like they talk about doing this and that, and it's like every fucking white American is here for having done this and that.

Yeah, exactly. And so it's like, quote unquote, Gary is trying to leave his life behind. Rick is trying to either leave something behind or step into a new version of himself. I feel like Piper is doing that. The Ratliff dad is trying to, you know, take the $10 million, the mere $10 million he got out of whatever –

Yeah, exactly. And so it's like, quote unquote, Gary is trying to leave his life behind. Rick is trying to either leave something behind or step into a new version of himself. I feel like Piper is doing that. The Ratliff dad is trying to, you know, take the $10 million, the mere $10 million he got out of whatever –