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I Have a Friend Like Jaclyn in ‘The White Lotus’
Female friendship is complicated
In episode five of season three of Max’s The White Lotus, a lot of stuff went down. In the show there is a friend group of three women on a girl’s trip. One of them, Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) is used to being the center of attention. A successful actress married to a younger man, she seems to have it all.
She teases the single friend in the group Laurie (Carrie Coon) throughout their stay that she should be putting herself out there, pushing her towards the hot, younger wellness guru Valentin who works at the resort.
They all go out dancing, and Laurie has a blast on the dance floor with Valentin. Jaclyn seems rattled by this and then shows how much she has still “got it” in a bump and grind display with Valentin’s friends.
They invite the men back to their villa for a party, where everyone lets loose. After the party Jaclyn, feeling vulnerable about the state of her marriage, decides to hook up with Valentin behind Laurie’s back.
It’s easy to condemn her breaking girl code in this way, but I know from personal experience how complicated some female friendships can be.
When I moved to a new high school in a new state my freshman year, I knew not a soul. I sat by myself the first…
