Livin’ like Vitti: Why we really want to eat spaghetti in Italy
Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid on the set of The White Lotus, 2022 © HBO
Think about some of the places you’ve really wanted to travel to. Now think about why.
Is it Paris? It’s probably not to see the Mona Lisa. But it might be to drink Champagne and dance in glittering ballrooms with your very own Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman, à la Casablanca. Or—depending on your age—it might be to walk across the Pont des Arts and hear those magic words… “Carrie, you’re the one”.
Stories are a huge part of why we travel
They transport us, eliciting a deep longing in our hearts not to walk where the characters walked or eat what they ate, but to feel as loved/mysterious/cool/sophisticated/happy as they were.
As for me? It was London, and Notting Hill.
Ever since my mum sat down with an approximately 8-year-old Jess and introduced her to Julia, Hugh and the film’s collection of curious but oh-so-loveable supporting characters, I was moving to London.
It wasn’t to see Big Ben, it wasn’t to go shopping on Portobello Road, and it wasn’t to sink pints at the pub (though plenty of that I did).
It was to find my own cast of kind, funny, and somewhat self-deprecating characters and feel as welcomed, adored and loved as Julia. It was to break into a park at midnight with my own Hugh as ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ plays out of nowhere. It was to be Julia.
Two very happy SATC fans giving our best Carrie on the Pont des Arts—aka the love lock bridge, aka the SATC bridge—in Paris, 2018. © My mum’s personal photo album.
I don’t think I was the only one who fell under Julia’s spell. © Shutterstock
Making movie magic relatable
The English (and probably more specifically, Richard Curtis) are unparalleled in their ability to create ‘fantasies’ that imitate real life; that find the magic in the mundane. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Notting Hill and as a result, London.
You could imagine yourself sitting at that dinner table with its eclectic, perfectly imperfect mix of characters. Someone like Hugh (kind, bumbling, wears goggles to the cinema when he can’t find his glasses), never seemed out of reach. Even movie star Julia wasn’t perfect.
You could see yourself in the story. You just had to travel to Notting Hill.
A good story transports you twice. the first in reading, the second when you book the flight.
I was struck by this phenomenon recently while watching season two, episode two of The White Lotus, ‘The Italian Dream’, when Tanya unwittingly encapsulated the feeling perfectly.
When asked by husband Greg what would make the perfect Sicillian day, she answers:
“I would dress like Monica Vitti in the 60s. A man in a fitted suit would approach me and light my cigarette. We’d go on a Vespa ride together, and at sunset, we would go to the sea to a romantic spot. We would end the night drinking aperitivo and eating spaghetti with giant clams in it. And be really chic and happy.”
So, it’s not really about the giant clams. It’s about the feeling. When Greg agrees to be the Italian man of her dreams for the day, she’s pure happiness (and chicness).
Monica Vitti eat your heart out. The White Lotus, 2022 © HBO
Making your customer the star of your story
The scene can tell us a lot about the need to not only create story in our messaging, but to place the reader in the story. Words like, “sweet prawns, salty Margaritas, and the seaside” don’t really cut it. But…
“Picture this: it’s 6:15pm. The sun is slowly dipping below the sea. The salt on your lips from your last swim mixes and fizzes with the salt on the rim of your Margarita, creating a tantalising combo. You look across the table at your love. The last of the sun hits their face and makes it glisten like gold. You told your parents you’d be home to pick up the kids by 6:30. You don’t care. You order another round of Margs and a bucket of giant prawns and reach for your love’s hand under the table.”
Better?
Tell me — where are you dreaming of?
What story are you hoping to create your own version of? Don’t tell me… you looked up Sicillian stays the second you finished bingeing The White Lotus, didn’t you? (Welp, I did… and you can stay at ‘The White Lotus Sicily’ for a very reasonable $1,350 per night).
