Episode 35: Carol
Justin:
While there is a sweet romance at the center of CAROL, I was left more often than not feeling more than just a hint of rage as the events of the film transpired. And as I reconciled with the why of feeling that way, I realized that our theme this month is probably going to bring about those feelings quite frequently.
The moment that produced an audible “what?!?” out of me was when Carol meets with her divorce attorney and is told her soon-to-be-ex-husband is seeking full custody of their daughter via a breach in a so-called “Morality Clause,” due to Carol’s documented dalliances with other women. Even though this movie takes place in the 1950s and I understand that it is almost definitely completely factual, the anger I felt led to me having to actively think about not throwing the remote at the TV screen.
Much of the film’s drama comes neither from the will-they-won’t-they romance between Carol and Therese nor a love triangle due to any budding jealousy from Carol’s former fling, Abby. Instead, it hinges on this process of divorce that Carol is undergoing and the lengths her ex-husband Harge will go to to besmirch her name (and, let’s face it - with a name like Harge, you’re just bound to be a complete tool). The final straw for me (and, it seems, Carol) is when an assumedly dopey traveling salesman turns out to be a private investigator hired to catch Carol and Therese in the throes of passion, signaling to Harge’s lawyer crew that the loving and adoring mother is no longer fit to be a mother at all. Because, morality, I guess.
So, yes, it’s a lovely film, but instead of thinking about the strong leading performances or the intimate touches that director Todd Haynes puts on the film, I was left reeling a bit thinking about all of the men and women who have had to live lies instead of lives, unfortunately resorting to putting on a straight mask to please others. That’s not a knock on the movie, but it’s how I’ll remember it.
And ideally I’m preaching to the choir when I suggest that we need to be far removed from the mentality of same sex relationships being a breach of some kind of “morality clause” as if the straights have a monopoly on love or something. But I know there are still far too many folks out there still thinking these lifestyles are just a choice or a phase or a demon just needing to be exorcised. Which, if you ask me, it’s having those kinds of beliefs that breaches all kinds of actual morality clauses.
