Pride Month 2020: Carol (6/15/2020)

For the most part this Pride Month, I'm going to be looking over some of my personal favorite LGBTQ+ films. Todd Hayne's 2015 romantic drama Carol is one such film. It's not my absolute all time favorite, but with its warm, emotional sensibilities and heartfelt story, it's like a cozy blanket ready to soothe my aching lesbian soul whenever I need it.

Carol is based off of the landmark 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Arguably one of the most important texts of early LGBT literature, The Price of Salt is notable for being one of the earliest examples of a mainstream queer romance that allowed its characters to have a happy ending. This was hugely controversial at the time, but history has been kind to Highsmith's novel, and it is now considered to be one a classic of queer literature.

While what was controversial in the 50's was generally less so in 2015, Carol nonetheless retains these subversive elements. On its surface, it's a fairly straightforward romance between two women; Therese (played by Rooney Mara) and Carol (played by Cate Blanchett). Its direction, cinematography and story lend it an air of "respectability" that I'm sure played a large role in regards to its sweep of the Oscar circuit over other, more formally unique queer films that came out that same year (such as Tangerine). But what put Carol over more empty Oscar Bait fair like The Danish Girl is what lies beneath its surface; genuine thematic exploration, a true understanding of how humans work, and subversive approaches to gender roles, age and the historic trappings of the Hollywood romance genre.

Generally, in Hollywood romances, the male leads tend to be played by men much older than their female counterparts, especially in classic genre pieces. Men can be stars well into their fifties, while women rarely appear over the age of 35. This large age gap is rarely commented upon, and carries much problematic subtext about predatory male sexuality and the demeaning of women middle aged and older. Carol reflects this, with its leads being a woman in her early twenties and another in her mid to late thirties. But unlike in most romances, this age difference is not only commented on, but is an integral part of the story and romance and the attraction between the two characters, and unlike in the more pedophillic relationships in films like Call Me By Your Name (where one is literally 17 years old and the other well into their life), both characters are definitively adults and both are introduced to each other on equal footing.

Both women, as they go throughout their romance and their respective lives, seek to break free from the constraints brought about by their society's gendered expectations for them. Both of them are constantly besieged by expectations of finding a man and settling down, and both of them are haunted by men wishing in some way to tie them down and control them. In each other, they see not only a partner, but an escape; a way for them to live as they want. Therese is young, and still doesn't know what she wants out of a world that seems hellbent on getting her to settle down with one of the many men who seem to expect her to love them. In Carol, she sees the sophistication and self-determination that comes with maturity; something that she sees herself as lacking. Carol, on the other hand, is stuck in the life of a housewife that she never wanted, tied down by a controlling husband and held hostage by her daughter, forced to repress her saphic tendencies or have everything taken from her by an instituation that sees homosexuality as a moral failing. Though she is attempting a divorce, it is getting ugly. In Therese, she sees the freedom that she gave up to live the life that was expected of her rather than the one that she wanted. Therese is awakening to her sapphic orientation, and Carol is learning to embrace it.

In this way, Carol is not only a story of two sapphic women learning how to break free from the control of the patriarchal society they inhabit, to take control of their lives with each other regardless of how much those around them would see them bound. Even though Carol is in her thirties, the film works as a coming of age for both of them, as they discover and rediscover who they are and what path they are meant to forge in this world. This is a theme that is not only universal but also particulary relevant to many queer people, who find themselves coming of age at a variety of points in life, as many do not truly come out to themselves until later in life, and as a result are never truly able to find their way into adulthood until then.

All of this is grounded by gorgeous cinematography and impeccable direction from Todd Haynes, a director who proves himself here to be incredibly insightful into the realm of human psychology and interaction, as the drama he brings to screen is both gripping and relatable. There are scenes in Carol that are breathtaking, beautiful and integral to the emotional mosaic of the film, that in the hands of a lesser director might just be set dressing. But ultimately, the true stars of the show are Mara and Blanchett, and their moving performances and deeply intimate chemistry.

I don't think Carol is the ultimate sapphic romance film that some make it out to be - its stars are more allies than actually queer women, and the age difference is still a bit iffy to me despite its excellent execution (I generally prefer films like Portrait of a Lady on Fire over it becuase of this). But there can be no denying that this is an important landmark for queer cinema, as well as a subversive and deeply human drama to boot.