CAROL directed by Todd Haynes (USA, 2015)
I borrowed this film from my local lending library in Cesena, Italy. This excellent ‘mediateca’, somewhat anachronistically, continues to maintain a healthy stock of old and new DVDs.
In a card inside the case of more recent acquisitions you are invited to write what you think of the movie: “Lascia un commento, potresti convincere qulache indeciso” (Leave a comment – it may convince others who are undecided).
For Carol, there is just one review which (translated from Italian) states that it is “the story of an upper class woman who destroys the life of her husband and, not content with this, also ruins the life of a poor young working woman. All this in the name of a presumed sexual liberation. A film of homosexual propaganda”.
The offending review of ‘Carol’.
This blinkered and spiteful reading of Todd Haynes’ elegant and intelligent movie illustrates that, despite some encouraging advances in LGBT rights, this is no time for complacency.
For the record, Carol (played superbly by Cate Blanchett) follows her heart but it is simplistic and disingenuous to stigmatize her as a purely destructive force. The husband surely contributed to the marital breakdown and Carol’s relationship with Therese (Rooney Mara) is consensual on both sides. Far from ruining this younger woman’s life, Therese has the courage to retain her independence and becomes a successful news photographer.
I would humbly suggest that what the anonymous reviewer takes issue with is that the love between these two women is treated in an adult manner and their ‘sins’ go unpunished. This is not simply a lesbian story but a human romance complicated by the society’s narrow prescriptions regarding ‘normal’ relationships.
The reviewer’s reference to propaganda is instructive. This generally denotes information that is biased and misleading to promote a political cause or a particular point of view. Since all sources of information are biased to one degree or another, it follows that any newspaper, media outlet, advertisement, text-book, research paper and work of art could be dismissed as propaganda.
Bias is, of course, in the eye of the beholder and the anonymous author’s homophobic review exemplifies what I think is a better way to understand the concept of propaganda which I would define as ‘information that presents a subject you disagree with in a positive light’.
You find evidence of this in Trump’s relentless campaign against ‘fake news’. As a compulsive liar, his complaints are not about journalists bending the truth. Frequently, he objects to verbatim reports of speeches or interviews that are a matter of public record. What he regards as ‘fake’ are any stories that present him in a negative light.
The spiteful (and inaccurate) comments about Carol are proof that there are still plenty of narrow-minded bigots who want to return to the ‘traditional’ nuclear family values where women know their place. Haynes’ movie, based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, is set in the 1950s but has a lot to say about contemporary attitudes. It depicts independently minded women ignoring the advice of men.
In Italy (where I live), the Catholic Church is still a powerful arbiter of morality and its blinkered attitudes are compounded by the disturbing resurgence of right-wing/fascist political parties. Italy remains one of the worst countries in Western Europe for gay rights and things look like getting worse before they get better.
In June this year, La Lega’s families minister, Lorenzo Fontana, expressed his belief that same-sex couples should not become parents, a view endorsed by the party’s loathsome leader Matteo Salvini. Hard won rights can easily be lost if the trend to the right continues.
In a weekend of Gay pride celebrations in the nearby town of Rimini, it seemed fortuitous and timely that I should be watching a movie that endorses two key elements of a civilized society: pride before shame, tolerance before prejudice.
