*Caroling*

So, a good friend @keltylavenderdennis, pointed out that the only times Carol isn’t wearing red is when she is actively trying to distance herself from Therese.

When Carol first meets Therese only her lips and fingernails are painted red, this could indicate the beginning of the relationship between the two women; it’s the moment where Therese first enters Carols world.

When Carol meets with her lawyer, and when she visits Therese’s house for the first time, she is wearing the most red that she’s ever wearing in the entirety if the film (the giant coat, her lips her fingernails, and some details in her suit are all red). This is also the moment in the film when she is the most removed she’s ever been from Rindy and Harge, but she is even closer to her potential future with Therese (the injunction being the deciding factor in her decision to take Therese West with her).

When shes trying to remove herself from Therese shes not wearing red, at all, ever. Even after the night at Waterloo, Carol’s wardrobe has a distinct lack of red in it (notice the night before Carol was wearing a red, plaid, robe). In fact, her wardrobe becomes devoid of any bright colours.

A friend of mine saw Carol and did not respond strongly to the film.  In particular, she did not resonate with Therese.  I thought I would write up what I talked through with her and write a post about how social spaces affect the way everything feels and plays out in this film.  In general, those social spaces in which the love between Carol and Therese emerges during the film would typically snuff out a love relationship like this one or, at the very least, alter and restrict the form it wanted to take into something else, something less threatening to the status quo.  That active suppression creates a mysterious quiet for some viewers and an incredibly loaded tension for others.

Therese reads the same way.  The “ambiguity” of Therese’s desire doesn’t seem ambiguous if you either understand the dynamic of finding your deepest longings at odds with the social spaces around you from life experience or can readily interpret the language of film and watch closely.  Her desire is held in the body and struggles to emerge into the surrounding social space; if you simply take care to notice how she is breathing or holding her body, you will see it.  It’s also held in her attempts to maintain privacy surrounding her actions; that she sends Carol her gloves alone at night, hides for whom she is buying the record.   And it’s held in those nuanced communication that take place between people who share an affinity for one another and cultivate intimacy; those details of touch, word, and gesture comprise some of the most beautiful moments in the film like Carol touching Therese’s shoulders at the piano and Therese smelling Carol’s perfume.  Her desire is also built into the film narrative; the way that snow begins to fall the moment Therese agrees to go on the trip with Carol, the way the scene of Carol doing Therese’s make-up feels so evocative of a love scene.

Cars and hotels provide the two most sheltered spaces for the love to develop on its own terms during this film.  Their own homes, restaurants, and even phone calls we see constantly interrupted, and their relationship obscured and reshaped to conform to expectations, largely the expectations of men (with Harge’s mother serving as a nice inclusion of a woman actively engaged in acts of oppression, a little reframing to show that this film is not about the inherent goodness/badness of women/men and, in fact, knows what it’s about, often a whole lot better than its reviewers do).  Even Carol’s invitation to go traveling takes place on a rooftop in the cold of winter, a social space they occupy outside of what’s usual.

The dramatic crisis of the plot is when we find those sheltered spaces intruded upon.  Another traveler proves to be a surveillance man sent after them.  That’s perhaps the worst moment in the film, when after a rather tender and profound love scene fades into a whirl of blurred images still with rather clear and distinct sound, we find out that someone has eavesdropped upon their love affair.  Their lack of power afterwards feels crushing, as the imposition of mainstream society gets the weight of legal authority behind it.  The legal system becomes the sight of conflict, a structural imposition of normalcy upon the two of them.  Even the attempted phone call, we fear, may not be private.  Even Carol’s home, we fear, may not be a space where she can talk freely with Abby.

Two scenes define the excellence of this film for me.  The first is the rather tragic and beautiful love scene that takes place after they discover they’ve been recorded.  They know they are not being pursued anymore, because they’re had.  Even in that small opening of space, under the intense strain and mutual distress they’re experiencing, their love seems to take shape again like a delicate and infinitely powerful life force waiting for any opportunity to be born.  We get the most elegant shot of them lying together afterwards.  It’s one of those images that conveys a profound and intricate meaning that would sound trite if put into words, one of those moments when film as a medium shows what it can do best by evoking so much so poignantly in a brief and living image.

abby: what if I just…color coordinated my outfit with this chair….

As in, she’s background to Therese’s and Carol’s relationship. And not trying to say background in a negative connotation but background because even though she’s not part of their ‘coupling’ she’s there for support and she fits into their world.

My analysis now sounds ridiculous because she’s literally matching with a chair but thinking about it she matches gracefully. She’s just sitting there in the corner and doesn’t look out of place within the room (considering the circumstances)

Therese = oboe

The moment thats surreal in the car as they travel to Carol’s through the tunnel? Oh god, while already my favourite part, it killed. Every single part just felt magnetising, and the acting God, somehow different and somehow the same just… more. I can’t truly explain it, but when I say it was inspiring I don’t say it to be glib. 

Since I have watched Carol (4x) something keeps nagging and it’s about the end scene in both novel and film.. Somehow Carols reaction doesn’t feel quite right. OK, the story has a happy ending. We all know and agree how fucking important and revolutionary that is! No doubt about that at all! But let’s go back to the tea scene. Carol’s just opened up to Therese; she can’t be more vulnerable. And Therese has turned her down! Carol’s hopes on a life together with the love of her life shattered, gone, in pieces. Look at the pain and agony in Carol’s eyes when she whispers “Well, that’s that.” It wouldn’t have been over-dramatic at all would she have made a run to the toilet and throw up, after her conversation with Therese having been interrupted. Then, later in the Oak Room, how can you chat with friends, politely smiling, with your heart being broken just a few hours earlier? Carol surely must have given up on Therese showing up. No chance on that. It’s over. She knows that. When she finally spots Therese, walking into her direction, Therese looking at her so intensely, with her eyes expressing so much love and longing, I mean, it’s a complete roller coaster for Carol, how can she manage a controlled smile and even a wave ( in the novel)? Ok, it’s the 50s, I understand. She can’t jump at Therese and kiss her passionately. But wouldn’t it have been more in line with Carol’s extreme shift in emotions that evening, when she at least would have begun trembling, spilling her Martini or throwing something over? I would love to hear your views on this, especially from @employee645-a, @itwouldbecarolinathousandcities, @thenerdychook, as you write such great fanfic.

To me, Carol at the end, has that extreme moment of happiness where you just don’t know what the hell you are going to do with yourself. It’s almost that moment just before she slides across the table and takes Therese into her arms to embrace her.

I would say it because I am feeling down about myself, my situation, and (mainly) my appearance. I know I would be bluntly realistic with myself that if I were actually with someone, that other person would be far more attractive than I ever could be. Not to mention I would want them to know I think they are absolutely stunning, even if I am, well, just me.

“I Wished On The Moon” -  “I wished on a stars to throw me a beam or two I begged of a stars and asked for a dream or two I looked for every loveliness, it all came true I wished on the moon, wished on the moon for you I wished on the moon for you”

“If You Were Mine” -  “ If you were mine I would live for your love alone To kneel at your shrine I would give up all that I own Yes, even my heart Even my life I’d trade it all for you And think I was lucky too If you were mine”

“Foolin’ Myself” - “And ev'ry time I pass And see my face in a looking glass I tip my hat and say “How do you do, you fool You’re throwing your life away” I’m acting gay I’m acting proud And every time I see you in a crowd I may pretend But in the end I’m just foolin’ myself”

“When You’re Smiling” - “ When you’re smiling When you’re smiling The whole world smiles with you When you’re laughing When you’re laughing The sun comes shining through But when you’re crying You bring on the rain So stop your sighing be happy again Keep on smiling ‘Cause when you’re smiling The whole world smiles with you”

“The romance between Carol and Therese is also explored visually through the use of color, as their initial meeting and subsequent encounters associate their union with the appropriately festive colors of red and green.

Initially, it is Therese who wears the more grounded and tranquil green, befitting her serene and docile persona, while Carol – at first playing the role of the beguiling temptress – is often clad in the more passionate color red.

i was re-reading the book in the plane yesterday when i read this passage and i started to cry and immediately bookmarked the page. this is exactly what it feels like to be a lesbian. the envy and resentment we feel towards those who have the representation, voice, and opportunity in the world that we’re denied–sometimes violently–is so truthfully conveyed here.

“But did {Richard] understand that she would have felt the same way if Carol had never touched her? […] If Carol, in fact, had never spoken to her at all? for it all had happened in that instant she had seen Carol standing in the middle of the floor, watching her. The the realisation that so much had happened after that meeting made her feel incredibly lucky suddenly. It was so easy for a man and woman to find each other, to find someone who would do, but for her to have found Carol–” (p. 156)

So there are thirteen shots/scenes in Carol that take place at some kind of table, and they all serve their purposes. The table scenes put into context, more than anything else, the societal rules in which the characters live. Tables are both a public and private space; people can have intimate moments in a public place when confined to a table. 

The shots of Therese at her table with the gloves and Carol with Harge and Rindy at the breakfast table are juxtaposed to show class difference yet Carol and Therese have similar posture. They are both leaning on their elbow(s) looking at their respective partners with the same expression. They are both in the same spot in the frame. With Carol’s shot, there’s a lot going on visually. She has everything a woman of her time should have right there around her. Meanwhile, Therese’s shot is very bare: she has comparatively nothing in the eyes of bourgeois society. Also, with the slip for Carol’s gloves in front of Therese, the idea of Richard as husband material has already been taken off the table in Therese’s mind.     

Both of these road trip table scenes are probably the most comfortable we’ll ever see Carol and Therese at a table.  Even though they are in public spaces their relationship can still blossom because to the average person they appear to be gal pals.  At the diner though, there’s that quick moment before Therese gives Carol the record where they both wipe their hands; Therese on her skirt and Carol with a napkin.  Therese wiping her hands on her skirt seems more out of nervousness. Yet it could also be that she feels comfortable enough around Carol not to use a napkin, whereas Carol just automatically uses a napkin because it is ingrained in her to do so.  This is in contrast to the table scene where they first have lunch where they are trying so hard to make a good impression.         

During dinner with the Airds we see a level of oppressive conformity not found in other table scenes in the rest of the movie.  It’s so stifled.  All of them have proper table manners.  This is what I’m assuming is a Sunday dinner. Interestingly, Harge’s dad is the only person at the table not wearing dark green or brown, which have been marked by previous posts to be colors of conformity.