Carol
The long opening shot is accompanied by a man walking through the streets of New York, bringing us to the table where Therese and Carol are reunited. The two of them are going through the most difficult decision when they are interrupted by this strange man. Therese then gets a ride away, with Therese’s face reflected in the car window, as well as the night and lights of New York, and the memories slowly unfold from there.
In this essay, I will argue that the film director Haynes uses queer gaze or lesbian gaze to present the desire of two women and reveal the patriarchal climate of society in the 1950s. Every frame of the cinematography is so delicate: the reflection of the car window, Therese’s camera’s perspective, and every expression of the character are meticulous.
Carol Aird is the protagonist of the film. She has a daughter named Rindy with her husband Harge. Carol can not bear Harge’s family, does not feel happy, and she is divorcing with Harge. Therese Belivet is also the main character in the film. She worked as a sales clerk in a New York department store but aspired to be a photographer. Harge has sought an injunction that denies Carol to see Rindy until the hearing. Carol is devastated and decides to go on a road trip and invites Therese to join her. During the traveling, Therese and Carol discover that they are the true love of their lives, but this is not allowed in society at the time, and Harge hires a private investigator to investigate and collect evidence in hopes of leaving her with nothing in the divorce proceedings. For Carol, it’s a choice between a mother and her true love. Carol writes a goodbye letter to Therese and leaves. In the end, however, Therese goes back to Carol.
In the 1950s, women were in a disadvantaged position that women had to be dominated by the family and controlled by men. Carol and Therese are deeply in love with each other, but the dominant society and the disapproval of homosexuality make it challenging for them to remain together. Carol’s husband Harge is always trying to get Carol to stay with him, which represents a male desire to control women. The man is anxious and crazy about Carol; Therese is tender and loving to Carol, which forms a contrast that how
unreasonable men’s love is, and how warm one’s true love is. Therese’s boyfriend keeps asking her to marry him and tells her that going on the trip with Carol is the wrong decision. Although he did not force Therese to do anything, we can know from his words that men were in a dominant position at that time.
Obviously, however, we can see that Carol and Therese do not just accept everything. They try their best to against the patriarchal structure. In the end, although Carol returns to her family because of her daughter, she ended up bravely speaking her ideas and resisting the control of men at the hearing. Therese rejects her formidable boyfriend with very direct words.
Carol is a lesbian melodrama. In the beginning, the director uses flashbacks to let the audience step into the story. Therese and Carol are reunited. The strange feeling between the two women makes spectators want to keep watching. The seemingly uneventful dinner scene at the beginning reveals the inner emotions of the two at the end. The man’s arrival leads the audience into the story of only Carol and Therese. At first, I assumed that the movie is a tragedy because, in the 1950s, homosexuality was not supported. Nevertheless, when I see
Therese walks toward Carol, I‘m surprised. I recognized the strong resolution that two women want to be together even under the pressure of society. Plus, the movie breaks the usual tragic ending of mainstream gay movies.
The sky is full of snow, and Carol is buying a Christmas tree. Therese takes out her camera and takes a photo of Carol. We are watching the film from Theresa’s perspective, loading the roll. Carol seems know that Theresa is taking a picture of her, and she’s very enjoying. In this shot, we are looking through Therese’s eyes. The director uses ‘feeling-seeing’ to bring us closer to her experience and desires and let us feel Therese’s feeling. We share the same viewpoint with Therese. Therese uses camera to look at Carol, feeling like Therese is gazing at Carol voyeuristically with her strong desire.When Carol and Therese first gaze at each other in the toy store, the spectators are invited to the two women’s gaze. They share these looks throughout the film. At the hotel, Therese and Carol gaze at each other
in the mirror, Carol standing behind Therese and touching her shoulders. This scene represents the desire of Carol, the desire of women. We can feel their’s love through their fond gaze.
As Laura Mulvey said in her article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, ‘Playing on the tension between film as controlling the dimension of time (editing, narrative) and film as controlling the dimension of space (changes in distance, editing), cinematic codes create a gaze, a world, and an object, thereby producing an illusion cut to the measure of desire.’ The film is a powerful tool to express emotion and the director’s intention, Haynes uses a lot many film techniques such as feeling-seeing, allowing the audience to feel Therese’s desire and her feelings. Watching Carol through Therese’s camera voyeuristically, this kind of gaze gives us the desire to watch the movie. Haynes has a precise capture of women’s feelings and mastery of the content of the article film plot, which can be collected and released, so that the rhythm of the article is appropriate, without dragging, not bland and not exaggerated, just right. Usually, I think only feminist directors can create such comfort for women. However, Haynes
produces the film as some feminist directors do. He does his best to create a romantic relationship between two women on the screen.