I really enjoyed this film. An emotional film, set in the fifties, and it’s about lesbians? Truly a work of art.

Visible Differences

Rewatching the film, I was really interesting in the first scene, which I now know is from a few months into the film. When Carol leaves, she puts her hand on Therese’s right shoulder, holding it there for a while, and when Jack leaves, he does the same to her left. I thought that this was a beautiful way to show Therese’s internal struggle between who she wants to be.

Another scene that show’s that Therese might be feeling out of sorts with who she thought she was is a very short clip. It is during a lunch hour at the department store, and everyone is wearing their Christmas hats, but Therese isn’t. It just feel’s a bit off, like she knows she is different than the rest.

These two scenes, both opening the film, begin to show the internal struggle that Therese has throughout the film.

Age Gaps

I am a firm believer that every relationship teaches you something, regardless how it ends, and if it is platonic, familial, or romantic.

I think that a common complaint, at least when we were discussing the film in class, is that the age gap is creepy, and that Carol was wildly too old for Therese. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with their relationship, or their age. They are both consenting adults, and while Carol is clearly older and a mother, I don’t think there is anything wrong with them.

Yes, there is a common trope that older lesbians, or even just more experienced lesbians, take on “proteges” and teach them how to be gay and how to have sex, I don’t think that that is what this is. There is no true “teaching” moment in the film, other than the letter to Therese, when she writes that Therese doesn’t understand because she is young. Honestly, Abby acts more as a teacher to Therese, stating “it changed. It changes,” while talking about how her relationship and friendship with Carol morphed (1:27:12).

I feel that even calling Carol a cougar, or anything of the sort, perpetuates the idea that every sapphic relationship is born out of perversion, pedophilloic ideals, and manipulation, which so many believe to this day. Their age gap is maybe 15 years at most, and Therese is to the point in her life where she is thinking about marriage, and being asked about children. She is clearly an adult, who wants to be in her relationship with Carol, and it is frustrating as a queer viewer to always see people discuss queer characters as problematic, especially when this movie was set in the 50s. Now, there are so so many out queer people, and it is much less difficult to find love, where, in the 50s, it would be much more dangerous and difficult.

Carol vs. Richard

I think that being wary of age gaps can be valid; however, when looking at the bigger picture of the film, I think it is more than excusable (ESPECIALLY when you remind yourself how gross Richard and Harge are).

Richard truly believes that he is the perfect match with Therese, but throughout the movie, viewers can tell that he knows nothing about who she truly is.

The first noticeable difference between how Carol and Richard treat Therese is by the use of her name. Carol loves the name Therese, and makes a point to call her by her full name. She shows that she sees the person that Therese has been hiding, where Richard always calls her Terry. He only knows a fraction of who she is: the part that is just an act.

The other aspect that I felt made it clear that Richard did not care, even remotely about who Therese actually was was her photography. Before meeting Carol, she stored her photos under the sink. Richard did not care to see them, he did not care to ask about them, and he did not care about “Terry.” Carol instantly wanted to see her work. She wanted to know who Therese was, and an easy way to do that was to see her art.

When Therese told Richard that she wanted to put together a portfolio, which was something that Carol had encouraged her to do, he didn’t even respond, instantly changing the subject back to what he wanted Therese to be: a wife and a partner who would go to Europe with him.

Growth

The film as a whole was so much more than a romance. It was a story of two women, who helped each other find themselves.

Therese learned to focus on her art, and that she truly wanted to exist as a photographer. Carol learned that while she loved her daughter more than anything, she was more than just a mother. She couldn’t put her true self in a closet for anyone.

Together they both grew into their true selves. It isn’t a story of one teaching another, but of them growing along side one another.