It seemed to me pretty clear that the heroine was a lesbian. She starts off riding in the car with two women who drag r
-
kaylynn36 — 18 years ago(July 23, 2007 04:00 PM)
Bathwater of the Gods -
I was just wondering why you say this is a Mormon cult horror film. I did not see anything in the film that referenced anything to do with the Mormon religion. Other than the fact that part of it was filmed in Utah, I don't see a connection. Please elaborate.
Thank you,
kaylynn36 -
wellesradio — 20 years ago(September 08, 2005 08:55 PM)
I don't think "any interpretation is valid" if the writer disagrees with it. Or maybe every interpretation is valid, but some are just dead wrong. There are some nuances that rise to the top in the light of scrutiny but when it has to do with something so fundamental as a person's actions or direct motive, then you really have to go through the author. What I mean is let's say X kills Y because someone kills X's friend Z. It is revealed that Y did not kill Z. Now whether this is fact or left open ended is completely up to the writer (do they choose to reveal it?). But when it comes to whether X really killed Y for this reason is anybody's guess. That is what's known as an indirect motive. It is that which is partially (but mainly) hidden and it is a great part of what is known as the iceberg theory. Sexual orientation is a part of the former - it has to go through the author and as someone else here has posted, it is not the author's intent.
-
bigdave11243 — 20 years ago(September 14, 2005 05:10 PM)
I certainly don't think that because Mary is riding in a car with other girls it is reasonable to assume she is a lesbian if that view is valid, then the fact that the guys who engage in a race with the girls are also riding in a car with no companions of the another gender would imply that they must be gay as well. And what would it say about the lecherous young guy boarding (until Mary shows up)in a house with only an old woman? Some kind of Oedipal relationship? And once you begin this kind of out-of-thin-air kind of analysis, you have to find some kind of psycho-babble explanation for why Mary wants to "play an organ" in a church what does she see when she looks at those "phallic" pipes of varying sizes as she plays barefoot! aha! a foot fetishist's delight! in the church! until music reaches a "climax" in tones that are "blasphemous" ???!!!
Once this sort of "interpretation" starts, there is no end anything can mean anything in the eyes (or imagination) of a beholder. Whether it is logical, or motivated by demonstrable evidence from within the work of "art," or is in keeping with the probable human motivations of its own time period instead of forced upon it by the mores of our own period ah, there's the problem.
No, I don't think there's any reason within the movie itself to see Mary as a lesbian she is devoid of emotional connections with people because of what becomes clear at the end of the movie. In her situation which she only gradually grasps sexuality is of little significance, ultimately of no importance at all. -
rcitizen — 20 years ago(November 30, 2005 06:11 PM)
I am so glad you posted the lesbian question. That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the film. Now I'm writing a paper about it. REsisting compulsory heterosexuality in Carnival of Souls. Cheers! I thought I was the only one.
-
who_is_in_charge — 20 years ago(December 06, 2005 06:56 AM)
Well, i am not sure about lesbianism, but what about in the shop, where she becomes 'invisible'. The shop asistant is quite clearly a man in drag! I am not jokin, seriously, watch it, and tell me that is not a transvestite!
-
expostdelirium — 20 years ago(December 06, 2005 08:49 PM)
i just figured her "detachment" had to do w/ her being dead and all. i DID think the same thing about the sales'lady'. i'd swear she had a moustache (or at least bushy eyebrows), and was hellaciously tall.
i used to shop in that store. actually, not IN the store, as the interior of that store is in salt lake, but the exterior (of the store i used to shope in) is in lawrence, ks, and i believe it's the oldest department store in the state. it opened in 1857, which might make it one of the oldest in quite a wide area. -
le_chiffre-1 — 16 years ago(September 14, 2009 03:39 PM)
What course are you writing your paper for? Do you think you're getting your time and your money's worth attending such a course? What type of employment do you hope to get after taking such a course?
Homosexuality is a resistance movement? To what exactly? Well, it's a good thing there are heterosexuals out there to give birth to all you homosexuals, otherwise the ranks of your resistance movement would be very thin indeed.
Why is heterosexuality "compulsory"? Because reproduction is why nature gave us genitals? Is your struggle against Mother Nature and the roles she intended for your body parts? -
shy_moment-1 — 20 years ago(December 27, 2005 10:39 AM)
I think your missing the whole point. She not only didnt want to be around men she says she doesnt want to be around anyonei life. She was dislocated from people in life, and dislocated from people in death also.
-
mercury4 — 20 years ago(March 04, 2006 10:03 PM)
You could tell that she only stayed around her neighbor because she was afraid and didn't want to be alone. She wasn't attracted to him at all. He just wanted to get into her pants from the start. That doesn't mean she's not interested in men. It just means she wasn't interested in him. I couldn't see that she was a lesbian. Only that her neighbor just didn't do anything for her. Case closed.
-
fae-of-eire — 20 years ago(March 21, 2006 11:54 PM)
I got the lesbian vibe from her too
Film, like art is interpreted by those who perceive it.
Not sure there's a right or a wrong way to interprate any creative endeavor.
So to say we're reading something that isn't there is a mistake
It may not have been intentional on the part of director, but people see it, so it becomes a part of of their experience of the film, and therefore a valid part of the piece. It certainly doesn't make any difference one way or the other as to the story. -
rayincumbria — 12 years ago(September 06, 2013 08:22 AM)
A long dead thread, but I'm afraid I groaned when I saw the title..
The neighbour was a seedy creep. I'd hope few women would be interested in HIM.
As some one else said.. 3 women in a car = Lesbian? Then, by the same rule, the guys in the car = Gay. I don't think so.
few visible scars -
le_chiffre-1 — 16 years ago(September 14, 2009 03:10 PM)
I disagree. Not all art is an inkblot test. Some interpretations may not be consistent with the facts. And just because a character doesn't walk around with a T-shirt that says "I'm heterosexual" doesn't mean they're homosexual.
If you don't know what a character's sexual preference is, then it's a safe bet they're heterosexual, since the vast majority of people are. Especially in a non-sexploitation movie from 1962.
And perhaps if a character's sexual preference isn't clear, it's because it's not important to the story? What is it with homosexuals trying to make everything about their sexual preference, anyways?