She never struck me as being a lesbian then again, she never really did anything to confirm any suspicions that she wasn
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onedayatatimect — 18 years ago(September 06, 2007 10:20 AM)
SPOILERS!!!!!!
For the entire movie, except for the car ride at the start, Mary Henry is dead. That means no interest in sex, love, affection, etc. We never really get to see what she was like when she was alive, as we only get to watch her white-knuckle her way through the car ride. As we're constantly reminded throughout the rest of the film, Mary's soul is no longer with her - she's just an automaton trying to mimmick the rhythms of life.
While being gay in Utah in 1960 couldn't have been easy, it was far from impossible. Living in a large city far from her family and friends, Mary could have easily found companionship with a like-minded woman if that was what she desired - she was young and pretty, ozone-depleting hairdo notwithstanding.
Unfortunately, she was also dead. Whenever anyone started to get close to her - not just her leering neighbor, but the priest, the landlady, the psychiatrist - her underlying nature (or lack thereof) would surface and push them away. Her awkward date with Mr. Linden didn't end because of latent lesbianism, but because of the appearance of "the man" in his place in the mirror. -
le_chiffre-1 — 16 years ago(September 14, 2009 02:37 PM)
Yeah, you said it. Your interpretation which is the obvious one is far more consistent with the facts and the mood of the story than the original poster's.
Homosexuals are obsessed with rewriting history to make it seem as though homosexuality was more prevalent than it actually was (except, of course, for when a historical figure was a serial killer or a child molester or something like that; then it's bad PR to be associated with them, and they try to downplay that person's sexual preference). They're obsessed with reinterpreting works of art through a homosexual lens, like the OP is doing with this movie, or as some, for example, have done with Sherlock Holmes.
Homosexuals find it necessary to do this to make their lifestyle appear less aberrant than it is.
To the OP: believe it or not, there really were old maids who weren't lesbians. There really were men who didn't get married, not because they were light in the loafers, but because they saw it as an obstacle to their ambitions, or they just didn't get along well with women (misogyny is not synonymous with homosexuality). There really are people who are asexual and whose lack of interest in the opposite sex does not denote an interest in the same sex.
I know it may be hard for homosexuals to understand that the majority of people aren't like them, but it's the truth. -
activista — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 08:16 AM)
@ie_chiffre
Homosexuals are obsessed with rewriting history to make it seem as though homosexuality was more prevalent than it actually was
Actually, they're not rewriting historythey're simply writing about the parts of history made by homosexual individuals that were left out of the history books. Do the researchhomosexuality was just a regular part of ancient Rome. So, even in ancient times, in certain places, being gay wasn't considered that "aberrant", as you put it.
http://infomory.com/famous/famous-gays-throughout-history/ -
trumpdaddy — 18 years ago(December 08, 2007 12:53 PM)
I'm not seeing any evidence that she is straight either. I think this subjecy highlights one of the strenghts of this film. She is missing a lot of standard descriptives, therefore many viewers can associate with her. Much of her characterizations are implied, this allows viewers to interpret many aspects of the film however thay want.
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le_chiffre-1 — 16 years ago(September 14, 2009 02:10 PM)
Why is it that on seemingly half these message boards, there's always someone starting a thread insinuating that such and such a charcater is homosexual, asking about the sexual preferences of such and such an actor, etc.? Is this part of an astroturfing campaign by the homosexual lobby?
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fairytalemagic — 16 years ago(September 18, 2009 12:54 PM)
I didn't really think about her sexuality during the film.
Just because she likes drag racing and was hanging out with a couple of 'girl-friends' does not mean she's a lesbian and it looked like, she had trouble choosing friends. Not just boyfriends but the right companions for her. Remember , she did not really like the company of people most of the time . There for when she wanted to be with people. She didn't always make the right choice. In a way she was a bit of a social misfit, rather then a lesbian. -
leosblueblanket88 — 15 years ago(November 13, 2010 03:30 AM)
For one lingering moment, at the end of the film when it showed the dead women in the car, a thought occured to me "maybe she was a lesbian." Although it probably wasn't all that crucial to the plot (or at least, it's something they had to hide really deep in the subtext back then), but it's a possibility.
I wantI wantI WANT EVERYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN IN THE MOVIES! -
BIOSphereopts — 15 years ago(December 13, 2010 08:19 PM)
Huh?
Possible Sploilers*****
I think you may be reading way too much into it. To assume that because the lead in the movie is riding in a car with two females somehow translates to sexual preference, then we should also assume the same about the three males in the other car. Perhaps even that the three males at the river bank trying to retrieve the car were gays trying to "rescue" repressed lesbians. None of this would make any sense for a psychological ghost story.
I have several lesbian friends who have watched this movie with me, and neither of them saw anything more than a b-flick ghost story from 1962.
As far as the other scene you offer, when she expects the elderly land lady to be bringing her food, she is confronted at the door by a strange male. I think most level headed women would say, "whoops, please wait." Besides that, the guy was a certified creep. Nothing symbolic about that.
Mary seems to have lost touch with everything in this world. Her first line in the movie was, "I don't remember" From then on the recurring advice given to her was that she needs to play with "soul". And of course, the ending shows us why, and what she was running from.
I may not have a big tricked out name tag, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. -
smitty1941 — 14 years ago(June 14, 2011 07:13 AM)
Or perhaps she was just taking a cruise with a couple of her friends, and has no interest in a relationship (like many women I might add), and doesn't like forceful, unattractive guys, and doesn't care if a harmless old woman sees her in a towel. I think my guess is more correct considering this is 1962, and there was no plausible suggestion of homosexuality in the entire movie.
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agnieszka01 — 14 years ago(September 12, 2011 11:54 PM)
I definitely think you're way off. The thing about lesbians is they're attracted to other women. There was never any scene where this was demonstrated. Although the "twist" probaly came as a surprise to no one (it was hinted at throughout the film), it just appears as though she has lived through a traumatic event and is isolating herself from everyone. It's not hard to see why she wouldn't have been attracted to the scrawny, balding, lowbrow, working class, brash young man (such a fellow can hardly hope to score an attractive college grad), and I don't know about her being in a car with two other women at the beginning, but I didn't read anything sexual into it (I mean please). They were either her friends, or (since it was mentioned that she kept mostly to herself even before the accident) just a carpool to and from work. She appeared to be "just along for the ride" and gave no verbal protest to the driver, so it looked as though they may not have been well acquainted. Other than that, she definitely seemed repressed and neurotic but that does not equal lesbian. Lesbians aren't generally repressed and neurotic, they just like other women. You're fishing in an empty hole.
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creaturefeeture — 14 years ago(October 19, 2011 09:38 PM)
I think it's very possible. I got that vibe a little too. Since this film came out in 62' it could be that they couldn't outright say it so they just implied it.
It would also explain why she was disinterested in church and basically kicked out. -
Echo_in_big_sky — 14 years ago(October 25, 2011 02:39 PM)
Well, she is dead after all. that pretty much kills a sex drive.
Always the officiant, never the bride.
http://www.withthiskissitheewed.com -
stmcqueenisawesome — 13 years ago(October 30, 2012 08:20 PM)
Is sevenlilxenos trying to piss women off? I think so. Her body was created for a man's enjoyment not a woman's? Go beep yourself. Our bodies are created for ourselves to do what we want with them you little prick. They don't belong to you or anyone else.
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InjunNose — 13 years ago(April 04, 2012 09:55 PM)
I think it's easy to read a lesbian subtext into "Carnival", especially in this day and age when we're utterly obsessed with sexuality and nothing outside matters of the body seems to have any relevance. (In the late '60s it was very easy to read a racial subtext into "Night of the Living Dead", and many critics did, but it simply wasn't there. The filmmakers have said repeatedly that the role of Ben wasn't written for a black actor; the most qualified performer landed the job, and that performer happened to be Duane Jones.) Actually, what Mary says to Dr. Samuels is that she has "no desire for the close company of other people." She doesn't go out of her way to make female friends and seems to enjoy flirting with Mr. Linden, if from a rather frosty distance. No, what's happening in "Carnival of Souls" is far more terrifying than being forced by society to deny or conceal one's sexual orientation: it's the loss of identity altogether, the inevitability of death. It's a memorable film because it deals with this universal fear so effectively.