Pluribus: Carol’s Idea of Individuality and How it Differs from Stereotypical American Individualism
One thing I don’t think people understand about Carol or her preaching about ‘individuality’, is that the individuality she is talking about to the other survivors is not coming from a place of traditional American individualism or the ‘American dream’. It’s coming from the fact that she is keenly aware of what is feels like to be the ‘wrong type of individual’ within society as a lesbian. Her having gone to conversion therapy is important! Her knowing what it’s like to have everyone around her smiling and telling her they love her and that’s why they have to change her is important!
While yes I agree with those who draw parallels to American individualism and the scene of the survivors meeting on the plane, I think it’s more complicated than that. Instead I personally see that scene with Carol and the American government crest behind her as the perspective of the other immune people (particularly bc they don’t want to listen to her). They see her as this loud American who doesn’t care about them or their families. Someone whose never known hardship and who has no qualifications to tell them what to do.
And honestly, I agree with them. If I was them, I most definitely would not want to listen to Carol either and I’d probably come to the same conclusion about Carol’s ideology of individualism that they have. It also doesn’t help that Carol is still an overbearing rich, white American lady who is not able to fully comprehend or articulate the connection between the hive and colonialism (unlike Manousos, where that is his first conclusion).
But (and this is a big but), Carol is not ONLY a rich, white American lady, she’s a rich, white American lady whose also a lesbian and who has been directly harmed by her loved ones and environment for being a lesbian. She even says it to Zosia in the hospital, “some of the worst people I’ve ever known, and they smiled all the time just like you”.
The other survivors however don’t know this, which I think is really interesting because it’s a great example of Carol doing the opposite of ‘American individualism’ in that she very pointedly does not tell the other survivors about her being a lesbian or experiencing conversion therapy. I say opposite because the enter point of American individualism is its marketability, the ‘American dream’ is quite literally an ad. If she truly was coming from a place of American individualistic superiority, her identity as a gay woman and conversion therapy survivor would be immediately used as leverage to try and convince the others to conform to it.
Instead, she keeps it close to her heart. This aspect of her that many would describe as the antithesis of the ‘American Dream’ (heck just look at how conservative American politicians refer to queerness as an ‘attack’ on American values/ nuclear families). At face value it’s obvious why, she doesn’t know if these people are supportive of queerness or not, esp since many of the countries they come from are very unsupportive (even in Diabete’s ‘equality’ speech, dogs and zoo animals are brought up but not queer people). That being said, I don’t think it’s the whole reason why.
Before the Joining, so much of her life and her love for Helen were things that needed to be kept quiet so that her book readers wouldn’t stop supporting her. Everything down to the very art she creates, is made with others in mind- made with the notion that her queerness is something that can push people away. When the hive took Helen away from Carol, along with all the memories of Carol’s secrets, that ability and consent to share that part of her life with other people was taken from her, forcefully outing her. It’s sad to think that even when almost every person on the planet now knows this secret, Carol still can’t bring herself to consensually share it with the last people on earth- the last of humanity.
It’s also probably why she tried to be so nonchalant when telling Manousos, making it be this passing comment instead of this huge confession. Personally, I think she was quite calculated with how she told him. He, unlike the other survivors, is on her side and is willing to work with her, so I think her telling him in this way was more of a warning, “Here’s this thing about me, it’s not a big deal but if you want to back away from me you can, it’s a big reason why I’m so alone and troubled”. I think it’s really telling however that he is supportive and doesn’t make it this big deal, because he knows and wants for others to have their own agency and personhood.
It all feels so realistic to me. Someone who is in Carol’s position, who outwardly presents as a very ‘protected’ role within society, knows that that protection and community can easily be taken away when the unseen parts of herself are forced out. I think the next season will have Diabete and Lakshimi becoming really important characters and when/how they find out about Carol being a lesbian will be very interesting to watch. Esp since it would probably throw their entire perception of her into disarray- that’s not even mentioning what their reaction to Helen might be.
All this to say, she just feels so human. She hides the one part of herself that might give her community, keeps it hidden because she’s scared of being rejected, only to still be isolated for not sharing it. Her want to have Helen to herself, someone who’s been ripped and torn away from her, all by those who claim to love her, is human. It’s something the hive and most likely every other survivor can’t understand, the loneliness and isolation one feels when their ability to love is forcefully taken from them and dictated.
