Queer Waters
My portfolio is centered around water. Moreover, queer characters and their engagement with water. In the majority of films we screened, each shows oceans, pools, and baths that served as an important component for the character’s storyline. My portfolio aims to share those water-based spaces and why queer characters are often placed near them. I’ve chosen to upload screenshots of scene’s I’ve explored to Tumblr.
I started with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. My main question was why are they on a boat versus a plane? They are well to do women who want the best money can buy, right? The more I watched, the more I realized Dorothy’s “cover” was wanting the attention of men, i.e. the olympic team. She is also “hired” to be Lorelei’s chaperone; it’s not a trip that they have simply decided to take as friends. Perhaps more curious is Dorothy falling into the ship’s pool after being “accidentally” pushed in by the olympic team. If the framing on the final wedding scene didn’t convince you of Dorothy, at least, of being queer, I don’t what will.
In The Talented Mr. Ripley almost the entirety of the second half of the film is spent on water. The characters move to VENICE a town renowned for being built on water. Dickie’s boat “bird” and his fascination with sailing really set me off, especially when Tom, Freddie, and Marge all join him on a sailing trip; who is he really in love with? I thought about the drowned pregnant girl and what her pregnancy meant about her status and visibility in her community. Dickie’s death happened on a boat through a very violent and seemingly sexual killing. He’s literally left floating on a sinking ship in the ocean. The bath scene with Tom and Dickie can not be watched without it providing a sexual subtext. All of these scenes made me further question Dickie’s identity.
I thought a lot about Elaine in The Dying Gaul. Her constant swimming is what really drew me to her. In rewatching, I noticed that she really only exists next to their pool. When Robert is home he does just the same. Their pool reflects onto their house at night and is often shown reflecting off their bed’s pillows. The weird family trip to the beach made me think about queer families and how many of those characters were open in their queerness. I could not come up with queer family rules; what legitimizes them?
Queen Christina was, by far, my favorite. The constant snow was amazing. Her ability to traverse it was even more fascinating. When the Spaniards initially become stuck in the snow it led to questions of their sexualities; they are expanded on through the snowstorm. It made me think a lot about heros and Christina’s disapproval of Prince Charles. I thought a lot about queer heroes and gay icons and where I had watched and related to them growing up. It made me think about what made them heroes. I think in having Christina’s rejection of Charles, it serves her strength in recognizing herself as hero. It’s admirably bold. It’s also appropriate that the film ends on a ship sailing to the “islands of the moon.”
It’s difficult to prove what I found in the water. Many of the characters that I established to be around water most often, Dorothy, Elaine, Tom &Dickie, Christina, were not explicitly queer. I think that has a lot to do with queer visibility and Hollywood’s confusing relationship with queer characters. In thinking about visibility, I turned to the clarity of the characters; they’re intentions are often convoluted. I thought about the shifts in media we are finally seeing (Tangerine, Transparent, ect.) and the “normalization” of queer culture. But then I question if queerdom could, or if it would want to be, “normal.” I think about how the water here does not taste the same as the water at home. I think about how cleansing water can be, our ability to just float on it, or drown in it, or let our problems sink to its’ dark depths. I thought about the differences between clear or murky waters and queer waters and was unable to find any.
