Lesbians?

Back to Heavenly Creatures:HEAVENLY CREATURES - YEAR 13 VISUAL TEXT

Lesbians? At the time of the trial, ferocious, rabid public condemnation was focussed upon and fuelled by the belief that the girls were lesbians. Jackson and Walsh omit all mention of it from the film, which deals with events up to the immediate aftermath of the murder, and includes nothing about the trial, the publicity or public reaction. By doing this, they deliberately leave the question of the girls' sexual orientation unanswered - at least explicitly. So what does the film suggest? Maybe the girls were lesbians. But maybe they weren't. **Walsh**: "I've had very intense adolescent friendships. They were very positive, affectionate and funny, and I understood to a large degree what was so exciting, so magical about the friendship. And though it ended in a killing, the friendship itself is something people would identify with, particularly women." **Jackson**: "What attracted me to this story was that it was complicated, about two people who are not evil, not psychopaths but totally out of their depth. Their emotions got out of control." Jackson said in another interview that he believes the question of the girls' sexual orientation is a "red herring." This statement should put the viewer on alert. Jackson is surely critical of the kind of simplistic, dogmatic, judgemental moralising that was typical 40 years ago. And maybe he might try to trap the viewer, using red herrings, into simplistic moral posturing. At an early screening of //Heavenly Creatures// where she answered questions, Kate Winslet (Juliet) said she and Melanie Lynskey (Pauline) approached their roles with the attitude that the girls were devoted friends. They acted out exploratory heterosexual romantic fantasies. At times, one partner was a surrogate or stand-in for the (male) object of desire. She also mentioned that the girls were very sexually naive and innocent. In an interview, Melanie Lynskey and Sarah Peirse stated that "the film portrays the girls' relationship as innocent love." Lynskey went on to say that when Juliet was arrested she was asked if they had had a sexual relationship, and she said, 'How could we? We're both women.'   The issue of homosexuality is raised by Dr Hulme, and made explicit in a brilliant scene, where, nasty and manipulative, he throws all the blame for the “unwholesome” relationship on Pauline. Honora is quick on the uptake; Bert doesn’t understand.   Dr Bennet’s diagnosis is based on the flimsiest of evidence.   The music suggests Pauline falls in love with Juliet, if the lush Mario Lanza songs are to be seen as indicative of her emotional state. BUT   Her strongest, most abiding daydream is to be Juliet’s sister. Look at the scene where Hilda brushes her hair; later - “the Hulmes will look after me; they want me to live with them.” She refers to Dr H as “Father”; in the ship sequences, “Mother” is Hilda Hulme. She comforts Juliet, offering her the sort of affection she is starved for in her own family.   Although she is Charles to Juliet’s Deborah, in her own fantasies, she is Gina – with Nicholas and later Diello.   She is excited about John’s feelings for her, and goes after him; her disillusion could be that he is clumsy **or** that he is not Juliet. Either the film puts its money on both horses, or it strews red herrings about to muddy that water, but opts for the relationship being more sisterly than sexual. [the //HC// website discusses the issue of their relationship in great detail.] 