Showing up late to the party, dressed for casual luncheon, no fancy chaffeur, purse hanging open as she does that little fast walk thing people do when crossing the street and the timer is winding down.
lesbians will be like "I can't watch straight shows, I can never tell the men apart. anyways, now let me go watch my favourite lesbian period drama, with all my favorite characters: Anne, Ann, Aunt Anne, Marian, Mariana, Mary Ann, Anne-Marie, Marianne-Ann, Ann-Anne, and Mary-Marian-Ann-Mary."
(yes I'm lesbians)
Due to today's/tomorrow's storm, we'll sadly be missing our annual Carol viewing at the Metrograph. If anyone is interested in a pair of center seats for Friday, December 23, please message me!
HACKS 1.07 “Tunnel of Love”
she
Why did we never get such nice things?
A League of Their Own is finally out today. Time to ignore all the reviews by men who don't get it.
Sure, it's been five years since I updated, but the latest chapter of A String of Pearls has been posted. Still one more to go, much of it written while I was in England. Time for some copy editing!
Some fascinating writing updates under the cut for those interested in more information
These are not display Kit Kats on this trolley.
The Warehouse 13 fandom welcomes the Stranger Things fandom with open arms over the shared trauma of "Running Up That Hill."
Boy was Highsmith a character in real life from the sounds of things. I probably wouldn't have approached her with a ten foot pole. Just looked from afar :D Love the story though! I always felt the film presented a softer, more palatable romantic version of the story. Having now read more about Highsmith, her book Carol may have captured something more of Catherwoods personality than I had first thought.
Everything about the personalities in The Price of Salt are related in some way to Highsmith and her lovers/acquaintances. Everyone is this fascinating amalgamation of late 1940s New York.
[I drove through Ridgewood last week and just had a big gush of sadness passing by... and not because it was Sunday and everything in Bergen County is closed.]
Fun tidbit - Scottish Gaelic: An Àird meaning "The High Place"
This all still goes back to the whole Nordic v. Eastern European peoples characterization in The Price of Salt. Way too much to unpack there...
Still wondering what Carol's maiden name was. I love Phyllis Nagy's thought that it's Ross. I originally went with Reed (movie dork joke), but did change it to Ross about a month after I wrote some of Built for Two. Ross also being an English/Norman/Scottish/Gaelic name for mossy bog people from the moors or something along those lines.
If Patricia Highsmith were alive today, and say, she were to write another lesbian romance novel, do you think she would write under “Claire Morgan” ? Or do you think she’d be comfortable with todays generations to release her name under the books title?
Hell, if Patricia Highsmith were writing today, she would have to come up with yet another pseudonym because her ass would be dragged Rowling-style for:
- Antisemitism
- Racism
- Misogyny
- and definitely much more!
While we're at it, to learn more about the younger, late 1940s-early 1950s Highsmith, I highly recommend this new graphic novel about her that came out a couple weeks ago:
Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer.
BWAH! well thank you E for answering all those questions. A little thinky thought, who else could you see portray Carol Aird on the big screen? It can be an actress from any era. Gena Rowlands maybe?
You ask loaded questions, @syneidisi. I focus on the old stuff, so here they go, complete with Wiki links. No particular order.
Yays: Lauren Bacall Carole Lombard Barbara Stanwyck Katharine Hepburn Greta Garbo Deborah Kerr Alida Valli Lana Turner Gena Rowlands Simone Signoret Grace Kelly Joan Fontaine Marlene Dietrich Gloria Grahame Norma Shearer
Nays: Jean Harlow Judy Garland Loretta Young Jean Arthur Hedy Lamarr Claudette Colbert Vivien Leigh Bette Davis Joan Crawford Ingrid Bergman Lucille Ball Margaret Sullavan Judy Holliday Shirley MacLaine Marilyn Monroe Olivia de Havilland Doris Day Veronica Lake Janet Leigh Celia Johnson
I mean, yeah, there are wigs and all, but have you seen Judy Garland as a ginger? Vivien Leigh as a blonde? [Yeah, it's a black-and-white film, but still... unholy.] Nope.
where do you think at some point in the book or film where carol actually falls in love with therese?
Oh, that’s a good one! I’m going to go with Movie!Carol to start with because that it is the freshest in mind. In doing a swift replay in my mind, scene-by-scene, my best guess is that it was somewhere on the road trip. Before the road trip, we only see Carol happy and smiling when she is around Abby (think of the suitcase at the bar) and tossing back some serious martini. The happiness around Rindy is always clouded with the worries of things to come with Harge. Even when we see her with Therese beforehand, gifting her the suitcase and the camera, I wouldn’t say that bit is love... more encouragement.
[And don’t forget the cost of that camera! And the entire trip! Mamma mia!]
When do we actually get happy, laughing Carol again? It’s on the road, quietly spending time with Therese and trying to get that friggin’ coat off. All that unshared conversation we never heard.
Thank you for the question!
What does Therese mean by “it’s nothing like that, I mean Richard would like to marry me” in response to Carol asking if she lives alone? What is the “that” Carol seems to be suggesting? I’ve never quite understood this line!
Please see here, dearest anon :-)
Criterion, Mubi, whoever's listening, we're still waiting for those extras. Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson are just the chaotic energy I never knew I needed to see. There's a livestream where they talked about the bar scene. Apparently there's takes with real martini's that, well, you can probably guess how that went. Plus talk of merkins
*cough, cough* @criterioncollection
Must be my allergies...
From the film, there's the argument Carol has with Harge over Rindy spending Christmas with her. It takes place while Therese is playing records. Harge says something along the lines of "I put nothing past women like you". Carol's reply is "You married a woman like me". I didn't quite understand what Harge was getting at. Did he mean a woman who didn't just wait on their husband hand and foot? A woman who argued back? Or was he aware to some degree she preferred women before they married??
What's scary is that I answered this same question six years ago. Yes, six human years ago. How has it been that long? Look at all the things that have happened!
In short though, I have always taken the response to be Harge knew the situation before they married.
Please read my response to an anon's "I don't get what Harge means in the film when he says 'I put nothing past women like you, Carol'. Is he referring to what he views as 'difficult' women?"
You're right, it was a glider! Recently binge watched Julia Child's The French Chef. Do you think Therese or Carol would have watched her?
If I vaguely recall correctly from The Price of Salt, Book!Carol was never that much into food. One of those Anderson Cooper "eat only to live" types. I think Highsmith was that way too. Where is the joy (of cooking) in that?
That has been the toughest thing about writing this series is NOT going on about food and cuisine of the the 1920s onward. I love the foods and love the cookings and love everything about travel and food at the same time. It's really weird to write all of this and not share my love of cooking and food.
I mean, the lady takes her ingénue on a first (glove) lunch date and has Creamed Spinach and Poached Egg. My now wife would have probably left me at Eataly has I attempted to order something like this on our first meal out together.
That said, I think The French Chef would have been of great appeal to Carol's social circle. I mean, Julia Child being a [fellow] Smithie and all. Well, fellow at least in terms of what I have written. And it was PBS. Carol and Therese would have been total Channel 13 nerds.
As I wrote all of this up, I have had a persistent scowl on my face, expressing utmost displeasure at ignoring the foods of yore.
Have you ever wondered if Marilyn Monroe would have caught Therese's attention? Abby being Abby would have plenty to tease Therese (and Carol) with. One last thing for the weekend, if you haven't already check out A Misunderstanding by theindoorbutch. Safe to say they, well, get railed to Tuesday (or was it Sunday? Monday??) heavens knows, Grecian goddess and all
I am pretty sure Some Like It Hot (1959) dir. Billy Wilder would have been on both their radars. That movie is pure gold and stands the test of time. [Big shoutout to the Del on Coronado and the NASNI fliers playing volleyball.]
Thank you for the reading recommendation; however, I am just not in the habit of really reading anything online these days. For those out there interested, here is a link to the work in question by theindoorbutch.