Far From Heaven

This movie, in my opinion challenges many things. When looking closely the movie examines race, sexuality, and the idea of "progress". Fanon states, "I move slowly in the world, accustomed now to seek no longer for upheaval. I progress by crawling. And already I am being dissected under white eyes, the only real eyes. I am fixed. ... I feel, I see in those white faces that it is not a new man who has come in, but a new kind of man, a new genus. Why, it's a Negro!" This helps us investigate the significance of race.

The movie obviously is set in the 50's and thus we are familar and easily appalled at the types of discrimination we see. Thinking to ourselves, "Thank God I live in advanced times." However, I strongly believe that Fanon nailed a key issue of the movie when he says, " I am Fixed." Yes the audience can say they live in better times but I would argue that race is still Fixed. Stereotypes work against everyone. The white world has accepted the black man, but not as a man, but a black man. The division is still there (HELLO OMAHA), just because the lines are blurry does not mean they aren't there. This idea of stereotypes transcends just race too. What is the significance of gender?

In the movie, the husband is a gay man. This is a taboo then, and a huge one. However, in today's times is it that much better? Like I said, it may be more accepted. But, take a gay man who does not act "gay" that is hard for people to understand. If a man is not effeminate but gay, it is still a big taboo. Same with a very pretty, feminine lesbian. They are not taken seriously or understood. The pride parade in Omaha is very underground for prejudice reasons. Now what is the significance of kathy?

"I am suggesting that we need to separate gender identification from sexuality, too often conflated in the name of sexual difference." Kathy is a hard person to peg. She possesses both female and male traits. She is also the one pursuing Raymond and it is HER gaze we see, with him being the spectacle. She does not become a man but is able to being a strong woman protagonist. Her desire for Raymond is much like the male gaze. This makes the movie take into question typical gender roles. The man should pursue the woman, yada yada. So, what is the significance of this all?

To me, the movie is a huge statement. It has been some 50 years later and have we really fixed these issues? In the movie it is tragic, she watches him leave on the train. The struggle is over, the characters are fixed. They cannot move. I think it is telling the audience to not let this happen.