Far From Heaven

Cathy and Frank seem to have the perfect 1950's relationship. They love each other and they love their kids, but when Cathy discovers Frank's affair with a man, everything begins to fall apart (or fall together?).

In my opinion, Far From Heaven is a very well done film. Todd Haynes, a movie director who is gay, told the story from the viewpoint of Cathy, the housewife, and not Frank, her gay husband. I thought that this was interesting because a man who has probably faced oppression because of his orientation decided to base the movie on the woman and how she is oppressed as a housewife and as an "supporter of the NAACP". There is one scene where the viewer sees Cathy as sexually oppressed; she tries to have sex with her husband and he denies her. Later on, the viewer can tell Cathy is upset by this when all of her friends are talking about how often their husbands want to have sex with them. As a supporter of the NAACP, Cathy finds other "white folk" constantly asking her questions as to why she supports "colored" people. Far From Heaven shows us the racism that was ongoing in the North instead of the South before the Civil Rights Movement. This is very unique - I don't believe I've seen other films that touch on racism from that time period in the North.

The director uses color beautifully to further show Cathy as a person, and the relationships around her. When Cathy is with her husband, she is usually wearing red or blue. In the party scene held at their house, Cathy is wearing red and it was done on purpose. Red signifies fire and passion, and if I were Cathy, I would want my friends to think I was in a very passionate, loving relationship with my husband. When Cathy wears blue around Frank, it shows her unending loyalty to him (even after she finds out he is gay). Surprisingly, blue also represents Heaven.

When Cathy first meets Raymond, she has a lavender colored scarf around her neck. Lavender tends to symbolize grace, elegance, and femininity. When Cathy's scarf blows off of her, it's as if she is loosing the grace and elegance of her high position as the "perfect wife" in the community, not to mention her womanhood. From that point forward, Cathy is looked down on by her neighbors, community, and even her best friend.