HEAVENLY CREATURES and Queer Violence On screen

37:110) oomingmak 09-DEC-94 0:56

I just saw the film HEAVENLY CREATURES today which I found astoundingly beautiful and disturbing, and wondered what other people thought of it. I'm most curious to hear from you gals4gals, because of the treatment of the relationship between the two girls. Does the grandeur and intensity of their bond make you more forgiving of their crime?

37:113) Jeff M(agic) 09-DEC-94 12:57

To be PC for a moment, w/o having seen it, I am concerned about the stereotyping of gay relationships as unhealthy and leading to violence. It reminds me of the Leopold/Loeb case in the 20's, two young, rich(?), Jewish guys who killed a young boy for the experience. They were at least rumored to be lovers. Clarence Darrow got them off with life, but Loeb was murdered in prison. Leopold survived, a model case of rehabilitation, released in the 60's, wrote his autobiography about the rehab., but nothing about the crime or the relationship. It was fictionalized by a famous novelist, name escapes me, as "Compulsion."

37:114) Jane Derri Doe 09-DEC-94 13:11

How do other people feel about it? I guess I think we live in a culture of violence, it is part of how life and art get made, and I am not sure that covering it up makes for dealing with it. Does that make sense?

37:118) Ladies and Girls, Miss Banji Realness! 10-DEC-94 17:47

Yes, It's a lot like the Leopold and Loeb story (territory so often re-tread, *Rope*, *Swoon*) only the two aren't from the same class and that brings up some interesting issues as well. And I'm not sure the two girls in the film have a bona fide lesbian relationship, a budding lesbian relationship, or just a friendship of staggering intensity. The killing isn't for its own sake, either. It's almost like a straight-bashing.


Back to Lambda Homepage Back to Movies