MovieChat Forums > The Children's Hour (1961) Discussion > What do Lesbians think? *Spoilers*

What do Lesbians think? Spoilers

posted 18 years ago by MovieBuff1414
27 replies | jump to latest

I am a lesbian and i personally was terrified and devastated by this film. Mostly, because it was when i was 15 and had just found out that i was gay and barely had anyone to confide in (of course, after indulging in more progressive gay and lesbian culture and becoming involved in the community, i realized that being who you are shouldn't have to trap you).
It was the scene where the character admitted to herself that she was in love with her friend and began to have a breakdown. Saying that she corrupt her and that she was disgusting.
I am proud of who i am and do not think of it as abnormal or something that i should have to hide or shove into other people's faces, but that scene, even now, a year after coming out, it still gets to me. I still cry, almost uncontrollably, even though i'm not ashamed the way the character is.

Are other lesbians affected by this movie in the same way and why do you think you are?

[–] agnuc 17 years ago

I loved it ! I mean yes i was devastated by this film, and nearly crying when Maclain blames herself for being in love with her friend and so for for being responsible. But this film doesn't make me sad at all, on the contrary i think it's full of hope ! The film shows how a stupid rumor could break one person's life, and how homosexuality was seen. The reaction from the people of the town is scary ! But the film takes the other side, i mean it clearly stands against those old stupid thoughts.

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[–] twilightfun 17 years ago

Don't feel so bad. Straight guy I am and all, I cried too. [shrugs]

Hey, it's a f___ great film. What can I say?

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[–] KatharynRKing 17 years ago

Interesting comments.

I don't know, this film devastates and astounds me--it moves me to tears to see Martha breakdown during her confession.

I have been there. I did the exact same things, said the same things when I fell in love with my best friend (who was straight-ish). It was very difficult to move on from that and our friendship never felt the same. And then I moved. Her problems were solved. No more lesbianic crushes to deal with.

But I didn't kill myself..but it was still courageous of Martha to admit how she felt..come to terms with it. The sad part is that she blamed herself. She exclaims that she feels "so damn sick and dirty" and that she "can't stand it anymore".

How terribly lonesome. How tragic. *tears*

But I love it.....I love the mystery at the end...before she kills herself....in those moments when Karen is out walking around....she has this look on her face as though something changed....

And then it is just....................heartbreaking to see that shadowy silhouette of Martha hanging in her bedroom. Terribly tragic.

I cry. Every time. And yet, I can't help but watch that confession scene over and over and over again. And I think to myself, "hey, I went through that..." It's amazing. Shirley did SO well. I think I'm going to do that scene with a friend of mine for the first fall compeition.

The film has this sense of catharsis at the end...sort of like The Crucible.

~*~La Vie N'Existe Pas Sans L'Amour~*~

***STAR TREK FANS, VISIT: www.usscathexis.com***

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] hodie 15 years ago

<The other thing to think about is--what bearing does all this have on Mary's future sexuality. Perhaps she might turn out to be a lesbian herself!!!!>

mhearn, the only thing I see in Mary's future is a prison term. Hopefully a long one, and not for anything related to homosexuality (I find that a prissy term but I can't think of a better word). She's a little psychopath.

Funny that you relate to Mary, since Mary was a bully. She was no outsider; everyone was dancing to her tune to persecute Karen and Martha, so I see her as the ULTIMATE insider pulling all the strings. She CHOSE to lie. Gay kids don't choose their sexual identities, and I would think that, kids being as cruel as they can be, gay kids would be targeted for bullying.

But that's my unimportant opinion. I remember your name from elsewhere on imdb and if I never see you again, I wanted to say that I enjoy your posts when I happen to see one of them.

God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety

[–] noname1479 13 years ago

Funny you should bring up Mary becoming a lesbian when she grows up. You just gave me a thought. Sometimes children know which gender they are attracted to at an early age. I certainly did. Maybe Mary was attracted to other girls and that's how she had the presence of mind to tell her aunt she saw her teacher's kissing. Mary was a tough little girl, and some might read into that a tomboy.

[–] ejs8882000 11 years ago

"...Mary becoming a lesbian when she grows up."

Well, isn't the word "become" kind of the wrong term? It makes it seem like it's a choice when it's not.

[–] lasue73 16 years ago

Soon after reading your post i happened to find this clip of Shirley MacLaine talking about the specific scene you're talking about.
VERY interesting -especially what she says about when she and Audrey Hepburn rehearsed for this.
Also, the young woman at the end of the clip talks about what you were asking, basically.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=429gotnYSt0

[–] PrariWolf 16 years ago

I didn't see it as Martha's killing herself because she was gay. So many people STILL, at first, feel the way she did, because they are ignorant about what it means to be gay, and brainwashed that it is inherently evil. Most find out the facts and get over that initial reaction and go on to have happy lives and relationships. But Martha told Karen how she felt, and as she watched this woman walking down the path away from her, she believed her feelings could not be returned. Mind you, she told Karen she'd never felt this way about anyone else, male OR female. So she'd just not only come to a shocking self-realization, but to the depressing conclusion that the intensely desireable "soul-mate" love of her life was never going to feel that way in return.

OTOH, Karen had the boyfriend who wanted her, but she pushed him away; first with a long engagement and then with a rather flimsy excuse of his always wondering if the supposed affair were true. If that were the case, why didn't she get back together with him? IMHO her reluctance to marry him foreshadowed that she would find an excuse to drop him in the end, whatever happened, if Martha wasn't at her side too.

I think that was the realization Karen had during her walk just before the suicide. Just a little change of expression that made her rush back, only minutes too late to tell Martha that she felt the same way and thought it was just peachy. Then at Martha's funeral, she walked away from them all, not giving a damn what any one of them thought of her. It looked to me like Karen was the stronger one in many ways - more together, more impervious to hurt and shame and hypocrisy. So, even though she didn't get her "soul-mate" (Martha) either, she would take this new knowledge and make a new, confident life for herself.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] hunozthtiluvu 16 years ago

mikedonn71,
that is some very good thought!!!!

I don't intend to be offensive, but I have to defend my opinions.

[–] soulqt 15 years ago

As a same gender loving individual, the scene I am affected by in this movie is Martha explaining her realization of loving Karen. During this year 2008, I had realized my feelings for females (in general), explaining to myself and parents (to them on National Coming Out Day- Oct. 11). So when Martha explains of not understanding her feelings and having the feeling of loving Karen possibly from the first time of seeing her, I can very much relate.
*The Children's Hour is my most favorite movie of all time.

[–] hodie 15 years ago

I'm not a lesbian, but I was alive in that time.

I don't know how old you are, but if you're under 30, be grateful you didn't grow up in those times. Because pretty much everyone, gay, straight or unsure, was taught from childhood that there was something evil or unnatural or unholy about homosexuality. There was a lot of fear born of a lot of ignorance. It was hidden from so many people.

Think how horrified some of those people were, when they discovered that *they* were sexually attracted to people of their own sex. I can't even imagine what that must have been like.

God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] SneakySam32 15 years ago

Bible this, God that...Did anybody ever told you that you are a complete dick?

"The only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair."

[–] Patrick_Bateman718 15 years ago

God doesn't say anything and has never said anything. Men wrote the bible.

[–] cathy-creswell 10 years ago

I'm straight, and grew up in the 60's. I have always been a rampant tomboy, getting scornful looks at times. The day I wore my Star Trek shirt and said I wanted to be a vulcan made my brother so upset he said I was queer. That word was always used when someone was so strange they should be shunned. I was too young to understand sex, or gayness, but his words stung me to the core. I never wore that shirt again, I didn't want to be seen as queer.

In the 70's, sitcoms toyed with having gay characters as periferal subjects. They were nearly always flamboyant and dated only for the fun and sex. Many of us got our ideas about gays from these shows. In the 50's and 60's the gays were tragic and died horrible deaths, as a warning or punishment.

Then in the 70's gays were viewed as hedonistic, bitchy sex maniacs, not quite like the rest of us, but we should tolerate them anyways. Then AIDS in the 80's changed all that. It seemed gay men were being punished for their unnatural sex. The public outrage and shunning opened up the hidden homophobia in all of us. We had to take sides it seemed, declare our feelings about gays. I got messy and ugly.

Media has a way of telling all of us how we should think, feel and act. It's an extension of society as a whole. It takes the place of my brother, casting a scornful look, or telling us we should approve. I always hoped we would grow into a world where gays could marry and have children without fear. We are getting there, but this film stands as a cultural milestone, reminding us where we once were.

If the pain gays feel is anything like the self reproach and fear I felt that day, then they deserve to be liberated from it. No one should feel ashamed for simply being what they are. I'll wear that Vulcan shirt in pride form now on, maybe a pair of ears is in order.

[–] lialearnstorock 8 years ago

I know I reply your comment after more than seven years. lol.

But I'm in my mid 20s and I just watched this great movie, and the whole time I kept thinking, "What did people take after this movie when it was released? What were their reactions?"
Because I know by that time things like this were rather a taboo to be discussed let alone made into movies.

Was thinking I would scroll on every discussion page of this movie if there's a thread asking about the same question here and to get the answer, and then I found your post.
Would you please enlighten me about it?

So was it a controversial? And was this movie a hit? Or if this movie was being condemned or anything. Or was it just a so-so, or people actually went to see it merely for Hepburn. I just wanna know. :)

Thank you.

"I am a Knight, and Cersei is a Queen,"

[–] rstory-3 15 years ago

Hello Moviebuff1414:

I'm in my late fifties now and remember in my youth how gays were thought of and treated. You could be fired from your job if you were discovered as gay. You were not welcome anywhere. There were even doctors who said homosexuality was a mental disorder. A lot of people say that it is against God because it is in the Bible. Well people have used that book to defend many ignorant ideas. The poor Bible is misinterpeted so much and people use it for their own ends that it has just about lost its value.

As you know it has changed, but very little. Gay marriage is still being fought. And I am sure there will be those who will find some way to defend these ignorant ideals.

In the United States we had to fight a war that killed hundreds of thousand young men to end slavery and women had to fight for their right to vote alongside men. For a country that is based on liberty we have a bad record for handing out civil rights for all.

As for the film, what effected me most was how cruel the young girl was. It is hard for me to imagine anyone so young doing such terrible things. But psychopathic behavior is not limited to adults.

Waffles Anyone
rstory-3
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731

[–] 15 years ago

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