MovieChat Forums > The World of Henry Orient (1964) Discussion > Marian 'Gil' does she have 2 Moms?

Marian 'Gil' does she have 2 Moms?

posted 16 years ago by antimusick
6 replies | jump to latest

I had to watch it a few times but when Marians Mother character is introduced when she comes home from school she come in the basement kitchen door and calls out Mom, then she goes upstairs and one of the two answers her as she says Mom and then she addresses the other woman as Mother ... also the two women say they are divorced but the one is cooking and seems to always be there. I'm just saying that in today's time it looks like Marian has a Lesbian Mother...

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] PretoriaDZ 15 years ago

I don't know why everyone always has to put a sexual connotation on living situations. I have, many times in my life, had friends as roommates, both male and female, and they were not my lover. Sharing a home means someone to notice when you are sick, share the price of rent and groceries with, and watch a great old movie (like TWOHO).

[–] funkyfry 14 years ago

I think it probably was a lesbian relationship, but they couldn't really show that in the film back then. Since they couldn't show it and they barely implied it, I think it's fair to say that either interpretation is valid and ultimately it doesn't really affect the story.

Did I not love him, Cooch? MY OWN FLESH I DIDN'T LOVE BETTER!!! But he had to say 'Nooooooooo'

[–] EllisFowler 12 years ago

Of COURSE they were lesbians. Because after all, EVERYONE is gay and EVERY form of entertainment has subliminal gay overtones. Boothy's crush on John Barrymore is just a fluke, undoubtedly due to the fact that she'd divined he was gay and therefore safe.

Irritation with this nonsense aside, unlike the book (which had an unhappy ending...probably because there were no lesbians), we're given to infer that Val's dad and Gil's mom are going to get together. I always hoped Val and her dad would migrate to the Gilbert brownstone and that Boothy wouldn't be evicted after the wedding.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] EllisFowler 8 years ago

I'm just saying that in today's time it looks like Marian has a Lesbian Mother...

Did you know that Nora Johnson has a website? To put paid to this, one way or another, I wrote and asked her. Her reply follows. She had had an accident and apologized for her typos, which were (mostly) corrected for this post.

"Oh, dear. (and please excuse writing from a recent invalid.) Boothy and Val's mother were NOT lovers. 2 women often lived together [for] financial reasons or just companionship. It was during WW2 [the novel's time frame] and apartments were scarce. Crushes in actors were also common - maybe the result of the society - but nobody thiought twice about it - esp. teen-age virgin girls which almost all of us were. Actually the idea of homosexuality in their world made me smile. How things have changed!"

In addition, I seriously doubt that it was the intention of the producers, in 1964, to "update" Miss Johnson's work.