The lesbian community has been feeling all the feels this week after Carol didn’t get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture (it did get Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and two acting nods, though).
Sure, it’s upsetting. Carol was a beautiful piece of storytelling. The naysayers will say it’s an age-old story of forbidden love that has been told a hundred times before, and at this point, lesbians are no longer groundbreaking.
To that I answer that of course it’s a story we’ve heard before; the film is based on a pulp fiction novel from the 50s. What is important about Carol is that it finally provides a traditional holiday love story about two women. It has finally brought representation to an “age-old” tale. For the rest of ever, there will be a well-made film about lesbians that isn’t just a three-hour sex scene (looking at you, Blue Is the Warmest Color).
For the rest of ever, lesbians get to have representation among the Love Actuallys and White Christmases of the world, and that is worth so much more than a Best Picture nomination. If you haven’t seen Carol yet, go see it immediately. You will not be disappointed.
Cover image courtesy of The Guardian.
comments