For those unsatisfied with CAROL, here are some films you may like more

I enjoyed CAROL, but like quite a few others, I found it to be a little bit underwhelming. It is such a pleasant and beautiful movie, but lacked the passion that I was expecting from it.

For those who say that it was a slow burner, with things boiling under the surface, I will admit that those are my favorite types of movies generally, but I didn't sense the tension that you speak of – at least, not at the level that I was looking for. That said, CAROL is one of my favorites of the lesbian romance film genre.

My full list of romantic lesbian movie favorites goes a little something like this (Order may vary depending on my mood):

1.Losing Chase (1996)
2.Habitación en Roma (2010)
3.Notes on a Scandal (2006)
4.Lianna (1983)
5.Carol (2015)

Other than CAROL, I rarely ever notice these films mentioned in lists of best lesbian films. But I think they are the best and for those of you who haven't seen them, you're missing out. Be sure to check out each of these films – and you will be pleasantly surprised.

This leads me to the question of why was Carol so successful? Because although I like Carol very much, it is not the most passionate or most heartfelt of lesbian films. I would give that honor to the first four films in my list over Carol.

I know it's possible that some of you will comment saying that the films on my list are nowhere near as romantic or passionate as CAROL. And that's fine. Because it just lets me know how different everyone is in their expectations of love and romance, and what arouses one person leaves another unmoved.

Anyway, the thing I find most intriguing in thinking about my favorite lesbian romance films, is why certain things turn me on more than others. For example, the simple kiss scene in LOSING CHASE (1997) is way more arousing to me than the full on love scene in CAROL. Yet, I really couldn't tell you why, except to say that Helen Mirren is a fabulous kisser, ha ha! Or, perhaps it's mostly to do with the dialogue and context. For example, ROOM IN ROME (2010) is full of nudity and love scenes, but it also contained dialogue that is among the most romantic and jovial of all films. And that makes a big difference too!

Also, for me, I have to believe the two main players as a couple. And for them to be attractive to me, there has to be a balance of yen and yang energies. One of them has to be the feminine, while the other one is more androgynous – or masculine, if you will. That's just my personal preference. I think that in same-sex relationships, they work in the same principle as straight relationships, except that rather than there being two sexes, there's two energies of yen and yang. But, in CAROL, rather than there being two energies, there was two of the same yin energy---and they almost seemed like mother and daughter in some scenes rather than lovers or potential lovers.

In the four movies that I listed other than CAROL, the yen and yang energies are present. Whether it be in the style of the characters, or in their respective places in life, you will see from those four movies that one of the characters is definitely the more passive feminine one, while the other is the more active, tomboyish one. Or sometimes, the yen-yang energy takes the form of playfulness versus classiness, young versus old… You see what I mean? This is why a movie like IMAGINE ME AND YOU (2005) was much less arousing and romantic to me than the movies listed here in this post – because in that film, the women were similar ages, similar hairstyles, similar heights, similar looks,… There really was no yen-yang energies between them. And without that, I find a distinct lack of tension and by extension, a lack of romance. Anyone else feel this way?

What do you all think? What is your biggest turn on in a lesbian romance film, and do the love scenes in CAROL satisfy you in that respect? Or, are you like me, in that sometimes a mere kiss can be way more arousing to you than a full love scene (even though you would like to see a full love scene – ha ha!)?

Anyway, to those of you who haven't seen the other films I listed here, please do, cause I definitely recommend them, and to those of you who have seen all or some of the movies on my list, I'd love to know your thoughts on them!




Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!