MovieChat Forums > Caged (1950) Discussion > Lesbian themes

Lesbian themes

posted 11 years ago by Tickerage
9 replies | jump to latest

I don't mean this to be derogatory and know that every person is different, but there were some pretty striking lesbian themes here, from the "new fish" moniker, to Elvira wanting Marie, to the line: "if you stay in here too long, you don't think of guys at all - you just get out of the habit." There is also the shower scene, Elvira calling Marie pretty, and Marie becoming strikingly more masculine in voice, tone and attitude after she submits to Elvira.

On a personal note, a lesbian I used to work with insisted on being called Harper, though that was not her name. I now think it was because of this film. Further a lesbian who lives in my building now holds her head, talks in a similar tone, and uses many of the mannerisms from this film. Again, I am not trying to stereotype and am not judging at all. I just want to say that I was frankly blown away by the similarities to lesbians I have known and what I saw in this movie. This movie is like Lesbianism 101, or something. That sounds awful, but it is not meant in a mean spirited way. Just my honest observation.

Lastly, perhaps it is her connection to this film that may have started rumors that Agnes Moorehead was a lesbian. I have heard those rumors as I am a big fan of hers, but I never had any idea what the basis for them was.

At least there will be plenty implied.

[–] dtoddmiller 10 years ago

You find and highlight (nearly) every stereotype of a lesbian woman, but claim you are not stereotyping. Really...?!?

[–] Tickerage 10 years ago

Just my observations and thoughts. If you disagree or have an issue with anything that I said, please be specific and engage. I am honestly curious. I couldn't have written that with more kid gloves or more respectfully and again, I am not trying to offend, just citing what was in the film.

At least there will be plenty implied.

[–] k-gage 8 years ago

op you are right. just watching this now. there are many allusions to lesbianism in this movie. which only makes sense as that's how it is in prison. were it made today, it would be totally "in your face", unfortuneately

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 8 years ago

Maybe "new fish" was used because it's a film about a woman's prison (as in, Lap Flounder), but "new fish" seems to be a staple of Almost all prison films, possibly for "fish out of water"?

[–] samoanjoes (58610) 7 years ago

I think she's straight. Her name IS Agnes "Moorehead" after all. I'm sorry, I'll leave.

[–] samoanjoes (58610) 6 years ago

There were obvious lesbian tones in the film.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

of course there would be

[–] nufsaid16 (700) 3 years ago

Moorehead was a lesbian in real life, but she kept it on the low, I guess. She was really good as the warden, and was a great actress anyway. And, yeah, there are big-time allusions to lesbianism in Caged---the parts you mentioned in particular. The film is different in that it was one of the very few prison films to take a serious look at life inside a woman's prison, the institution itself, how the prisoners were treated there, the difficulties of getting any funding to run the prison better, and all of that. Very good drama, that still holds up decades after its release. Plus Eleanor Parker's performance is the main reason I watched this again---she was a really good actress who decided after a while that she wasn't interested in being a movie star, and just would rather be a good character actress. Her biggest known film is The Sound of Music, so she was in at least one huge well-known box office hit, though. Saw this film when I was a kid, and was impressed by it. I find it even better as an adult.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) 3 years ago

In every prison, where one sex is kept separate from the other, there will be homosexuality.

I'm not sure why you apologize for mentioning lesbianism in a women's prison. Lol. That's just part of life in prison. And in men's prison there is homosexuality as well.

From my experience, most heterosexuals of either gender will explore homosexuality to some extent in prison.

But be careful not to conflate masculinity with lesbianism.