i haven't read the book, yet, but from what i can see by viewing the movie is that nicole kidman and julianne moore's characters weren't lesbians, they just admired the other girl so much they wanted to be like her, so the kiss was some way to become them.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
You know, I thought the same thing as you, however, I saw an interview by Julianne Moore given by James Lipton at the Inside the Actors Studio program, and he asked her about the kiss and why her character did it. Moore responded that her character did it because 'she was in love with her.' It took me by surprise because I didn't see it like that at all, but instead (both Kidman and Moore's character) as a way to connect with others due to their depression/desperation.
"for every lie i unlearn
i learn something new." ani d.
I'm really surprised that Julianne Moore said that, too. Did she just not get it? It was always pretty clear to me that she kissed her out of desperation and loneliness.
sharePerhaps Moore is drawing on the material from the novel? In the book it delves more deeply into Laura Brown's infatuation with Kitty. But I think it's also this ambiguity with love. Clarissa, we can safely say, is in love with Richard. But she also loves Sally. It's thus so difficult to categorise love, and the ideology of being in love.
Reading: The Hours
Watched: The Runaways
She got it perfectly, I haven't read the book but in her movie the character is a lesbian, sorry.
shareIf you read a biography about Virginia Woolf you will find that it is said that Virginia and her siblings were bisexual and enjoyed "gay/bisexual" gatherings.
I do think the women in the movie were meant to have bisexual tendencies.
Yes, that is true about Woolf.
"for every lie i unlearn
i learn something new." ani d.
"as a way to connect with others due to their depression/desperation."
You got it backwards. Moore's character was depressed and desperate because she was a lesbian at a time when she couldn't live that life openly.
That's too pat, I think. One thing the novel is brilliant at is recognizing the fluidity of sexuality. Richard, for example, slept with Louis and Clarissa in the same summer.
Sure, we can infer that Laura's a lesbian, which is a neat little box to check off that eliminates all potential grey areas. Or we can delve into the richness of those areas instead, which I think is closer to what Laura was doing - grabbing at possibilities, trying to find what was authentic and healing, as opposed to the life she was living.
Hell, you can be attracted to one sex or the other for ten minutes in your whole life, then never feel it again. Too confining to try to label it - it's all in the category of "human".
^Spot on. I think she kissed her on an act of desperation, but also love. She was desperate for authenticity, and I think she authentically loved Kitty.
share