Far From Heaven: Blackness, Marginalizatoin and Washboard Abs

Far From Heaven rocked my world with Dennis Quaid’s washboard abs, the All-State guy’s soothing voice and of course Julian Moore with a haircut that just doesn’t work for her. I’m a very shallow movie watcher, this we know to be true. Although, I did, through sheer willpower, I made myself pay attention to two things in the film. The use of color and what the use of colors even means. I suppose really it is paying attention to one thing and then expanding on it, but I’m really reaching here.

(What are you talking about with colors? You do know those mushrooms that your roommate keeps in his desk are NOT for your pizza, right?)

First, the intentional use of different lighting filters in different sequences is very clear throughout the film. For example, when Captain Washboard Abs (Quaid but from now on known as CWA) first ventures into the gay-bar (is there a better word for that? Alternative Lifestyle Hangout? That is waaaaaay too long. I’m sticking with gay-bar…which sounds like a delicious German treat…goodness I’ve stumbled far from my original thought.) the whole room is lit by a green hue. This green hue returns when Julianne Moore finds CWA philandering in his office. (Also sidenote: philandering is a word I don’t use nearly enough.) This hue continues throughout the film and seems to represent a shame of sorts. Whenever a character is acting outside of the role that has been assigned to them by society, it appears. The blue hue is the other hue that appears multiple times throughout the film. We see it when a character (typically CWA) is in the dark, grappling with their role in the world.

(Alright, I’ll bite, so if these colors signify different things, what does the film itself say about roles?)

So Fanon talks in his piece “The Fact of Blackness” about how his blackness is viewed through a lens comparing it to whiteness. He talks about cannibalism and slavery for a while, but when he finally calms down with the histrionics and makes a point, he makes a valid one. CWA is just as marginalized as say All-State guy is. He would be viewed poorly and treated badly because of his homosexuality, but the difference is he is capable of hiding it. Fanon very obtusely compares his blackness to the plight of Jews throughout the world and while I hold contention with some of the things he said, his overall point his true. Blackness is not something that can be hidden. Furthermore, blackness has a role assigned with it
and when a black man acts outside of those roles, as All-State did, there is an outcry. Eventually, that outcry led to All-State’s removal .

Essentially, there are many marginalized groups. If you aren’t a white, protestant, wealthy male, you probably fall into one of them. However, only a few are very apparent -- as apparent as the light of the room in a scene or the color of one’s skin.


The most important question this film made me ask is two-fold: how many situps does Dennis Quaid do a day and why wasn’t he cast as King Leonidus in 300?

Seriously. I want to meet this man's trainer.