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3.1.11.4 "Red Herrings" - misleading clues.
** Is there a misleading 'example' of a lesbian
in the film?
The girls' gym teacher conformed to all the classic stereotypes that society would
have held at the time for a lesbian, including her build, bearing, appearance, manner and
occupation. The girls in the school, if they took note, might well have speculated about
the gym teacher's sex life. Modern eyes certainly note these clues planted by Jackson. The
gym teacher is probably a deliberate "red herring." This one points a finger (or
fin) at an 'obvious' lesbian as if to say 'if you are going to look for lesbians in this
film then they are clearly going to look like this woman because this is what a lesbian
looks like, right?' The girls bore little resemblance to the gym teacher so, by inference,
they cannot have been lesbians, according to the logic of this red herring.
** Is Pauline's name used as a red herring?
Probably. The familiar contraction she preferred was the decidedly masculine
'Paul.' Mrs. Hulme pronounced it with just the right preceding pause and raised eyebrow,
when first introduced to Pauline, to indicate that she noted its suspicious masculinity.
'Paul' clearly preferred it to her full name and to her safely-feminine 'family' name,
Yvonne. Even her schoolmates called her 'Paul,' when they weren't ignoring her.
** Didn't Pauline pretend to be Charles?
Yes, in several scenes, including Diello's birth scene. She also
wrote love letters to Deborah, as Charles. And Charles was, of course, a man. But given
the lighthearted tone of the scenes where Pauline pretends to be Charles, Jackson probably
intends those scenes to be red herrings, not really proving that Pauline was a lesbian but
simply illustrating the rich imaginations of the girls. And Pauline did not assume the
identity of Charles in her own Borovnian visions, but the identity of the very feminine
and heterosexual Gina. Similarly, Pauline's letter writing is also portrayed, initially,
as just a "brilliant idea" to cheer up Juliet. Jackson seems to interpret
Pauline's adopting the pen-name of Charles to be insignificant, in terms of her sexual
orientation, and he offers this as a red herring, too.
** Didn't Pauline pretend to be Lancelot
Trelawney?
Yes. But this was a very light-hearted scene.
** What other 'masculine' traits were given to
Pauline?
Other vintage-'54 'Pauline was masculine' red herrings: We are told Pauline liked
woodworking. We never see her engaged voluntarily in 'feminine' pursuit of the culinary
arts, and all of her activity in the kitchen was reluctant and cursory, her housework
begrudging. She was a sloppy, dowdy, 'unfeminine' dresser, especially in her school
uniform. The bloody carnage in her art work at school--hacked limbs, severed heads, death
and mayhem--is more consistent with the art of an adolescent boy. She read
"Biggles" war stories beloved of generations of British- Empire schoolboys, and
pretended to be a fighter pilot.
** What about Pauline's 'diagnosis' by Dr
Bennett?
Dr Bennett's interrogation was ludicrously superficial: "Do you... like ...
girls, Pauline?" "No." "Why not?" "They're silly."
"But Juliet's not silly, is she?" "...No!...". His diagnosis of
"h-h-homo-sexuality" in Pauline can probably be taken to be a red herring.
Jackson is being facetious here, letting us see how simplistic even 'learned' opinion was
at the time. Indirectly, for the benefit of the aficionado (and if you are reading this,
you are one...), he is also planting doubts about the accuracy and usefulness of the
copious psychological testimony which took up more than half of the real-life trial.
** Are there any 'Pauline is heterosexual' red
herrings?
Yes. The most obvious one is the way Pauline's parents reacted to John-the-boarder.
They assumed that Pauline was hopping wantonly into bed with him behind their backs, ergo
she was obviously heterosexual. The second one, on the surface of it, was the way Pauline
rushed back into John's bed. Both Mr. Rieper and John would have stated that Pauline was a
'normal,' albeit lusty, girl. Her reasons may have been more complicated than this,
however.
** Are there any red herrings for Juliet?
Juliet also painted violent scenes. She, too, read "Biggles" books and
pretended to be a fighter pilot. And there were the love letters she wrote, as Deborah,
back to Pauline, of course. On the surface of her letters, they would obviously point to
Juliet being the lesbian lover of Pauline. Too simple.
