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3.1.11.6 Conclusions about the relationship
** What were the girls' stated sexual
preferences?
When the girls were on the beach at Port Levy, imagining Charles' and Deborah's
wedding night, Pauline imagined Charles "ravishing her!" Juliet responded:
"Oh, yes! I bet she gets up the duff their first night together." This and many
other romantic imaginings mentioned by the girls seem like enthusiastic endorsement of
heterosexual sex. They often placed themselves in erotic heterosexual situations in their
Borovnian reveries. On the face of it, this kind of statement would also fly in the face
of the assertion that the girls were sexually ignorant or naive. Deleted scenes from the
early draft of the screenplay have the girls discussing sex more frequently and more
graphically, and they discuss the sex manuals that were part of Hilda Hulme's 'family
planning' and counseling activities at the Marriage Guidance Council. This could have just
indicated interest in sex, not knowledge of it, of course. Obviously, the filmmakers chose
to portray the girls' sexual innocence in a more explicit way in the final release version
of the film. However, when faced with the physical reality of sex, the girls' preferences
became more ambiguous. For example, Pauline was clearly very ill-prepared for her sexual
encounter with John; she had some vague, idealized notions that had nothing, really, to do
with sex. And she was probably motivated more by a desire to defy her parents than by
physical desire for John. The whole process was profoundly unpleasant in the extreme for
her, and even quite traumatic. See 3.1.16.11 for more on this scene. This experience was
not to become a ringing endorsement of sex with boys. But did this bad heterosexual
experience drive Pauline into Juliet's understanding arms? Apparently not, or at least not
for about one whole year. It was a very critical scene. However, nearly one year later,
Pauline described her sexual experiences with Juliet in completely different terms from
the way she had described her encounter with John--with Juliet it was "Wonderful!
Heavenly! Beautiful! and Ours!" Pauline was certainly in a position to compare and
contrast, and her preference seems pretty clear from her comments. Unless, of course, she
really couldn't tell the difference between Juliet and the Saints of her imagination.
Juliet's preferences or comments aren't stated explicitly. We only have her expressions to
read. When she makes love to Pauline, they are clearly ones of tenderness and pleasure
but, ultimately under the stated circumstances, they are formally as ambiguous in their
interpretation as Pauline's.
** But there is more to life, and love, than
sex...
Yes, and we must bear this in mind when considering the girls' relationship in
"Heavenly Creatures." On the other hand, FAQ readers are invited to cast their
minds back to their own adolescence... as I recall, the spiritual and the physical did
tend to get all mixed up together, and it was a heady mix. But it is still probably a good
idea to keep pure, breathless romance in the back of our minds as we consider the big
picture in the sections ahead.
** What does the narrative state about the
relationship?
There is reasonably strong narrative evidence (see also 3.1.16.13), i.e. Jackson's
'official' point of view, pointing to the following 'on-balance' conclusion: the girls
were not lesbians, despite the physical evidence that might be interpreted superficially
to the contrary. Furthermore, the relationship was unequal; Pauline's view of it differed
from Juliet's. At least in terms of the part of their relationship that led to murder. The
film's narrative evidence suggests Pauline was desperately attracted to an idealized
version of the Hulme family and the life they represented (see 3.1.11.3), and she imagined
herself to be the dear, close, loving sister of Juliet and part of the Hulme family. There
are a few important counter arguments, however, suggesting that Pauline was attracted to
and in love with Juliet in a romantic and erotic sense. Juliet, on the other hand, was
desperate for the constant affection of a true soul mate and loving sister. She was
traumatized by the accumulated rejection of her family and by the tremendous, overwhelming
new upheaval taking place within her family, and she turned to the unquestioning love and
devotion of Pauline for solace. Similarly, in opposition to this conclusion, there are a
few strong pieces of evidence that Juliet was in love with Pauline, especially her
jealousy in the sanatorium.
** What does the music state about the
relationship?
There is strong evidence (see 3.1.19) that the musical clues point to an intense
romantic attraction of Pauline for Juliet. The story is almost exclusively told from
Pauline's perspective, and the important musical clues also point to Pauline's emotions.
Hence, the conclusion to be drawn from the music is that Pauline's 'diagnosis' by Dr
Bennett and his allies was, in fact, correct. Pauline fell deeply, passionately and
desperately in love with Juliet in a grandiose, operatic, adolescent way that progressed
well beyond a simple crush. She placed Juliet on a pedestal and became progressively more
blind to everyone but Juliet and everything but her love and devotion for Juliet. The
music has little to say about Juliet's feelings, except that she became overwhelmed, numb
and utterly accepting of the inevitability of Honora's tragic murder in the last scene.
** Does a consistent picture of the relationship
emerge?
No. The objective statements made by the characters point to a 'majority' opinion
that Pauline was a lesbian attracted to Juliet, with some abstentions. The subjective
interpretation of the film's narrative points to an unusual, intense, unequal sisterhood
between the girls. The subjective interpretation of the musical score points to Pauline
falling desperately in love, romantically, with Juliet. Is Jackson having more fun at the
expense of the confused audience? Maybe. Or, it could be he is hedging his bets on this
important and controversial matter, despite what he has said in press interviews.
** What do I think?
On balance, despite Jackson's conscious attempts to avoid and obscure the issue, I
think "Heavenly Creatures" really does paint a portrait of two young people who
fell in love, romantically, unequally and at paces that differed. The circumstances in
their lives, and especially their enforced separations, merely strengthened and confirmed
their love for each other, which grew after their initial infatuation. It is an intriguing
question to ask if infatuation would have changed to love had things been different in
their lives. Perhaps. Was this 'real' love? I think it certainly seemed to be to Pauline
and Juliet, even if they could never put a name to it, themselves. So, if they couldn't,
do we dare? Sure. Perhaps their love was based more on mutual and different needs and less
on mutual and ideal celebration of pure and noble pursuits, but does this distinction
matter when you are fifteen? They stayed loyal and in love for years, at a time in their
lives when they might have changed partners and affiliations weekly or even overnight. Was
their love innocent? Yes, and it was passionate and it was physical, too. It was
everything love is, at that age, for most people and perhaps more. Jackson and Lynskey and
Winslet managed to convey very convincingly this "intensity" and how the girls
believed that what was right, for them, had to be right in an absolute sense, without
concern or heed to what society said. This quite extraordinary strength of conviction and
naivite may have even been assets and a wonderful thing for the girls; it was also the
seed of their tragedy, of course, according to "Heavenly Creatures." Was their
love good and right? We want it to be and through much of the film it seems to be.
"Heavenly Creatures" doesn't necessarily say the murder was an inevitable and
completely conditional consequence of the girls falling in love. Was it tragic? Yes. A
woman died. Was it this way in real life? See 4.6.
** Is understanding the relationship important?
The one inescapable fact is that the two girls, together, murdered a woman.
Understanding how one girl could be convinced to perform murder by the other can never be
achieved without understanding the relationship between the two. A casual acquaintance who
is not legally insane will not perform murder as a favor. Whatever the relationship was,
it is at the core of the reason for the murder.
** Are other relationships also important?
Absolutely. This is Glamuzina and Laurie's central thesis regarding the reason for
the murder (see 7.8.2 and 7.7.6). Contributions are encouraged regarding the other
relationships between the central characters.
