Far from Heaven is a movie whose setting is that of the 1950’s. It casts the Whitakers family; Cathy and her husband Frank who seems to be happily married; live in a lovely neighborhood in Hartford and have two beautiful, happy and healthy children. Frank works in the sales industry and is very successful. The Whitakers seem to be what a ‘perfect family’ is. However, Cathy comes to the realization that something might be wrong with her marriage when her husband starts becoming distant, working late and spending less time with her. In a bid to rekindling their love, one evening, Cathy decides to visit her husband at work, but to her utter shock and disbelief, accidentally finds her husband Frank having an intimate moment with another man. Cathy becomes deeply affected by her findings on her husband’s sexuality, but tries to stay strong for the sake of their marriage. Frank undergoes psychotherapy to help him with his issues and Cathy remains supportive of her husband. She, however, feels alone inside after realizing that she has very few people to whom she can share. Cathy then seeks friendship from Raymond Deagan their gardener who is an African American. Raymond shows compassion for Cathy and with time, she starts having romantic feelings for him. One day Mona, Cathy’s neighbor spots Raymond and Cathy alone together and Harford being a small town, the rumor begins to spread threatening to expose the Whitaker’s secrets.
This movie shows a good description of how our society views the world. Homosexuality is a sensitive issue and is not very common because it is widely viewed as a form of moral decay. A majority of the society judge homosexuality on their religion, values and culture (“Culture and Homosexuality” 89). They view it as something that is not within their norms and therefore criticize people who identify themselves with this type of sexuality. Due to this reason, most homosexuals fail to come out with fear of being judged and/or rejected by the society. The relationship between Cathy and Raymond also seemed wrong because the society around them viewed this a social taboo simply because Raymond was a black man.
Work cited
Culture and Homosexuality. Montreal, Quebec: McGill U, 1986. Print.
