click for the full 30 Days of Carol
First and foremost Carol is a film about the kind of love that can wreck your whole life if you let it. The kind that becomes an every day, every hour touchstone from which you navigate. A before and after, that-was-then-this-is-me kind of deal.
It is also a film about two women who are 100% nonstop thinking about having sex with each other.
The weight of the sexual tension that anchors every scene between Carol and Therese from the moment Carol spots Therese from across the department store to the moment Carol tugs at her robe is carried in large part by Carol’s gazes. This might seem like an obvious observation to anyone who’s seen Cate Blanchett’s face or seen even one scene of the movie, but it wasn’t until I accidentally slowed down the Waterloo coffee scene that I was able to realize the full scope of their mastery.
They can be easy to miss, often camouflaged by the colors, textures, and male clownery of any given scene, but slowed down, they’re wearing bright orange reflectors. The once-over’s, the blatant up-and-downs – girl. I was inspired. And so I did it for every look. Made GIFs with my bare, tired hands, and you can pry this laptop from them when they’re cold and dead.
Here’s every Carol look ranked by the degree to which they mark Therese as a snack.
14. When your internal thoughts get unknowingly routed to the synapses controlling your facial expressions.
https://giphy.com/gifs/X9GgMWyfYXJwTrBVAv
13. Sure, this is an emotional moment, but it’s also one that’s being simultaneously fast-forwarded to dozens of potential ways the night could end.
https://giphy.com/gifs/9P8YBmAvQdw6bqtuTY
12. Risking it all from across the room.
https://giphy.com/gifs/1hMmHzvXk5j3x7mg8z
11. This is right before Carol asks Therese if she lives alone, which makes a lot of sense.
https://giphy.com/gifs/g0slZGumTvYkvCngqi
10. This is not a Therese reaction, this is a Rooney reaction.
https://giphy.com/gifs/93olNmnOhzruW99ru3
9. This head down, eyes up, and half-smirk combination made someone duck for cover in the background.
https://giphy.com/gifs/2YraFxcF96LgtDDLja
8. The intensity of this one is neutralized by where Therese’s eye line begins and ends.
https://giphy.com/gifs/t7tWxx8HE1yK3PPoiN
7. The hesitation is Carol taking a one-person poll about how neutral it would be to offer Therese a semi-occupied shower room.
https://giphy.com/gifs/9SJa1HJOs2YrUkx59s
6. Goodbye.
https://giphy.com/gifs/5PhD4XkZqK5bB4K4oh
5. I said goodbye.
https://giphy.com/gifs/620bFKL3YIyMg3Sk6t
4. There’s a drawing back and pause of her mouth at the very end of her drag that speaks 9706586549 words.
https://giphy.com/gifs/ZwEdrRdug88PFUfKZg
3. This is Carol’s gaze on some telekinetic mirroring levels.
https://giphy.com/gifs/NRsy8w3BMugpYb0LGy
2. Invite her round up down over across under betwixt between beside above nearby throughout.
https://giphy.com/gifs/XL3sN5CR7tfiHE2s3D
1. The creasing, the smile, the up-down, the inhale – this is not “she means so much to me and I’m so happy we’re on this trip together,” this is Carol considering how much she values getting their hotel room’s damage deposit back.
https://giphy.com/gifs/5UKlnVnqbIqFHHKysb
Ohhhh…. my poor frazzled heart
condolences
Away in a motel,
getting into bed,
The little baby gay Therese,
Lay down her sweet head
The stars in the sky,
Look down where she rest,
The little baby gay Therese,
Asleep on Carol’s breast
this might be…my favorite
If you were to choose between having Carol Aird, Therese Belivet, and Abby Gerhard as your girlfriend (or whatever), who would you choose?
I’d pick Carol for sure, Abby as a second (sorry, Therese).
Marry Carol
Fuck Abby
Kill Therese
Why restrict yourself to patriarchal rules? Fuck all three of them.
Marry Therese
Fuck Carol
Be best friends with Abby
And also fuck my best friend, Abby
Absolutely, let’s *not* leave Abby out of this. Unless she’s too busy with her fiery redhead
i will not participate in this attempt to divide!!
Lawd have mercy.
pls do
I usually can even
but after that
I can’t even
This just completely changed my evening plans
tell us about them
The duck and cover joke made me laugh aloud for like 3 minutes straight.
carol’s look are no joke!!!
Same!!
Whenever someone says they thought the movie was too slow, I assume they somehow missed all these lingering, loaded, thirsty looks. To me, the dialogue was almost unnecessary. It’s all about the eye sex.
Same! Someone complained to me that there was no chemistry between Carol and Therese and I was just gobsmacked. How could anyone miss Carol looking at Therese like she’s on the menu?
So much eye sex this post should be rated R
erin you sick genius
ay dios mío
oh. my. god.
mhm
Clearly this was the post I needed to actually get me to rewatch the movie. DONE and done, thank you Erin! This movie is the definition of ?
That’s supposed to be the happy/flirty eye face!!!! Why did it make it sad!!!? Not what I meant at all
*relief*, I’m so glad you commented on that, I was starting to cry
I was about as unpleasantly surprised that the emoji changed as when any man showed up in a scene. I definitely needed to clear up the emoji mishap, so there wasn’t confusion
HAPPY to do it
Also alive, but with much gayer hair hmmmm
lmaoooo
Oh my
Looking forward to the companion piece where we get to see what snack Therese is in each instance
honestly this was the original idea
I have absolutely nothing in common with Carol, except for the “internal thoughts get unknowingly routed to the synapses controlling your facial expressions” thing. Which thank god for since I’d never say or act on any of those internal thoughts if left to my own devices.
I had thoughts and feelings reading this article. The fact I didn’t get struck down by lightening for them proves my parents were wrong about god.
I’m guessing that you don’t live in Faustine’s neighbourhood
In fact, please make sure you never go there, the local saint is quite vengeful. (see last Friday’s Open Thread), you may be tempting…
omg no. 10 *dead*
i somehow missed that wink the first five times watching carol
This post is a treasure.
Okay so real talk, #2 made me actually gasp for breath the first time I saw it and I don’t think I’ll ever be over it
I had to create an account for this site just to thank you for creating these gifs. This movie is great and their glances are sooo steamy
Welcome to paradise.
yup this is it this did it i am done
DONE I SAY
I’ve loved AS content for awhile, but this … this article pushed me to sign up just so I can comment. Haven’t had this much fun reading something online in forever. “…this is Carol considering how much she values getting their hotel room’s damage deposit back” priceless!
This article is on point, but I couldn’t help thinking of a couple other scenes in the movie where I loved Carol’s gaze on Therese … the cab scene, where her mouth is kinda hanging open as she watches Therese cross the road. And the scene where Carol exits the phone booth and sees that Therese has indeed decided to meet her for tea at the Ritz … the sigh that Carol gives as she steels herself to go get her girl … loved it.
I never noticed the parallel moves in #3 before how is that possible i’ve watched this a gazillion times Erin you’re teaching me things!
(also slo-mo gifs of Carol’s face…i’m beyond words…)
Missing that naughty finger stroke Carol does in the air, over creamed spinach and dry martinis.
“Therese Belivet… It’s lovely.”
100% nonstop, that is right
I’ve read this post 500 times. Sorry for jacking up your analytics.
The links took me to “Sorry! THE OWNER HAS SET THIS GIF TO PRIVATE.” You shouldn’t, darling! ;)
this was really a great sight!