The Children's Hour (1961)

Drama / LGBT / Romance

TW: Child Abuse, Homophobia, Suicide

Worth Watching? No

Bechdel Test? Pass

Race Bechdel Test? Fail

Major LGBT Tropes: Gayngst, Gaynst-Induced Suicide, LGBT Awakening, Mistaken for Gay

Synopsis (from imdb): A rebellious student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.

My Thoughts: There should be a trigger warning for evil little children because I was so triggered by Mary LORD have mercy. The moral panic incited by the rumor that Martha and Karen are lovers was so hard to watch. The whole movie was really hard for me. Don't get me wrong, Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLain carried this film. They are both brilliant, Shirley MacLaine in particular. Martha's coming out scene destroyed me. Karen not knowing how to comfort her best friend who is in love with her destroyed me. Karen's increasing panic as she walked, then ran, back to the house where she found Martha dead was so devastating. I felt physically ill for the entire last 25 minutes. I have very mixed feelings about this one because Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine give dazzling performances, but this is exactly the kind of shit that has traumatized and scarred our community for far too long.

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Queer Body Count: 1

Straight Body Count: 0

Total Queer Body Count: 9 (32%)

Total Straight Body Count: 9 (7%)

Queer Sexual Violence Victim Count: 0

Straight Sexual Violence Victim Count: 0

Total Queer Sexual Violence Victim Count: 2 (7%)

Total Straight Sexual Violence Victim Count: 1 (1%)