My Quick Take: The Children’s Hour was frustrating, emotional, and heartbreaking. Although the loyalty and support between Martha and Karen is unwavering throughout the film, there are devastating consequences. The film highlights the power of a lie and the occasional destruction of the truth.
Synopsis: Longtime friends Martha (Shirley MacLaine) and Karen (Audrey Hepburn) run a boarding school for girls. When they discipline one of the girls for bad behavior, she spreads a lie that Martha and Karen are in a relationship. As the story spreads and parents withdraw their children from the school, their lives begin to spiral.
Representation: As the story spreads, the women are ostracized from the town, forced to sit alone in their house to avoid stares and judgment. The judge determines that the women have “sinful sexual knowledge of one another” as they pursue, and lose, a suit for slander. The suit makes national news, damaging their reputations and relationships. Martha confides in Karen that “something is wrong with her” and states that “she is guilty” as she comes to terms with her identity, although she never explicitly says the word lesbian. The accusation is also never explicitly stated, as the film uses long shots to ensure the audience cannot hear what is being said. Filmed during the era of the Production Code, the film depicts women loving women as shameful and unnatural. Martha even states that she feels “so sick and dirty” as she tells Karen the truth. The film ultimately exemplifies the bury your gays trope.
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