Breaking Free: Why All That Heaven Allows is still a masterpiece 65 years later.

Whether we like it or not, media is tremendously important to shaping how we see the world. Thus, it is important to value films that upend traditional views of the world and offer us alternatives to how we can conduct ourselves. All That Heaven allows is one of those films. It upends what it means to be an older woman and also what means to be a man in ways that are still timely and still critical. 

Our media typically does not portray women as frequently with a 2018 study finding that women made up 35% of the speaking parts. Perhaps most soberingly it is actually an improvement over 2017 where women made up just 24% of the speaking parts. Furthermore, when we look at our media we rarely see films that deal with domestic problems and the entrapment one can feel when society says one is no longer relevant. A simple google search reveals that many women over 40 feel this particular problem. 

We see these issues throughout the film, as Jane Wyman's character, Cary Scott, is regarded as useless by her grown children and by her narrow society. The children and the society want her to marry an old man and Cary is all too aware of entrapment as shown by a dialogue exchange where the daughter remarks that in Egypt, women were burried with husbands and says "Course that doesn't happen anymore." Cary bitterly responds with "Doesn't it? Well perhaps not in Egypt."

Indeed the children and the neighborhood are furious when she chooses a younger man. For the children, the idea that their mother could have wants and desires is utterly alien to them. In perhaps the most haunting image, the son buys her a tv and we see her reflected in it. The image suggests on one level that the children think she should substitute her actual wants to something imaginary. In other words, the children are trying to trap their mother in a box. On another level it suggests the worry Cary feels that her own life is just as hollow and empty as something on tv. Thus, the film brilliantly destroys the idea that mothers should just find fulfillment in their children, but rather the film argues women still have and should pursue multifaceted lives after that. A deeply radical idea in 1955 but one that still is deeply relevant today where most women characters are still written to either not be married or to be defined by their role as "mother." 

                                                                            Entrapped in a box

There is also the subversion with Rock Hudson's character, Ron. Ron, despite being played by the strapping Hudson, is practically the opposite of what one would call a "he man." Too often in our media, men are written to be desirable only if they are aggressive or violent. Think of two of the most famous leading men, James Bond or Indiana Jones, for example. But Ron offers a contrast. His passion is trees and gardening, both of which are stereotypically associated with women. He is also very patient with Carey as he listens to her fears and never forces anything upon her. Indeed, such is his sensitivity that he can almost come across as a Disney princess at times as in one scene he is even shown feeding a deer!

                                           More Disney princess than traditional leading man

But the fact that some might see this as odd is really a damning comment on our society. Why do we teach men that the only way to be strong is to fight or to be otherwise hyper aggressive? Emotional strength and sensitivity to others is also a power, albeit one typically associated with women. Much ink has been spilt on the problem of toxic masculinity, so perhaps we should look back at this film which offers another way for men. We teach women to be strong like men, and indeed we should teach them to be strong, but when we approach things exclusively through stereotypically masculine terms we then act as if machismo is the norm and to be coveted. There are many forms of strength and I'd argue "positive femininity" should become part of our lexicon as well and be emphasized to girls and boys alike. And no I am not saying women are naturally one way and men are naturally one way, I am arguing that we should take heed of All That Heaven Allows which argues men can be emotionally empathetic and not worry about being not seen as a man. If we embraced that ethos, then the world would be far better. 

All That Heaven allows might seem like a simple romance film, but there is far far more to it than that. It is a film that challenges societal norms asks us to imagine a world where we allow people to be who they want to be. This is ethos is made explicit in two parts of the film. The first is when Ron tells Cary in a pointed way "Mick discovered for himself that he had to make his own decisions." The second comes when Ron's bohemian friend says "That's Ron. You see, Ron's security comes from inside himself, and nothing can ever take it away from him. Ron absolutely refuses to let unimportant things become important." Simple words perhaps but ones that carry a great deal of weight. The film tells us to be confident in ourselves and break free of societal norms. The film might be from 65 years ago but its message remains as empowering and timely as ever.