click for all 30 Days of Carol
I’ll start by saying that this is not the original post I’d planned to (and did) write. The original post I wrote was about seeing Love, Simon – the new teen coming out dramedy/comedrama – last weekend with a group of gays, and how its normalcy made me reflect on what queer longing looked like for me as a person who came of age well before this byproduct of the Carols and the Moonlights and the Call Me By Your Names, and how differently my life would be if I’d had them. This post had it all. It was hittin’ the highs and the lows, the sweets and sours. It had questions. I revealed a very embarrassing fact about myself!
Then, I brought it masterfully back to this series, and wondered what my Carol was. While considering potential movie candidates (based on my affinity towards them growing up despite them having zero explicitly gay content or even subtext, which I now know is because I was placing myself squarely in the role of the female lead’s love interest), I decided to investigate the 1996 film One Fine Day starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer was my root from her Catwoman days, and I remembered her seeming generally repulsed by most of the men in One Fine Day, so I figured it was a good place to start. But the more I deconstructed the movie, the more I realized that this wasn’t “my Carol” in a world starved for gay content, this was… Carol.
Okay, sure, yes, the opposing romantic lead is a pre-glow up George Clooney, but I didn’t register him when I was younger and I certainly don’t have to now. Besides, you can’t tell me the other evidence doesn’t make up for it. Let’s investigate, once again:
It’s main character?
A blonde-bobbed single mom recently split from her child’s father who spends a lot of the movie out on the streets of NYC dressed for success and looking at men like she wished they were dead.
Scene transitions?
https://giphy.com/gifs/5aYk3uQN7qTD3O974q
Riding in cars.
Its most recognizable song?
Another Doo-Wop Classic, The Chiffons’ “One Fine Day”.
Remember Carol’s looks directed at men? Here are Michelle’s:
https://giphy.com/gifs/n8KZpbdqvkG62AUa4U
https://giphy.com/gifs/finukGOwLMU7Y0nWAK
https://giphy.com/gifs/AsAhyosb96VPTkqeCv
https://giphy.com/gifs/1yjLu8te2TYGl0KTnQ
https://giphy.com/gifs/5bkpbT5jcdx8ohctax
Michelle’s mom is the movie?
Holland Taylor. AKA Sarah Paulson’s girlfriend. AKA ABBY, CARL’S BEST FRIEND.
Remember Carol’s other looks? Well here are a couple from Michelle’s without a target:
https://giphy.com/gifs/1UNGsRjF38ku93I2gE
https://giphy.com/gifs/xX008fZo8GGI8KSlRu
Michelle’s son in the movie?
Sure, he has basically the same haircut as Rindy.
“Hm, Michelle probably didn’t have Carol’s enterances though.” – You
https://giphy.com/gifs/1r8W0m7R9Xu3nDrKPv
… being wrong.
Are there also too many white people?
.
.
.
There are also too many white people!
But DOES she have a makeup moment?
Oh, she has a makeup moment.
There’s probably no way there could also be a MECHANICAL TOY element in this…
https://giphy.com/gifs/9xyQRGzcUhclCZ7fhM
WHOOPS.
I wonder if there are other looks?
GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK AND BURY ME IN THIS GIF
https://giphy.com/gifs/fWgAV76S5hYbVYfZue
This is truly your magnum opus…
your new icon is!!
Hang on
I have a small but serious issue to report
With this image:
I’m concerned that this is either wilful misrepresentation or some Carol fraud has been committed because yesterday there was not some Carol.
Hopefully this can be resolved quickly because we wouldn’t want the Shenny class action suit turning into a criminal negligence case.
I think Erin is legally obligated to extend this series to 300 Days of Carol now.
An Integrity Clause
I will feel robbed without 300 Days of Carol.
I do appreciate the concern here but legally this was out of my hands
I think Michelle Pfeiffer might have the world’s best face for despising men.
correct!
Her face definitely contributed to my despising men.
I hope we’re still going to get the other essay, because I had a lot of the same feelings about Love, Simon.
just send me a Google doc invite
So what you’re saying, is that Carol has always existed, and just like Jesus her appearance on this earth was heralded though we didn’t realize it. Bam!
Adele…that is what I’m saying
Also can I just say that that gif of her brushing her teeth and shaving her legs at the same time, can anyone even do that without zigging the wrong way at some point ??
This. It’s making me very nervous.
This was great, but I’m not sure it compares to the Shenny/Carol mashup I had dreamed of yesterday.
I’ll see what I can do
So not having Carol yesterday was an April fools prank?
gotcha
A+ use of gifs to make your argument.
your honor
Shopping Carol, shopping Carol,
It’s Christmas time in the city,
Store speakers sing, registers ring,
Soon it will be Christmas day
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks,
Dressed in holiday style,
Will take us to a fateful meeting,
Carol laughing, Therese sighing,
eliciting smile after smile,
And on every street corner you see
Shopping Carol, shopping Carol,
It’s Christmas time in the city,
Offering lunch, on a hunch,
Soon she will be joined by Therese
One of the best yet
“store speakers sing, registers ring” made me emotional
Is it just me, or in the red coats walking down the sidewalk pics, doesn’t George Clooney look freakishly like Kyle Chandler? On the other hand, Harge wouldn’t be caught dead walking down the sidewalk, he would insist on being chauffeur-driven.
I figured the answer to “What do you (Erin) do on (Easter) Sundays?” was either a) take the day off or b) play cruel April Fool’s jokes on the needy. I didn’t even find 30 Days of Carol until day 24 and I registered just so I could take the Carolhead Trivia Quiz. I don’t want this to end either. Hopefully the April 17 anniversary will kick off another round of Carol revelry!
Your profile picture…I am enthralled…
Back at ya! Carol is at her absolute smokin’ hottest (on purpose, no doubt) during the glove lunch.
thank you for registering JUST for this. wow and second the statement about your pic
Re the profile pic: I have a second one with a Santa hat which I call Morality Claus. I’ll bring her out when Christmas rolls back around.
Re registering: I am eating this stuff up! Unfortunately, like Carol, I was tardy to the party, so I missed out on being a part of the conversation for the first 3+ weeks! I posted some replies, but in the evenings when it seems everybody has come and gone already, so I’ve been mostly talking to myself (like Jasmine). In desperation, I’ve been very naughty… I started signing in at work so I could post a reply that might actually be seen. I am deeply ashamed, but I’m starved! The only thing more fun than obsessing about Carol is sharing the obsession with other hardcore Carolheads. Thank you for feeding the need! You’re a star!
we’re still here! thank you!
I was 14 when Grease 2 came out and Michelle Pfeiffer in that leather outfit gave me “feelings” that confirmed what I already knew.
I now understand my love of this movie and so many romantic comedies when I was a kid.
Oh, Erin
I really truly do not want to be That Person who points out typos…
…but I went on a genuine journey of terror and hilarity upon seeing Abby referred to as “Carl’s best friend”