Safe

‘Suddenly, I find myself feeling sick…’

Marking the 30th anniversary of Todd Haynes’ psychological drama Safe, this screening is an opportunity to explore the representation of disabled women within melodrama. Carol White (Julianne Moore), a Southern Californian housewife, begins experiencing disorienting symptoms: headaches, congestion, dry cough, nosebleeds, vomiting and trouble breathing.

Dismissed by the people around her and deteriorating with every passing day, Safe is a thoughtful and unnerving representation of what it is to be sick under neoliberal capitalism. Rather than play into the ableist misogyny that invented the idea of hysteria, instead, Safe exposes it to the audience. Carol is a hysterical woman, but it is not ‘all in her head’.

The ‘hysterical’ woman is a staple of melodrama. She is emotional, unstable, defiant, and often, disabled. This familiar character reflects our culture’s understanding of sick women. Placing the stereotype of the hysterical woman under the microscope, Safe is a perfect title to examine disabled women in the genre.

The screening will be introduced by Crip Melodrama curator Florence Grieve. This relaxed screening will be shown with on-screen descriptive subtitles and optional audio description is available. The introduction will have BSL interpretation and an on-screen transcript available. Printed copies of the transcript will also be available.

There will be a relaxed zine-making workshop after the screening with BSL interpretatuon. Due to the format, live captioning will not be possible, but printed and on-screen instructions will be provided.

If you have any questions and/or access requests for the workshop, you can contact the facilitator at florencegrievecreative@gmail.com.