The 1950's are often stereotyped by an image of a "perfect" traditional  family lifestyle.  Mothers stayed at home to raise the children.  They organized decadent parties and played beautiful hostesses.  They vacuumed and cleaned with pearls on and hair styled.  The children were sweet and innoncent -- boys played football and little girls played house.  The fathers were bread-winners.  They worked all day but somehow, always had enough time to play the moral authority for the entire family. 

Obviously, this image is not the experience of most 1950's families.  It doesn't come close to reflecting the ebbs and flows of a decade full of change and innovation.  Furthermore, in Sirk films, the fifities are not as pristine as the image painted above.  But I never knew this particular fact about Sirk before seeing the movie Far From Heaven. (2)

Far from Heaven is the story of a
priviledged 1950's housewife Cathy
Whitaker. Cathy has the "ideal" life --
two children (one boy and one girl),
a devout husband, one beautiful
home, and a social circle full of
friends, parties, and recipe-trading. 
However, as the film develops, you
find that, much as the title suggests,
Cathy's life is far from heaven. 
Through her relationships with her somewhat disgruntled and frustrated husband Frank, her peaceful and insightful black gardner Raymond Deagan, and her faultering supportive best friend Eleanor Fine, her world is cracked apart revealing intense emotion and scandalous escapade. 














It's interesting to see the 1950's dissected in such a way to show how the constraints limited those that didn't fit in.  To see how gossip, reputation, and standing were almost lifelike in their tangibility to society.  To see how one wrong move would taint your life and make you a town exile whether you liked
it or not.  For a decade that is
stereotyped for being so
homogenous, it's intriguing to look
at how the other 99% who couldn't
reach perfection lived. 

And this is why I made this website
looking into Sirk's films and styles.
After I watched Far from Heaven, I
learned that the film was inspired by
Sirk's touch.  I had no clue who Sirk
was until then, but I'm glad I do now.
Much like Sirk, Far from Heaven's director Todd Haynes tackles issues related to the social mores of the generation.  Whereas Sirk explored relationship obstacles of age and class, Haynes looked at the barriers related to race and sexual orientation. Both worlds examined the intense social scruntiny that characterized those that didn't "keep up with the Joneses."