May/December

So then here’s my take.

Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore respond to ‘May December’ inspiration Vili Fualaau’s criticism

He found it offensive. They both said they were sorry to hear that. 

He called it a ripoff of his story. To that, each provided an interesting response. Truly, with all the similarities – including some dialog at the end that imitates exactly an exchange between Fualaau and his ex-wife/abuser during an interview by a perplexed 60 Minutes Australia correspondent – nobody could be convinced that this was a totally original story.

But Fualaau is mistaken if he believed this movie was primarily about him. I think in the movie’s own language, Fualaau was like many victims of publicized crimes; rarely the focus (which might be a mercy, given how quickly an audience can turn on its subjects) and kind of forced to stand back and witness as the world takes his story and does whatever it will with it. 

The primary order of business, of course, is to use it to pillory the perpetrator. On this the entire audience unanimously agrees. But a portion might also ask themselves if they’ve played anything close to any of the roles from the movie in their own lives. I try to do that as much as possible – this blog is the product of that reflection. 

Julianne Moore provided a gratifying insight about the character she played in May/December and might as well have been talking about real-life inspiration Mary Kay Letourneau. “She is somebody who has transgressed in a major way, and I think in order to justify what she’s done, she sort of tells a story about her life… Ultimately, she’s a very dangerous character because she’s someone who’s insisting on a story that’s not true, and she’s really kind of making everyone believe her story.” 

Letourneau survived as long as she did because she held on to the belief that what attracted her to a child was true love and mutual desire. As a woman, she was aware at all levels that men’s wills tend to override women’s, and so why wouldn’t that also be true of a preteen boy whom she was convinced had a desire for her that she was powerless to fend off? 

For some reason, she refused to account for the shift in power dynamics that placed her with all the responsibility.

I relate to the fact that we create narratives about who we are based on the choices we’ve made. The stories that enable us to live with ourselves after having erred egregiously are the ones that tend to solidify, irrespective of their veracity. What happens if, instead, we accept the pain of being wrong in order to face the truth and the outcomes of our behavior?

Mary Kay Letourneau died a short time after Fualaau divorced her. He had admitted during that source material interview that he would not approve of his children engaging in a relationship such as he had with their mother. It was wrong, and had always been wrong despite the shiny gossamer justifications Letourneau created and refused to challenge.

I believe that once that delusion was officially shattered by Fualaau filing for divorce, a natural kind of justice occurred in the form of cancer, which sometimes manifests like a magical narrative device. A tragic development in many cases, but maybe a merciful kind of death sentence in this one.

I’ve read at least a couple of reviews or commentaries about May/December where it’s revealed that “the story is actually about Joe” – the character played by Charles Melton. I guess I feel differently because I related more to both of the female leads.

During the same red carpet interview quoted above, Julianne Moore also said, “Natalie’s character comes in and these two women are in a struggle for narrative dominance, like, ‘Who gets to tell this story? Who’s right and who’s wrong?’”

And that’s where the audience is pulled in, because it’s our duty to interpret the experiences in our own lives as well as the stories we witness. We know what Gracie’s narrative was. What was Elizabeth’s? Offering to tell Gracie’s story through a lens of empathy; seducing Gracie into consenting to Elizabeth’s sleazy movie. Thus Gracie is mirrored accurately in the end; her “true love” narrative exposed for its ruthless self-interest.

As to the telling of my stories on this blog, my intention is to construct an open kind of narrative. I rely on a lot more justification and excuses than I realize, I’m sure. I might also hold more punishing judgment than is warranted – for myself and others. 

Have to write it down to figure it out.