Inquiring minds want to know. An article at the lesbian-centric website AfterEllen (which, according to Wikipedia, is not affiliated with Ellen DeGeneres) notes glumly that “there are people in the world that have seen a version of the award-winning lesbian-themed film Carol and think Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara never kiss.”
Imagine that! I didn’t know the movie existed, though clearly that’s my bad. The film has grossed $40.3 million worldwide as of May 2016 and was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Queer Palm. (I haven’t heard of that, either, but I somehow don’t feel diminished by that particular gap in my knowledge.)
But I digress. According to the article, by Trish Bendix:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
In-flight versions of Carol shown on Delta Airlines (and possibly others as well) have edited out every bit of physical intimacy between the two female stars while leaving in heterosexual kisses and affection. This was brought to our attention on Twitter last night from out comic Cameron Esposito, who watched the film on her flight and was upset about the censorship.
Later in the article (after the email from Delta apologizing for its dereliction), we discover that American Airlines and United Airlines are showing the uncut version of the film:
domestic airlines that took the theatrical rather than edited version: American and United.
— Phyllis Nagy (@PhyllisNagy) August 4, 2016
Here’s a question not raised in the article, much less answered: Why on earth are major commercial airlines showing films by, about, and for lesbians in the first place? In its letter to an unhappy customer, Delta provides assurance that “it is never our policy to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation or similar classification.” That’s swell, but how about not discriminating on the basis of traditional family values?
Why should families traveling with children be made captive audiences of a film in which women kiss and more (much more) judging from this scene from the film. (Warning: Nudity and graphic content.)
https://youtu.be/dttcny-lrwQ
Seriously, with the hundreds and possibly thousands of of movies made each year, is this really the only film major carriers were able to find?
