Far from Heaven

George Behrakis

Am. Lit. (1920-present)

3/27/14

The Differing Americas in “Far From Heaven”

In the movie “Far From Heaven”, not all characters inhabit the same America. With the movies’ events taking place in the mid to late 1950’s, American society is still heavily racist and discriminatory against African-Americans. The physical differences that exist between the country that the blacks live in and the country that the whites live in is something that the movie highlights throughout its plot.

While Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker are in Miami on vacation, a black child merely puts his feet into the swimming pool and instantly, a hotel employee comes and takes him away. Almost immediately, all the white people and even their children remove themselves from the pool because it has been “contaminated” by a black child. The disgusting truth is that white people sincerely think that black people are a disease of some sort that they must stay away from. The idea that black people must have their own facilities and separate areas to do almost anything is still one that is believed during the time. Another example of the physical difference between the “black America” and the “white America” comes up when Raymond takes Mrs. Whittaker to lunch. He takes her to a restaurant where there are only black people. It’s clear that the restaurant was a place where whites were not necessarily a common sight. As the two walk in, a friend of Raymond’s gets up to ask what he is doing. Raymond reassures him, and the two sit down. The moments in the restaurant are awkward and Mrs. Whittaker naturally seems out of place. A black man sitting at the bar even turns around, surprised to see a white woman. At the time “separate but equal” was at its end or ending during the time, but there were still places that were “black only” and of course, places where only whites were welcome.

The movie accurately portrays how there were physical differences to the world blacks and whites lived in...