May December
Summary
May Decemberdirector Todd Haynes explain what the film ’s title think of and how it associate to the romance captured within it . The drama follow Gracie ( Julianne Moore ) and Joe ( Charles Melton),a distich who share an unconventional and controversial relationship . Although the pair are married with children , the problems in their relationship originate to show when actor Elizabeth ( Natalie Portman ) starts research their lives as she prepares to play Gracie in an upcoming cinema . Like many of Haynes ' films , a lot ofMay Decemberis allow for to interpretation , but the title is more aboveboard .
In an consultation withLetterboxd , Haynes explained themeaning ofMay December ’s form of address . The phrase merely key out a family relationship with an age gap that is as noticeable as the gap between the month of December and May . There ’s a bit more to it too . Check out Haynes ' program line below :
It ’s interesting when something is known in the American cant and not in the British . It ’s definitely a term that does n’t translate out of the English oral communication well . I ’ve just always think of it as a slightly old - fashioned , demure direction of describing a human relationship between an elderberry bush and a younger person with a big age gap . May is give , December is winter — that range . But the movie ’s rubric plays into the month of May , too , and May is the bracketed month of an inevitableness around the summer . It commence with a Memorial Day celebration and end with graduation . So all this anxiety and nervousness are circulate through that month and it play into the title as well .
How May December’s Title Relates To Its Premise
Haynes ' account ofMay December ’s title confirm that it ’s not ambiguous . It merely points to the main case . As mentioned above , the fib explores therelationship between Gracie and Joe . Their human relationship is strange because it commence when Gracie was 36 and Joe was 13 , make a 23 - twelvemonth age gap between the pair that would by all odds meet the definition of a"May December"romance . However , the term almost does n’t feel appropriate to delineate this concerning relationship .
TheMay Decembertitle might also suggest light at the film ’s themes . One of the major concepts it explores is media sensationalism , especially in the ' 90s . May Decemberis broadly based on thetrue story of Mary Kay Letourneau , whose illegal human relationship with her sixth - grade student was sensationalized by tabloids at the time . Sadly , the media and readers often forget the harm of sensationalizing someone ’s injury . For some , Gracie and Joe ’s relationship is just a scandalous"May December"romance rather than a tragical incident of handling and ill-usage .
Haynes also touch on howthe title relate to the grandness of the month of May in the movie . It holds Memorial Day , as well as commencement ceremony for Joe ’s youngest kid . It is an important prison term because there ’s this inevitableness of change and remembrance . Joe is the " May " in his kinship , and it also take place to be the calendar month that forces him to commend his past and his miss childhood . May December ’s title has a straightforward definition but provide way for further interpretation into the numerous stratum of the romance at the film ’s center .
May Decemberis now streaming on Netflix .
author : Letterboxd
