Toxic Subjectivity Gender and the Ecologies of Whiteness in Todd Haynes's Safe

Impurities: Thinking Ecologically WithSafe

“…Owing to its cinematic qualities and peculiar narrative, scholars of gender, race, class, sexuality, (dis)ability, and ecology have found fodder in this film. Several useful analyses consider social explanations when explicating the film's meanings (e.g., Bouchard & Desai, ; Kollin, ; Lessy, ; Lynch, ). Many of these critics argue that Safe is an allegory or metaphor for social issues such as gender oppression, racialization, and psychological repression.…”

“…In particular, given that the weight of ecological enmeshment is saddled by a female protagonist, gender has been a central and compelling component of many such analyses (cf. Christian, ; Kollin, ; Lessy, ; Lynch, ). However, social explanations for Carol's illness often elide the ecological relations Safe brings to the surface.…”

“…Routinely read as an AIDS allegory, Safe , set in the late 1980s, formally and narratively subverts many conventional aspects of popular cinema. Documenting a woman's diminishing ability to cope with the toxic, chemically polluted world around her, Kollin (, p. 121) summarized, “ Safe traces the experiences she faces as she moves from a debilitating sickness to a strange form of health.” The film's protagonist, Carol White (Julianne Moore), wheezes, bleeds, sneezes, vomits, and convulses as she traverses her suburban San Fernando Valley community and eventually the Albuquerque outskirts where she seeks chemical refuge at Wrenwood Center, a New Age retreat. Carol gradually links her symptoms to her surroundings, including automobile exhaust, aerosol antiperspirants, cleaning supplies, fumigation chemicals, newspaper ink, and milk.…”