30 Days of Carol: Day 28 – The Original Carol

click for all 30 Days of Carol

I’ll start by saying that this is not the original post I’d planned to (and did) write. The original post I wrote was about seeing Love, Simon – the new teen coming out dramedy/comedrama – last weekend with a group of gays, and how its normalcy made me reflect on what queer longing looked like for me as a person who came of age well before this byproduct of the Carols and the Moonlights and the Call Me By Your Names, and how differently my life would be if I’d had them. This post had it all. It was hittin’ the highs and the lows, the sweets and sours. It had questions. I revealed a very embarrassing fact about myself!

Then, I brought it masterfully back to this series, and wondered what my Carol was. While considering potential movie candidates (based on my affinity towards them growing up despite them having zero explicitly gay content or even subtext, which I now know is because I was placing myself squarely in the role of the female lead’s love interest), I decided to investigate the 1996 film One Fine Day starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer was my root from her Catwoman days, and I remembered her seeming generally repulsed by most of the men in One Fine Day, so I figured it was a good place to start. But the more I deconstructed the movie, the more I realized that this wasn’t “my Carol” in a world starved for gay content, this was… Carol.

Okay, sure, yes, the opposing romantic lead is a pre-glow up George Clooney, but I didn’t register him when I was younger and I certainly don’t have to now. Besides, you can’t tell me the other evidence doesn’t make up for it. Let’s investigate, once again:

It’s main character?

A blonde-bobbed single mom recently split from her child’s father who spends a lot of the movie out on the streets of NYC dressed for success and looking at men like she wished they were dead.

Scene transitions?

https://giphy.com/gifs/5aYk3uQN7qTD3O974q

Riding in cars.

Its most recognizable song?

Another Doo-Wop Classic, The Chiffons’ “One Fine Day”.

Remember Carol’s looks directed at men?  Here are Michelle’s:

https://giphy.com/gifs/n8KZpbdqvkG62AUa4U

https://giphy.com/gifs/finukGOwLMU7Y0nWAK

https://giphy.com/gifs/AsAhyosb96VPTkqeCv

https://giphy.com/gifs/1yjLu8te2TYGl0KTnQ

https://giphy.com/gifs/5bkpbT5jcdx8ohctax

Michelle’s mom is the movie?

Holland Taylor. AKA Sarah Paulson’s girlfriend. AKA ABBY, CARL’S BEST FRIEND.

Remember Carol’s other looks? Well here are a couple from Michelle’s without a target:

https://giphy.com/gifs/1UNGsRjF38ku93I2gE

https://giphy.com/gifs/xX008fZo8GGI8KSlRu

Michelle’s son in the movie?

Sure, he has basically the same haircut as Rindy.

“Hm, Michelle probably didn’t have Carol’s enterances though.” – You

https://giphy.com/gifs/1r8W0m7R9Xu3nDrKPv

… being wrong.

Are there also too many white people?

.

.

.

There are also too many white people!

But DOES she have a makeup moment?

Oh, she has a makeup moment.

There’s probably no way there could also be a MECHANICAL TOY element in this…

https://giphy.com/gifs/9xyQRGzcUhclCZ7fhM

WHOOPS.

I wonder if there are other looks?

GOODNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK AND BURY ME IN THIS GIF

https://giphy.com/gifs/fWgAV76S5hYbVYfZue

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Erin

Los Angeles based writer. Let's keep it clean out there!

Erin has written 208 articles for us.

35 Comments

  2. Hang on

    I have a small but serious issue to report

    With this image:

    I’m concerned that this is either wilful misrepresentation or some Carol fraud has been committed because yesterday there was not some Carol.

    Hopefully this can be resolved quickly because we wouldn’t want the Shenny class action suit turning into a criminal negligence case.

  4. I hope we’re still going to get the other essay, because I had a lot of the same feelings about Love, Simon.

  5. So what you’re saying, is that Carol has always existed, and just like Jesus her appearance on this earth was heralded though we didn’t realize it. Bam!

  6. Also can I just say that that gif of her brushing her teeth and shaving her legs at the same time, can anyone even do that without zigging the wrong way at some point ??

  7. This was great, but I’m not sure it compares to the Shenny/Carol mashup I had dreamed of yesterday.

  10. Shopping Carol, shopping Carol,
    It’s Christmas time in the city,
    Store speakers sing, registers ring,
    Soon it will be Christmas day

    City sidewalks, busy sidewalks,
    Dressed in holiday style,
    Will take us to a fateful meeting,
    Carol laughing, Therese sighing,
    eliciting smile after smile,
    And on every street corner you see

    Shopping Carol, shopping Carol,
    It’s Christmas time in the city,
    Offering lunch, on a hunch,
    Soon she will be joined by Therese

  11. Is it just me, or in the red coats walking down the sidewalk pics, doesn’t George Clooney look freakishly like Kyle Chandler? On the other hand, Harge wouldn’t be caught dead walking down the sidewalk, he would insist on being chauffeur-driven.

    I figured the answer to “What do you (Erin) do on (Easter) Sundays?” was either a) take the day off or b) play cruel April Fool’s jokes on the needy. I didn’t even find 30 Days of Carol until day 24 and I registered just so I could take the Carolhead Trivia Quiz. I don’t want this to end either. Hopefully the April 17 anniversary will kick off another round of Carol revelry!

      • Back at ya! Carol is at her absolute smokin’ hottest (on purpose, no doubt) during the glove lunch.

      • Re the profile pic: I have a second one with a Santa hat which I call Morality Claus. I’ll bring her out when Christmas rolls back around.

        Re registering: I am eating this stuff up! Unfortunately, like Carol, I was tardy to the party, so I missed out on being a part of the conversation for the first 3+ weeks! I posted some replies, but in the evenings when it seems everybody has come and gone already, so I’ve been mostly talking to myself (like Jasmine). In desperation, I’ve been very naughty… I started signing in at work so I could post a reply that might actually be seen. I am deeply ashamed, but I’m starved! The only thing more fun than obsessing about Carol is sharing the obsession with other hardcore Carolheads. Thank you for feeding the need! You’re a star!

  12. I was 14 when Grease 2 came out and Michelle Pfeiffer in that leather outfit gave me “feelings” that confirmed what I already knew.

  15. I really truly do not want to be That Person who points out typos…
    …but I went on a genuine journey of terror and hilarity upon seeing Abby referred to as “Carl’s best friend”

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