Reminiscing 30 Years On: 'Safe' Still Poses Significant Concerns of Unease

Revamped Eco-Horror Exploration: Todd Haynes' 'Safe'

Step into the realm of eco-horror, a genre that's not always loud and action-packed. In 2011, Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter and 2021's Ben Wheatley's In the Earth stripped back the genre, weaving intricate tales of apocalypse and pandemic, respectively. But if you're in the mood for a subtler terrifying journey, dive into Todd Haynes' 'Safe', a 1995 masterpiece that's celebrating its 30th anniversary.

'Safe' takes us to the suburbs of Los Angeles in 1987, a picture-perfect setting for Julianne Moore's character, Carol White. Clad in pastels and pearls, Carol's days are filled with running errands, household chores, and fitness classes. It's a comfortable, yet monotonous life devoid of real drama. But beneath Carol's vanilla existence lurks an ambiguous, insidious threat - an environmental illness that she can't see, hear, or feel, but that threatens her very existence.

Haynes masterfully crafts 'Safe' with a restrained, almost sterile style, making us feel like we're peering into Carol's life through a diorama. Her personality is passive, her lack of expressiveness mirroring the reserved narrative perfectly. But if you look closely, you'll notice that Carol seems to have a rebellion simmering within - perhaps a response to the stifling gender roles or the unseen environmental toxins that surround her.

Set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, 'Safe' is at once a feminist commentary on suffocating gender roles and a poignant exploration of a woman whose body starts to break down in response to the unremarkable environment that houses her. Understanding the clues isn't difficult if you know where Carol is headed - a series of health issues ranging from sneezing fits to seizures.

Carol's McMansion life is filled with triggers and pollutants, from constant vacuuming and kitchen varnishing to daily commutes through LA's traffic and the ubiquitous appliances, phones, and TVs that emit harmful electromagnetic frequencies. Yet, everyone around her appears unaffected, heightening the mystery and her mounting desperation.

As Carol deteriorates, her illness becomes her identity, leading her to a communal-living retreat in the desert. The retreat offers respite from her toxic life but also raises questions about the New Age industry that profits off its patients, a critique that Haynes weaves effectively.

The ambiguity of 'Safe' is its most chilling aspect. Even amid the isolated, chemical-free environment, Carol doesn't recover. The film's ending invites the audience to ponder if she'll ever get better, and if the isolation she chose was worth it.

After 30 years, the answers still elude us, but 'Safe' remains hauntingly relevant. Modern life is filled with unseen dangers, environmental illnesses lurking just beneath the surface, as insidious, inviting of skepticism, and enigmatic as ever.

If you're craving more, check out the upcoming releases of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, the DC Universe, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. Happy watching!

Dimly Lit Corners:Todd Haynes' 'Safe' (1995) delves deep into several key themes and symbolism related to eco-horror and environmental illness. While it doesn't strictly fit into the eco-horror genre, the film uses environmental themes to explore psychological and societal issues, making it a thought-provoking commentary on health, environment, and modern society.

Some of the themes and symbolism include:

Environmental Toxins and Illness: The film centers around Carol White, a suburban homemaker who develops a mysterious illness often linked to environmental toxins. This serves as a metaphor for the unseen dangers of modern life and the impact of environmental factors on human health.
Societal Isolation and Alienation: Carol's illness leads to her isolation from society, highlighting the themes of disconnection and the search for meaning in a seemingly toxic world.
Consumerism and the Unseen Dangers of Modern Life: The film critiques the toxic effects of consumer culture and modernity, suggesting that even seemingly safe environments can harbor hidden dangers.

Some symbolism in the film includes:

The Isolation of Carol: Carol's retreat to Wrenwood, a New Age retreat in the desert, symbolizes her search for a safe haven from the perceived toxins of her previous life. This journey is a metaphor for the search for safety and health in a world perceived as toxic.
The New Age and Pseudo-Science: The setting of Wrenwood represents a critique of both the New Age movement and pseudo-scientific approaches to health. It symbolizes the desperation and confusion faced by those seeking solutions to unexplained health issues.
Environmental Settings: The contrast between the pristine, natural setting of Wrenwood and the polluted urban environment reflects the tension between natural purity and the contamination of modern life.
The eco-horror genre, subtly explored in Todd Haynes' 'Safe', offers a terrifying journey that's not always action-packed, akin to streaming movies like 'Take Shelter' and 'In the Earth'.
In the movie 'Safe', the insidious threat faced by Julianne Moore's character, Carol White, is a form of environmental illness, much like the hidden dangers of today's world that impact health-and-wellness.
The restrained style of 'Safe' mirrors the passive nature of Carol's character and the reserved narrative, akin to the subtleasters in the sphere of AI and tech, like environmental-science algorithms striving for precision and efficiency.
'Safe' set in 1987, presents a commentary on suffocating gender roles and suburban lifestyle, reminiscent of the fashion-and-beauty standards of the time, and the modern-day mental-health issues that women face.
Cars, appliances, phones, and TVs emitting harmful electromagnetic frequencies, depicted in 'Safe', are similar to the various pollutants contributing to climate-change and the uncertainty of climate future - a subject often discussed in the realm of science and environmental-science.
As Carol retreats to Wrenwood, a critique of the New Age industry that profits off patients' struggles, she parallels individuals seeking solace in alternative health-and-wellness trends and wellness-lifestyle methods.
The film's ending, leaving Carol's fate uncertain, is akin to the ongoing debate in entertainment about the impacts of movies-and-TV and their influence on mental-health and overall well-being.
The themes and symbolism in 'Safe' highlight climate-change, mental-health, and the uncertain future of health-and-wellness, further emphasizing the relevance of the film, even after three decades, in a world filled with unseen dangers, much like the engrossing mysteries and profound messages in Disney's 'Star Wars' or the intriguing plot twists in movies-and-tv.