Movie Reviews: Lesbians Happily Ever After

There's nothing like a good research question to make me overly ambitious. This one was, "What are some good movies involving lesbian romances that don't end up with the protagonists deeply unhappy, dead, or both?" Keep in mind that the standard lesbian pulp fiction plot required either the death or "redemption" of at least one of the characters, and this genre requirement contaminated Hollywood lesbian plots for entirely too long, eventually supplemented inadequately by Standard Coming-Out Plot A. See my review of Ash for what I think of that.

But at any rate, in response to the request, here is a very idiosyncratic synopsis of assorted lesbian themed movies and mini-series, organized around three axes: Do any of the romantic protagonists die? Do any of the romantic protagonists recant? (I.e., discover that they aren't actually lesbians after all, that it isn't worth bucking the system for a woman, that they were really in love with their original boyfriend after all, etc. etc.) Is the story about more than the coming-out process?

I'm starting this off with items I have in my personal video library (since it's the easiest memory-jogger). I have about another half dozen to go besides the ones listed here, but I had to quit for the night. Within each category, the titles are in no particular order.

( These are going to be way more spoilery that your usual movie reviews, since they focus on conclusions and plot outcomes. You have been warned. )