Time to get your power suit on…
BY NAZ SAKICI, IMAGE BY SHOWTIME
Assertive, smart, and extremely attractive could be a few words to describe Bette Porter. She is known as the powerful lesbian who is not afraid to get what she wants while getting into a few controversies of her own. Here in DIVA, we made a list of films to watch if you like Bette’s dominant and passionate character.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
The film won the Queer Palm at Cannes Film Festival back in 2019. The film is set in 1760 when a young painter named Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of a bride-to-be named Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). Marianne disguises herself as a companion as she secretly paints the bride-to-be. As the two young women spend more time together, they grow a strong connection and eventually a romantic attraction blossoms.
Tár (2022)
Described as a psychological drama, the film revolves around Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett), who is known as one of the greatest composer-conductors alive. While she navigates her personal and professional life, her career falls from grace as she gets involved in a scandal.
The Watermelon Woman (1996)
The film was dedicated to the memory of Black actors such as Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen and Louise Beavers. The film itself is about a young, Black, lesbian filmmaker from Philadelphia named Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye) who works on a documentary revolving around a Black actor from the 1930s credited as the Watermelon Woman. As Cheryl does her research on the actor, she discovers new information about her such as her real name and her queer identity.
Carol (2015)
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel originally titled The Price Of Salt, the film takes place in 1950s New York and centres around Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), an aspiring photographer working as a shopgirl at a department store. It is where she meets Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) , a wealthy woman in a loveless marriage. With time the two women grow a close connection. Eventually, Carol’s husband finds out about the affair and sues her for divorce all while trying to get custody of their daughter.
Bloomington
Jackie Kirk (Sarah Stouffer) is a former child star who recently started to attend college in Bloomington, Indiana to stay away from the limelight. During the orientation week, she meets the womanising professor Catherine Stark (Allison McAtee). The two women eventually hook up and get into a relationship that alters both of their lives in different ways.
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