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A review by lilythebibliophile
Blue Is the Warmest Color by Jul Maroh
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Flashback: It is 2013, and 9 year old me is browsing Netflix in England. I stumble across a picture of two people almost kissing. The picture is almost completely gray, except for the vibrant blue of one of the people's hair. Without making any other assessments, I decide this person is cute and I want to find out more about the movie. I don't understand the movie description. It says that Adèle, a girl, falls in love with Emma, a girl.
This was earth-shattering to me. I knew about gay people from Modern Family (lmao), but I didn't know girls could like girls. I didn't know that was okay. I became obsessed with this movie. I read the summary on Wikipedia over and over, but I never watched the film because I thought it was too adult for me (I was right, there are many graphic sex scenes in it that I was not ready for). I thought about it a lot. I Googled anecdotes from lesbians about their first loves. I was absolutely enamored with the concept of queer, sapphic love.
And then I buried my curiosity deep inside me and tried to forget all about the movie and all about what I had learned. After all, I liked boys well enough, so why think about anyone else? That girl who I was kind of obsessed with, I just wanted to be her friend, that's all. That's why I felt honored when she spoke to me.
I am bisexual, and I have struggled with my sexuality a lot. The first time I had undeniably romantic feelings towards a girl (a camp counselor - I really had an Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir moment) I was terrified. I thought something was wrong with me. I was not homophobic towards others, but when it came to myself, I had internalized a lot of the biases that my family members held. My relatives seemed to be homophobic to lesbians especially.
And I was left wondering, am I a lesbian? That label doesn't feel quite right, but my feelings towards women seemed more powerful, more undeniable. Maybe that's because those feelings had to be strong for me to unbury them, or maybe it's because I like women more than I like men, I don't know. I still have a lot of questions and things to deal with on that front, don't ask me to come up with an answer now.
Anyways, this is to say that the film Blue is the Warmest Color, and, by extension, the graphic novel the film is based off of, have been deeply impactful and meaningful to me. I watched the movie for the first time recently, and while it's clear it was directed by a man (the sex scenes are not 100% accurate, in my opinion, and they are gratuitous), the story ignited that same feeling in me that it was okay to like women, that love is beautiful no matter what.
I knew that I had to read this book after watching the film for a more accurate depiction of the story. And I'm a little disappointed.
I don't think it has ever taken me over two months to finish a graphic novel (especially a queer one). I find that with most graphic novels it's hard for me to pick them back up once I've set them down, but this one was especially unmemorable.
I really enjoyed the dichotomy of Emma and Adèle's experiences with their sexuality. A quote that I found to be incredibly relatable to me was, "For Emma, her sexuality is something that draws her to others, a social and political thing. For me, it's the most intimate thing there is" (131).
While I hold political beliefs that align with gay rights and abortion rights, etc, my sexuality, especially my queerness, is a very private aspect of my life. I have come out to my parents many times, and they were so cruel about it that I took it back. To this day, they still discount me and make comments about what I told them as a hopeful twelve-year-old.
I remember one day when my best friend and I accidentally came out to each other at the same time. It is one of my most treasured memories, because it's one of the only happy coming out stories I have.
My main issue with this book, however, is that it sends the subliminal message that bisexual people are promiscuous and will cheat on their partners. The relationship between Emma and Adèle starts with Emma (a lesbian) cheating on her girlfriend with Adèle (a bisexual), and ends with Adèle cheating on Emma with a man. This event also occurs in the film.
In the graphic novel, Adèle even references that "something [she] can't control in [her] keeps creating a bigger and bigger distance between [her and Emma]" (130). As if a bisexual person will constantly be craving to be with someone who is the opposite sex of their partner throughout their whole relationship. As if no bisexual people will ever feel complete unless they are cheating or sleeping around. As if it's all about sex for us, and not just love, like how it is for everyone else.
That was deeply hurtful to me, as someone who experiences bi erasure quite a bit and has language like that targeted at me even though I've been shoved back in the closet. I was feeling accepted by this novel, just to be stabbed in the heart by that implication.
I also did not like the ending of this book, not because it's tragic, but because it follows the "bury your gays" trope like almost every other queer story written before 2018. This "trope" was originated by the Hays Code in 1930, which stated that all people committing "immoral" acts on screen must be punished. This led to gay characters being killed off in films, and it has translated over to books and other media. The trope is tired and rooted in homophobia. Why couldn't the characters in this graphic novel split apart for another reason, i.e. the cheating? The tragedy would still ring the same; the movie, where the characters simply break up, was more heartbreaking to me.
This was earth-shattering to me. I knew about gay people from Modern Family (lmao), but I didn't know girls could like girls. I didn't know that was okay. I became obsessed with this movie. I read the summary on Wikipedia over and over, but I never watched the film because I thought it was too adult for me (I was right, there are many graphic sex scenes in it that I was not ready for). I thought about it a lot. I Googled anecdotes from lesbians about their first loves. I was absolutely enamored with the concept of queer, sapphic love.
And then I buried my curiosity deep inside me and tried to forget all about the movie and all about what I had learned. After all, I liked boys well enough, so why think about anyone else? That girl who I was kind of obsessed with, I just wanted to be her friend, that's all. That's why I felt honored when she spoke to me.
I am bisexual, and I have struggled with my sexuality a lot. The first time I had undeniably romantic feelings towards a girl (a camp counselor - I really had an Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir moment) I was terrified. I thought something was wrong with me. I was not homophobic towards others, but when it came to myself, I had internalized a lot of the biases that my family members held. My relatives seemed to be homophobic to lesbians especially.
And I was left wondering, am I a lesbian? That label doesn't feel quite right, but my feelings towards women seemed more powerful, more undeniable. Maybe that's because those feelings had to be strong for me to unbury them, or maybe it's because I like women more than I like men, I don't know. I still have a lot of questions and things to deal with on that front, don't ask me to come up with an answer now.
Anyways, this is to say that the film Blue is the Warmest Color, and, by extension, the graphic novel the film is based off of, have been deeply impactful and meaningful to me. I watched the movie for the first time recently, and while it's clear it was directed by a man (the sex scenes are not 100% accurate, in my opinion, and they are gratuitous), the story ignited that same feeling in me that it was okay to like women, that love is beautiful no matter what.
I knew that I had to read this book after watching the film for a more accurate depiction of the story. And I'm a little disappointed.
I don't think it has ever taken me over two months to finish a graphic novel (especially a queer one). I find that with most graphic novels it's hard for me to pick them back up once I've set them down, but this one was especially unmemorable.
I really enjoyed the dichotomy of Emma and Adèle's experiences with their sexuality. A quote that I found to be incredibly relatable to me was, "For Emma, her sexuality is something that draws her to others, a social and political thing. For me, it's the most intimate thing there is" (131).
While I hold political beliefs that align with gay rights and abortion rights, etc, my sexuality, especially my queerness, is a very private aspect of my life. I have come out to my parents many times, and they were so cruel about it that I took it back. To this day, they still discount me and make comments about what I told them as a hopeful twelve-year-old.
I remember one day when my best friend and I accidentally came out to each other at the same time. It is one of my most treasured memories, because it's one of the only happy coming out stories I have.
My main issue with this book, however, is that it sends the subliminal message that bisexual people are promiscuous and will cheat on their partners. The relationship between Emma and Adèle starts with Emma (a lesbian) cheating on her girlfriend with Adèle (a bisexual), and ends with Adèle cheating on Emma with a man. This event also occurs in the film.
In the graphic novel, Adèle even references that "something [she] can't control in [her] keeps creating a bigger and bigger distance between [her and Emma]" (130). As if a bisexual person will constantly be craving to be with someone who is the opposite sex of their partner throughout their whole relationship. As if no bisexual people will ever feel complete unless they are cheating or sleeping around. As if it's all about sex for us, and not just love, like how it is for everyone else.
That was deeply hurtful to me, as someone who experiences bi erasure quite a bit and has language like that targeted at me even though I've been shoved back in the closet. I was feeling accepted by this novel, just to be stabbed in the heart by that implication.
I also did not like the ending of this book, not because it's tragic, but because it follows the "bury your gays" trope like almost every other queer story written before 2018. This "trope" was originated by the Hays Code in 1930, which stated that all people committing "immoral" acts on screen must be punished. This led to gay characters being killed off in films, and it has translated over to books and other media. The trope is tired and rooted in homophobia. Why couldn't the characters in this graphic novel split apart for another reason, i.e. the cheating? The tragedy would still ring the same; the movie, where the characters simply break up, was more heartbreaking to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Homophobia