- The movie, Maurice, based on E.M Forster’s novel of the same name, is a story revolving around homosexuality and society. Set in the early part of 20th century-England, the first scene introduces us to a ‘biological truth’ which sets the tone for the upcoming 2hours and 20minutes.
- We are dropped direct hints as to how the society is morally attuned towards this ‘biological truth’ with higher-echelons at university forbidding any mention about the ‘unspeakable vice of the Greeks’ during class and the law holding any who deviates, harshly culpable.
- Enter Maurice Hall and Clive Durham, who become close friends during their time in college and later, turn to being lovers-in-hiding. Their relationship (albeit non-sexual upon Clive’s insistence) continues for a long, long time and I began wondering why was the title ‘Maurice’ when the movie surely seemed about the forbidden love shared between Clive and Maurice and the societal stigmas they’ll have to go through together eventually?
- I got my answer after Clive ‘breaks up’ with Maurice somewhere around the one hour mark and ends up getting married shorty afterwards. This behaviour by Clive (who initiated the relationship in the first place) wasn’t very sudden and was foreshadowed after Lord Risley’s publicised culpability which ended up ripping his promising career/name to shreds and marked an end to his political/social life.
- When I thought about what happened I was bought closer towards an understanding of a heartbreaking fact about Clive, that this wasn’t some exhibition of ‘cowardice’ but his final descent into ‘internalised homophobia’.
- Maurice is left heart-broken and dejected in the aftermath and this is when the choice of title as ‘Maurice’ begins to shine through. But this thread isn’t the title-justification I want to write about, today, though Maurice and Alec making it to the end left me giddy with joy.
- My aim is to write my thoughts about ‘Clive’s’ Internalised Homophobia – defined as “a gay person’s direction of negative social attitudes toward the self.” (Meyer & Dean, 1998) “It can sometimes lead to the rejection of one’s sexual orientation further characterized by conflict between experiences of same-sex affection or desire and feeling a need to be heterosexual.”
- The ending scene with Clive staring out the window reminds me of a scene happening on a train-station. Clive Durham is immensely late in returning to the platform and re-boarding the train he once stepped down from but the train is longer in sight.
- ‘Maurice’ is a chilling reminder of how outside factors can play a huge role in shaping your inclinations, slowly chipping your beliefs away little by little and unconsciously re-wiring you into acquiescing that what you feel is naturally wrong. You think you’ve figured yourself out and have made the choice of boarding the correct train and taking the journey but the sad truth is, it often doesn’t turn out to be so easy and many like Clive end up de-boarding.
