Ever since it debuted at Cannes back in May, one word keeps popping up when people describe Carol director Todd Haynes’ latest film May December – “camp”. If all you know about the movie is that it loosely draws from the true story of Mary Kay Letourneau, who served time in prison for having a relationship with a minor when she was a teacher, you may be initially surprised by this reaction. How can a film about such trauma be camp? Well, many reviews cite the dramatic musical cues, the quick zooms of the camera, the wickedly funny script, and the film’s many layers of satire as evidence of its campness.
It’s something that has caused much debate online, as people question whether May December really is camp? We therefore had to ask the film’s cast during our recent interview with them what they make of discussion, with star Julianne Moore (who portrays Gracie) saying that she believes there has been some consolidation here. She told the Inside Total Film podcast and GamesRadar+: “It’s interesting to me as I have heard the term a lot. I think that it’s meant positively, but I do think there’s some conflation between camp and melodrama. From my understanding, I feel like this is a melodrama because it’s so filled with emotion. Camp meanwhile generally stands in for something that’s kind of a simulation, where there’s no real feeling. I don’t think this is that, and that’s not what Todd does. I think what he does so beautifully is he takes these very extreme, emotional, human situations and relationships, and dramatizes them - which truly is melodrama. But it’s funny - there are funny things in it because life is funny.”
