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At a seamstress's shop across the street, elderly seamstress Rose (Sihame Haddad), caring for a sister with dementia (Aziza Semaan), may have a twilight opportunity for love with a courtly client.

And then there's one of Caramel's stickier ingredients: Rima (Joanna Moukarzel), a pixie-tressed shampoo girl, has a same-sex infatuation with a long-haired beauty (Fatmeh Safa), who takes to coming in to have her hair washed. In Beauty Shop, homosexual traits are roundly mocked, which some may feel more comfortable with than Caramel's tolerant approach. Others may feel that stigmatizing mockery has more to do with disrespecting persons than with traditional Judeo-Christian teaching, which affirms both the disordered and sinful character of homosexual acts and also the personal dignity of individuals who experience same-sex attraction and/or engage in homosexual acts.

The film touches on the intractable grip of the cult of beauty

With the exception of Nisrine, who is Muslim, nearly all the women appear to be Catholic—though only elderly Rose and Lili, who pray a somewhat unruly rosary in bed at night, show much sign of practicing their faith. Icons of the Holy Family and the Madonna and Child adorn the wall in Rose's shop, and crosses, crucifixes, and rosaries hang from necklaces, walls and rearview mirrors. In one scene a religious procession with a statue of the Virgin Mary makes its way down the street, even taking a detour into the salon, and the Christian women cross themselves and join in the hymn. But religion isn't shown having a role in informing the characters' decisions or their thoughts about them.

At the same time, Caramel depicts Middle-eastern Christians and Muslims living and working side by side with no trace of religious conflict or tension. The religious mix is a fact about the characters and their society, not a plot point or a topic for provocative or outrageous banter. Labaki dedicated the film to "my Beirut," and it's heartening to see "her" city as she does, as a place where people live and work and face more or less the same sorts of problems as they do in American studio comedies.

Talk About It

1. How would you describe Layale's feelings toward her lover's family? How does her thinking change over the course of the film? What brings about these changes?
2. What does Caramel have to say about beauty, aging and infirmity? Do you think the humorous depictions of Jamale's foibles and Lili's dementia is affectionate or insensitive? Why?
3. Is Caramel at all critical of the cultural setting it depicts? Does it embrace its cultural setting? Is it some of both? How?
4. What social attitudes emerge toward courtship and marriage, personal morality and public expectations? What perspective does the film offer on these attitudes?
5. How would you describe the role of religion in the story's cultural context? How would you compare or contrast it with the role of religion in your culture? What are the relative pros and cons of these religious differences?

The Family Corner

Caramel is rated PG for thematic elements involving sexuality, language and some smoking. Layale and her married lover clandestinely park in unfrequented areas; Nisrine's fiance insists on surreptitiously fondling her knee under the table at dinner and pulling up her skirt while she tries to fend him off. The same-sex attraction of Rima and a beautiful client is conveyed mostly by smiling gazes and scalp massaging. In a couple of scenes women partly strip (no nudity) to bare their legs for the painful process of hair removal with a sticky sugar compound. There are also references to a woman getting her period and some not very serious attempts at reading tea leaves.

Photos © Copyright Roadside Attractions

© Steven D. Greydanus subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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