Moral Occult

Moral occult is frequently used throughout various melodramas today. Moral occult can be described as "the center of interest and the scene of the underlying drama reside within what we could call the 'moral occult,' the domain of operative spiritual values which is both indicated within and masked by the surface of reality,"(Page 5). As said by Peter Brooks, moral occult is the center of all melodramas, and is the idea of good vs. evil (right and wrong). This basically means what your beliefs are on what is right or wrong and how you follow through with or practice them.

One example of a melodrama that portrays the moral occult is the film All That Heaven Allows by Douglas Sirk. In this melodrama, protagonist, Cary, develops the moral occult as she struggles to determine her fate. Her heart is telling her to spend the remainder of her life with Ron, but she has too many interference and pressures in the way to do that. Her children as a main road block to this lifestyle, end up leaving her alone and able to make the decision for herself. As the audience, we get a full view on everything that is occurring and on all the inside details that the other characters are unaware of.  Many other events occur leading up to this, including Ron falling off a cliff, and this is what define and build up the moral occult itself.

All That Heaven Allows

All That Heaven Allows was not a movie I ever expected myself to watch. I’m not a person who’s very big on watching old time movies, specifically not melodramas, however I enjoyed this one. Melodramas are meant to emphasize the feelings of the audience and this film sure proceeded to emphasize mine. Cary Scott was a wealthy widow with 2 children and lived her life happily. When she develops a friendship with Ron Kirby, her nurseryman, she develops more than a friendship and later obtains feelings of affection. It was at first surprising for me to watch her fall for a man so much younger than her who was also part of a lower class. It caught my interest to see that she still gained feelings for him when realizing this and noticing their differences such as his small, countryside house or cabin compared to her small city mansion. As the movie went on to show that her children did not approve due to the age difference, it was slightly disappointing because she would sacrifice anything for her kids including Ron. Once her children grew older and she had more space to herself, and decided to allow Ron back in her life, the story goes on pulling my emotions up and down a roller coaster as the two go through unexplainable events. Disappointment, happiness, sadness, excitement and many more emotion arose for me during events such as Cary’s visits to Ron’s mill, the two deciding to be together and not be together, and seeing Cary’s hope rise and fall especially in the end when she sees Ron and cares for him after his concussion. Over all this film was a great example of a melodrama and helped me to learn more about what melodramas are and consist of.