Tea and Sympathy is a stage play by Robert Anderson that was adapted by Vincente Minnelli into a 1956 movie starring Deborah Kerr. Its plot revolves around the loner "Tom Lee" (John Kerr) who is befriended by the wife (Kerr) of one of his teachers. Vincente Minnelli was the professional name of Lester Anthony Minnelli (February 28, 1903 – January 24, 1986) who was born in Chicago, Illinois. ... 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Deborah Kerr (born September 30, 1921) is a Scottish film actress. ... Sir John Kerr The Right Honourable Sir John Robert Kerr, AK, GCMG, GCVO, QC (September 24, 1914 - April 7, 1991), Australian judge and 18th Governor-General of Australia. ...

Plot

Tom, a 17-year student at a boys' prep school, is having difficulties fitting in with the other boys who like sports, talking about girls, and listening to pop music. He prefers classical music, reads books, can sew, plays theater, and generally seems to be more at ease in the company of women. In the United States a preparatory school, or prep school, is usually a private secondary school (or high school) designed to prepare a student for higher education. ...

The other boys torment him for his "unmanly" qualities and call him "sister boy", which does not go unnoticed by "Laura Reynolds", the young wife of the House Master "Bill Reynolds" (Leif Erickson). She tries to build a connection with the young man, eventually even falling in love with him, presumably because of his similarity to her first husband John, who was killed in World War II. Leif Erickson is also an alternate spelling of the name of explorer Leif Ericson Leif Erickson (October 27, 1911 - January 29, 1986) was an American actor. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest and most expensive war in history, estimated...

The situation escalates when Tom visits the local prostitute to dispel the rumors about his sexuality, but is unable to have intercourse with her. This failure prompts him to attempt suicide and he also has to leave the school because of his visit with her. He and Laura eventually have sex, prompting Laura to leave her husband.

The film opens and closes ten years into the future, when an aged Tom, who is now a successful writer and also married (though perhaps only to "fit in"), visits his college at a reunion.

Analysis

The character of Tom can be interpreted to be either homosexual or maybe just a somewhat effeminate heterosexual. Since the Hays code was in effect when the film was produced, this possibility of a double reading was probably intentional. Of course the central message of the film, that it is OK to be different, remains fundamentally the same, no matter what one reads into the main character's sexual orientation. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love or sexual desire exclusively for members of the opposite sex or gender, contrasted with homosexuality and distinguished from bisexuality and asexuality. ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of guidelines governing the production of motion pictures. ... Sexual orientation refers to the sex or gender of people who are the focus of a persons amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and spontaneous feelings, the gender(s) one is primarily oriented towards. ...

In addition to Tom, the movie also features two other characters whose possible homosexual tendencies are delineated in such a subtle way that their portrayals may have been under the radar for 1950s audiences as well as censors: The first character is Tom's roommate, who, while a jock, does not have any experiences with girls nor apparently any eagerness to make them and who also defends Tom in a way that suggests sexual attraction. Being too simple-minded to enjoy Tom's pursuits like classical music or to consciously recognize his own hidden motivations, he is also somewhat protected from closer scrutiny by his surroundings as he seems to be like the other boys at the surface. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... Censorship is the use of governmental power to control speech and other forms of human expression. ...

The second character is Bill, Laura's second husband, who seems to have lost all sexual interest in his wife after their first few weeks of marriage and now prefers to be together with her as little as possible in lieu of hanging out "with the boys". It is suggested that Bill also experienced a sexual identity crisis in his teenage years and at one point he even jokes that his outward appearance of heterosexual masculinity is a built-up façade. In the play, there is also a final confrontation between him and Laura about his latent homosexuality. So while Tom Lee is the obvious target for harassment because of his actual or presumed homosexuality, the movie also presents other characters who have "adapted" to society's expectations despite their apparent sexual inclinations.

External links

• Tea and Sympathy at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tea and Sympathy at the Internet Movie Database