Heavenly Creatures

“One thing Deborah and I are sticking to through everything: We sink or swim together.”
—from “Heavenly Creatures”

In many ways, Permanent Obscurity is about friendship, in particular female friendship, which has long intrigued me, since with women boundaries are much less clearly defined and often blurred. For that, a major reference point was “Heavenly Creatures,” the Peter Jackson masterpiece. I love the claustrophobic world that these two girls create; in fact, it’s so claustrophobic and unique, it’s delusional. Psychotic. Going far beyond inventing a warm, nurturing cocoon for their love, these two craft a tiny universe, a kind of privileged kingdom for themselves, where even murder seems perfectly acceptable if it means protecting the “real world” of their friendship. Add to that the fact that both women are so young and inexperienced, which brings with it its own potentially tragic dangers and limitations. (Also see, “Thirteen.”) In fact, it’s their stunning lack of knowledge and perspective that gets them into deep trouble.

Delusional characters are fun:

“…The outstanding genius of this pair
is understood by few—
they're so rare.
Compared with these two
 every man is a fool.

The world is most honored
That they should deign to rule
And worship the power Of these two....”
—from “Heavenly Creatures”


Female frienship, boy. It's a scary thing.

Cornered, young characters—especially those prone to wild flights of passion and fantasy—are interesting to me in that their choices often seem so reckless and extreme. Lives can hang in the balance from one breath to the next. Drama, baby!

Adding another layer to this narrative is the fact that it’s based on a “true story” which lends a tabloid element to it, which of course I also borrowed for Permanent Obscurity.


This sexploitation film (1970) was the first dramatization of the story, by the way.