The Top 11 Cinematic Lesbian “Reveals”

5. Shug Avery and Celie Harris — The Color Purple (1985)

Even though they are set at odds from their first introduction ("You sure is ugly"), Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg, who is poor and abused and forced into a marriage with a man who beats and rapes her, and Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), a singer for whom Celie's husband carries a torch, form an unlikely friendship and fall into an even more unlikely affair in The Color Purple. Through Shug, Celie finds strength and her own worth.

Though I, like many, would have liked to see the book more thoroughly translated to the screen, Celie's genuine and beautiful smile after she shares her first kiss with Shug is an iconic moment in lesbian film. The two part ways before the end of the movie: Shug marries, and Celie is reunited with her sister and children, but their brief romance remains one of the most positive lesbian portrayals to date.

Celie: Don't nobody love me.
Shug: I love you.
Celie: You think I's ugly.
Shug: No I don't.
Celie: You ugly...you sure is ugly....you still ugly.
Shug: [laughs] Amen. Oh, Ms. Celie, that was just the salt in sugar, me being jealous of you and Albert. I think you're beautiful.

4. Maud Lilly— Fingersmith (2005)

Fingersmith tells the story of two young women Sue Trinder (Sally Hawkins), a street trained and orphaned pickpocket, and Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy), a lady in society, out to con one another. One is out for money, the other for freedom. Abused by the man she believes to be her uncle, Maud thinks her only way out is through marriage. She hatches a plan with the nefarious Mr. Rivers, but then falls in love with Sue, their intended victim.

With enough twists and turns to have you sitting on rewind, it's hard to keep track of who we're supposed to root for (or which woman is revealing what about her sexuality). In the end though, Sue and Maud get their happily ever after.

Maud: You did it before...we weren't dreaming, were we?
Sue: That was just to start you off, Miss—
Maud: Were we? [They kiss]

3. Barbara — Notes on a Scandal (2006)

The most offensive lesbian reveal in recent years comes from a film that never even uses the word "lesbian." In Notes on a Scandal Barbara Covett's (Judi Dench) reveal comes in exposition from her co-workers who ask after Barbara's former "companion," Jennifer.

If, in Notes on a Scandal, you're hoping for a late-bloomer story about an older woman who finds love with a vivacious, young teacher, you'll be sorely disappointed.

After the pseudo-reveal, Barbara discovers that Sheba (Cate Blanchett) is having an affair with a male student. The closeted nature of Barbara's life has left such an emotional void that she begins a perverse and almost psychotic relationship with Sheba — if you can consider full-on blackmail to be a relationship.

The problem with Notes on a Scandal is that it doesn't reveal a lesbian character who happens to be beyond redemption; it reveals a woman who is a manipulative monster because she is a lesbian — or at least, that's the impression unsophisticated viewers will take away from it. It's more likely due to the fact that her lesbian sexuality has been so repressed, but that's not a nuance audiences are likely to discern.

It's the kind of mainstream movie reveal that ensures that the queer closet remains a very real place.