In this episode, I talk about Todd Haynes's 1995 film, "Safe." It stars Julianne Moore in her first collaboration with Haynes. Moore plays Carol White, a California housewife who comes down with a mysterious illness that could be a result of the chemicals and toxins in the environment. When her doctor and mainstream medicine offer her no help, she seeks relief and answers at a New Age treatment center called Wrenwood that espouses individualist self-help ideas. I talk about my own struggle with chronic health issues, how women are often not believed by doctors, why the film remains so relevant to the modern world we live in, and I also critique self-help messages.

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Original logo by Dhiyanah Hassan

Full show notes:

• My episode on Birth
• My episode on Wanda
• My episode on Vagabond
• My episode on The Double Life of Veronique
• Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz
• Unrest documentary

My sources:

• Todd Haynes: Interviews, edited by Julia Leyda
• Todd Haynes by Alison MacLean for Bomb Magazine, 1995