Monarchs, Mirrors & Method Acting: May December’s Symbolism Explained

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for May December.

Summary

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• May December utilizes reflective symbolism and mirrors to explore the duality and hidden deceit of its characters.
• The metamorphosis of monarch butterflies represents Joe’s transition from immaturity to maturity and the possibility of starting anew.
• Elizabeth’s method acting techniques mask her heartlessness as professionalism, leading her to manipulate and harm those around her.

Todd Haynes’ latest film May December is full of motifs and visual symbolism that largely point toward the film’s central themes of deceit, imitation, and duality of character. May December, which debuted on Netflix on December 1, 2023, is generating a lot of buzz for the upcoming award season where it is poised to be considered for a number of Academy Awards, particularly in the field of acting. Natalie Portman stars as method actress Elizabeth Berry who visits the controversial couple of Grace (Julianne More) and Joe (Charles Melton) in order to get to know Gracie better on several levels for an upcoming role portraying her in a Hollywood film.

The reflective symbolism seen throughout May December, through physical mirrors onscreen as well as self-evaluations by key characters, is significant in many ways, particularly in Charles Melton’s Joe Yoo. Joe represents the real-life Vili Fualaau, who was the victim of second-degree child rape by his former teacher and eventual wife Mary Kay Letourneau. Julianne Moore portrays Gracie (Mary Kay) who is living in a tiny world of self-proclaimed naïveté and shelter from the public eye and international tabloids that became fascinated by her disturbing story. Haynes utilizes a handful of thematic elements to delicately reinvent this taboo story in May December.

Joe was robbed of a typical adolescent experience through his relationship with Gracie

Joe’s favorite hobby in May December is raising monarch butterflies and releasing them to the natural world due to a population crisis. By the end of the film, Joe realizes that he has discovered a newfound liberation as two of his kids, Charles and Mary, graduate high school, leaving him and Gracie as empty-nesters as they go off to college. Joe, who had been a young teenager when he took the responsibility of his kids as a parent while Gracie served a maximum prison sentence, was robbed of much of his adolescence. Still relatively young at 36, Joe has much of his life ahead of him and releases the butterfly in the scene above with a glimmer of possibility for his own future.

Joe’s fascination with monarch butterflies also seems like a rather boyish hobby, another indication of how he was robbed of a normal childhood and may not have fully developed emotionally and mentally as an adult. This is demonstrated when he and Gracie argue toward the end of the film, as Joe sobs and cowers boyishly like a kid who got caught stealing from the cookie jar. The metamorphosis of the butterflies represents Joe’s transition from immaturity to maturity and a chance to begin again as both Elizabeth and his dad have suggested.

The Mirrors & Reflections Act As Symbols Of Duality, Imitation, Image & Deceit

Elizabeth is “mirroring” Gracie but also searches for truth beneath her outward image

Several shots in May December, especially the long take one where Gracie’s daughter tries on a graduation dress seen above, experiment with reflections in mirrors to imply a duality of character in both Gracie and Elizabeth. Both characters present outwardly much differently than they feel inwardly, an indication of how performative both of them are even before Elizabeth starts to “become” Gracie. This duality and imitation also hint at hidden deceit within them both, as Elizabeth “mirrors” Gracie to accurately play her part but not to “truly” understand her and Gracie sculpts her image into how she would like to be perceived in Elizabeth’s film.

Both Gracie and Elizabeth also know what it’s like to be under the pervasive public eye and are very aware of how they appear before a camera. The camera is very intentionally placed in May December, often capturing the various angles of their profiles much like a paparazzi or cinematic camera would. There is also a scene in which the camera itself acts as a mirror as Gracie shows Elizabeth how to put on her makeup. From this perspective, we see both Gracie and Elizabeth masking their true selves “in the mirror” but more so for the audience, as their image is designed equally as much for themselves as it is for the spectators.

Elizabeth’s Method Acting Techniques Masquerade Heartlessness As Professionalism

Elizabeth’s demeanor as a famous method actor is just as performative as her imitations of Gracie

Throughout May December, Elizabeth indulges in the freedom of following wherever her method “process” takes her. This results in her doing some very strange and despicable things such as convincing Joe to cheat on Gracie. Elizabeth’s “method acting” techniques seem like an excuse for her dark intentions and snakelike maneuvers as she inserts herself into a life that isn’t hers. Gracie begins to see Elizabeth as someone who is also protected from facing the reality of herself through her self-proclaimed naïveté. May December is largely about the main characters’ inability to look at the truth of themselves out of a fear that it would shock, disgust, or destroy them, something that Elizabeth, Gracie, and Joe are all equally guilty of.

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  May December

  Release Date:

  2023-12-01

  Director:

  Todd Haynes

  Cast:

  Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

  Rating:

  R

  Runtime:

  113 Minutes

  Genres:

  Drama, Romance

  Writers:

  Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik

  Studio(s):

  Gloria Sanchez Productions, Killer Films, MountainA

  Distributor(s):

  Netflix