The introduction of blue into the thematic color palette becomes very apparent when Suzette and Harry settle into their hotel. "The walls were a deep, achy, unhealthy blue, because the story is trying to move forward; the characters are trying to break into the sky and the openness and the freedom that they’re going to find at the end of the movie."
The juxtaposition between the two women’s current lives seems never more apparent than when we first see Suzette in Lavinia’s perfect beige home. "Suzette brings in this burst of peony pinks and turquoises and lights her world up and finally, Goldie’s freedom and her openness and her honesty infect everybody in Lavinia’s family to the point that Lavinia wants to just go out on the town with her. It frees her to cut her hair and change her clothes and get out of the rigidity of her girdle-like beige world." But not too far out of her world...West points out that even when Lavinia borrows Suzette’s skin-tight snakeskin pants. she still "chooses the most sedate of Suzette’s wild, flamboyant wardrobe."
Blue becomes a predominant color in the scene when Lavinia and Suzette go to the club -Suzette in her blue tie-back halter. But Javan points out that the shades of blue are different than those of the club Suzette worked in at the onset of the film. "We tried to make it more alive. It’s the future for them."
The first time blue is introduced into Lavinia’s home is when the women return from the club and hole themselves up in Lavinia’s basement to explore their infamous collection of celebrity "memorabilia." The basement, which was built on a stage, was designed by Javan with Sarandon’s input. "Susan really had us organize the basement. She wanted labels on every shelf. Even though she never threw anything away. everything was very organized...We really wanted to show that she needed to save everything that she had in that life that she had built for herself in Phoenix to reaffirm that it had really happened...And once the ‘rock cock collection’ came out, Lavinia’s world really starts to loosen up.
As the film builds toward its denouement, the women come to terms with how the choices they’ve made have affected their lives. It’s with a renewed appreciation in themselves that they perch atop a billboard like they did so many years ago. Fittingly, they are surrounded by azure skies. And, as the graduation scene begins, the vision that Dolman had since the day his son graduated is realized - blue robes and crystal-clear blue skies. The film closes with Suzette and Harry riding off into the sunset...in the blue "Shitbox."
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