Fun Home Reflection Blog

While reading Fun Home, the part which seemed the most strange to me was the fact that Bruce and Helen had stayed together, in spite of Bruce's multiple affairs and lack of attraction toward Helen.

This reminds me a lot of the stereotypical girl-falls-in-love-with-gay-man relationship. It isn't portrayed incredibly often, but there seems to often be a girl in romantic comedies who is constantly falling for gay men, and complaining about it. While I will not assume that this sort of relationship is prevalent, it did make me think about Bruce and Helen's relationship. One would think that, if two people have no feelings for one another, they would not get married in the first place.

This brought me to the idea that, perhaps, Helen loved Bruce, and he loved her, but strictly in a platonic sense (at least on Bruce's part). I cannot deny that Bruce's letters to Helen are passionate. Looking into them, it seems it could go one of two ways: One, Bruce was writing in a way that he would rather be intended for another man, or two, he truly loved Helen. Given that I would rather look at this from an optimistic standpoint, I would like to support the latter (without ignoring the former).

One excerpt of Bruce's letters that we see, on page 63, says, "Do you know I love you. That made me feel so good I'll say it again. I love you I love you I love you, you crazy wonderful girl. I know what I need a drink. This would be our night to sit and drink and look at each other." Even if Bruce feels no sexual attraction toward Helen, there must have been some sort of emotion spurring this. It would be pointless for him to have written that letter otherwise; it would have been easier not to write anything of the sort in the first place.

From Helen's standpoint, it does not seem that she would stay with a man if she didn't love him. As Alison describes her in comparison to Isabel Archer, a character from Henry James' A Portrait of a Lady, she points out that, "Too good for her own good, Isabel remains with Gilbert." While it could be argued that this simply shows that Helen does not want to make a fuss, she clearly rebuts those arguments in her actions toward Bruce. She often argues with Bruce, attempting to force him to act differently and respect her and their children. She has also shown her affection for Bruce. Alison says that she has only seen her parents engage in two acts of intimacy: a kiss, and her mother's hand on her father's back. It appears that Helen, at least, loved Bruce, in spite of his actions.

Each of these situations could be seen as their opposites, a giant facade existing only to make it seem as if they love each other, but it seems illogical for that to be the case. It would have been much easier, if they had not loved each other, to never create a relationship in the first place.