Mirror has Two Faces
By: Emily Eade
The Mirror Has Two Faces, is a film that shows the multiple different types of love, happiness, heartbreak, and pain that can be created through relationships. The film is about a character named Rose, who started as a comfortable, independent woman who happened to change herself because her mother, Hannah, and sister, Claire viewed her as ugly and different; whereas, her friend Doris cared about how Rose was originally. Throughout the film, the female characters express their view of love towards each other, the men in their lives, and their success.
Rose is the main character we had the chance to see most of her life, her perspective on love, and so on. We see multiple relationships involving her and the men and women in her life. Starting with her mother, Hannah, and sister Claire who she has some sort of resentment towards as they always put Rose down for her looks and behavior. Her friend, Doris has a kind, loving relationship with her. With her brother-in-law Alex she has a very one-sided love, as she loves him, but he loves her sister. Lastly, with her husband Gregory, in which there is love, but no lust until the end when Rose changes herself to be accepted by others. It is seen that Rose has already been successful, but sought love from another person to validate herself.
The other women in Rose's life express different aspects of love towards others as well as the men in their lives. Hannah and Claire showed their true colors from the beginning. They have the perfect mother-daughter relationship and think alike and make everything about themselves. This is seen at Claire's wedding when Hannah was walking down the aisle. Hannah put Claire on a pedestal for having the looks and put down Rose for her habits, looks, and behavior. Claire is very self-absorbed, which is a trait that Hannah shares to a lesser degree. Claire would join in with Hannah, putting Rose down and still make everything about herself in the end. She only married Alex for his success as she cheated on him with her masseuse. Doris was the only one who had a known relationship with Rose which was kind and caring. There weren’t any men in Hannah’s and Doris’s lives that displayed any aspect of love towards them.
The Mirror Has Two Faces shows the true faces of the characters involved when it comes to love. It was shown that to some, love can be more important than success, but to others, it can be the complete opposite. It also shows that love can be displayed in many ways and that lust can be mistaken for love. Ultimately, love can be beautiful, but also can be so painful it causes people to change everything about themselves and in some instances hurt others in the process.