A young French girl does the unthinkable — she falls in love with her professor, who is 20 years her senior. Their forbidden love became the greatest sex scandal of 12th-century France and spanned two decades amid the searing backdrop of political and religious turmoil.
The affair costs the lovers everything they had, but their love for each other prevails. Note: Today, Heloise is buried next to Peter in Paris. Many Parisians view their love as the best example of absolute and eternal love.
Young lovers visit their grave and leave love notes in hopes that they too will have eternal love. Forbidden love stories tear at our hearts, yet there are few forbidden loves that remain. Our society has become increasingly accepting of interreligious, interracial, and single sex marriages. The one love affair that remains taboo today is between a teacher and student, considered by many to be worse than pedophiles because the teachers use their status to seduce young victims.
Such love affairs violate our sensibilities. Parents and schools alike trust that teachers will not take advantage of young students, especially girls. Today, college professors who sexually seduce their students lose their positions. Two lovers overcoming familial, social, and religious challenges make for great drama.
I believe films need strong female characters — not just physically strong superheroes, but female characters who are intelligent with clear moral compasses.
