By: Mark Barber Carol is a difficult film to describe without context.  I have occasionally found myself at odds with contemporary representations of queer identity, as it refuses to abandon elements of tragedy that have dominated for so long.  As Vito Russo points out in his celebrated The Celluloid Closet, queer characters rarely receive a happy ending.  Same-sex relationships were taboo for much of the 20th century, which was then reflected in their filmic representation….