Todd Haynes is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender roles.
Haynes first gained public attention with his controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), which chronicles singer Karen Carpenter's tragic life and death, using Barbie dolls as actors. Haynes had not obtained proper licensing to use the Carpenters' music, prompting a lawsuit from Richard Carpenter, whom the film portrayed in an unflattering light, banning the film's distribution. Superstar became a cult classic. Haynes's feature directorial debut, Poison (1991), a provocative exploration of AIDS-era queer perceptions and subversions, established him as a figure of a new transgressive cinema. Poison won the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and is regarded as a seminal work of New Queer Cinema.
Haynes received further acclaim for his second feature film, Safe (1995), a symbolic portrait of a housewife who develops multiple chemical sensitivity. Safe was later voted the best film of the 1990s by The Village Voice Film Poll. His next feature, Velvet Goldmine (1998), is a tribute to the 1970s glam rock era, drawing heavily on the rock histories and mythologies of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed. The film received the Special Jury Prize for Best Artistic Contribution at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
Haynes gained critical acclaim and a measure of mainstream success with his 2002 feature, Far from Heaven, a 1950s-set melodrama about a housewife who discovers that her husband is gay and falls in love with her African-American gardener. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay. His fifth feature, I'm Not There (2007), a nonlinear biopic depicting various facets of Bob Dylan through seven fictionalized characters, received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett. In 2011, Haynes directed and co-wrote the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce, which won five Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for lead actress Kate Winslet.
In 2015, Haynes returned to the big screen with his sixth feature film, Carol, the story of a forbidden love affair between two women in early 1950s New York City, based on Patricia Highsmith's seminal novel The Price of Salt. The film received critical acclaim and many accolades, including a nomination for the Palme d'Or, six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe Award nominations, and nine BAFTA Award nominations. Haynes directed the 2017 mystery drama film Wonderstruck and the 2019 legal thriller film Dark Waters, followed by his first feature documentary, The Velvet Underground, in 2021.
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Some of their strengths
Todd Haynes has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Altruistic, Intellectual, Analytical, Practical, Hardworking, Loyal, and Imaginative.
Smart and Hardworking
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Todd Haynes is someone who is a smart, hardworking, reliable, and loyal person, who is detail-oriented and orderly, but also generous and optimistic. A person who is a bit of a "lone wolf".
Adaptable and Versatile
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Todd Haynes well know them as someone who can be adaptable, flexible, and polite, like a flower or a sapling.
Altruistic and Innovative
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Todd Haynes as someone who is altruistic, inventive, energetic, and socially-conscious.
Who is inventive, open-minded and inquisitive, optimistic and cooperative, and who loves working together with others.
Vigorous and Friendly
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Todd Haynes is someone who has a vigor and energy that applies itself to all life's activities and endeavors, and a knack for forming family-like structures, groups, and communities.
They are also someone who is active, giving, optimistic, and cheerful, and who possesses a charisma that attracts friends and admirers.
Patient and Perseverent
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Todd Haynes tends to be someone who is patient, faithful, hardworking and persistent, and who wants to achieve a lot in life. Who tends to be rather private when it comes to expressing feelings, enjoys being independent and self-sufficient, and who is not afraid of any obstacle.
Some of Todd Haynes's challenges
While Todd Haynes has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Todd Haynes can be Stubborn, Suspicious, Emotional, Standoffish, Rebellious, Emotionally Distant, and Anxious.
Suspicious and Stubborn
One of Todd Haynes's key challenges is that they are someone who can be suspicious and stubborn.
Todd Haynes must also exercise caution as they can have a hard time reconciling wants and needs, and can be short-tempered and aggressive, and can have difficulty dealing with responsibility, authority, or criticism.
Anxious and Inflexible
Todd Haynes is someone who can be high-strung, impatient, and inflexible, who can be "penny wise and pound foolish", have poor listening skills, and who can be intolerant of people who share a different world view.
Callous and Stubborn
Finally, Todd Haynes also can come across as cold and unemotional, be too dismissive of others' opinions, and be overly suspicious, selfish and crafty.
