Far From Heaven- Are you in good hands?

What is the significance of showing the "idealistic family" crumbling to pieces in Far From Heaven?

So your husband is having an affair- with a man, many men. What do you do? In the case of Cathy Whitaker, she ignores it. Her husband and her have worked so hard all of these years to create their image that they are willing to let it go. The first time she catches him. However, after meeting and enjoying the company of her gardener,Raymond, Cathy has an epiphany-thank God. Even perfect families have their secrets and without addressing them, there will always be a loser.

What is the significance of the way each character is portrayed in Far From Heaven?
Cathy is busy busy busy, her home phone is always ringing and she's signing up for this and that, all while raising two children without much help from her husband. Once she finds out that her husband is gay, she maintains her perfect image for as long as she can. She has immersed herself so deeply into this "role" as wife, mother and philanthropist that she can't let anyone know anything is wrong. She is accepting of her black gardener when even her best friend judges her for befriending him.
Frank is also busy, but he's also very unhappy about the lie he leads. He's always in the shadows, keeping to himself at parties while Cathy entertains. He doesn't interact with his children and sends them away as soon as they would like to tell him something. He only cares about his image to others and freaks out when Cathy mentions anything troubling. This way of portraying a husband seems to be that all they do is work, stress out, drink, and occasionally hit their wives and don't take any of the blame for it.
Raymond isn't bound by racial ties until he very publicly grabs Cathy's arm and is called "boy" and then when his daughter is hit by a rock by some boys. The role he plays is an important notion about racism. Cathy was willing to be with him, but he just knew they couldn't.

What does Far From Heaven say about racism and homophobia?

I think that as an audience member, I found the ways each character handled either homophobia or racism was a bit unbelievable. Mostly because in my generation, these two topics are existing less and less. But in terms of the film, it is just like any other film taking place in this time period. Cathy had a perfect family on the outside and when put under the microscope it revealed some pretty sad stuff. She couldn't even tell her best friend about Frank. When it came to Raymond, rumors were flying around that they were an item and that was so taboo- Again, her friend asked her about it and was so relieved when Cathy said they weren't together. However, when she said Raymond and her were friends, Eleanor couldn't stand it.

One scene that stands out to me is the one at the pool. A little black boy dips his feet into what is apparently an all-white pool. Everyone gets out, mother's grab their children saying its time to go. Its as if it is unclean to be black.