In a wonderful, out of print book called Film As A Subversive Art, film historian and critic Amos Vogel called the sex act in film “the most dangerous image known to man,” an image with seemingly infinite power to provoke, anger, liberate or disturb. And while I agree with its potential, I think sex is usually so ill-served by cinema as to rob it of it’s subversive power at times. For all our supposed enlightened attitude on sex these days, we still seem morally outraged by it – just ask a Republican. Even Hollywood, that last bastion of Liberalism, seems much more comfy with mass slaughter than with any kind of genuine eroticism. As a consequence, most who try come off being immature, taking a misogynist view towards sex that reflects a surprisingly conservative attitude, one that sees sex as fundamentally a sinful act. Of the films made (mostly overseas) that have dealt with sex with both the intelligence and maturity the subject deserves, few have been well-received by American audiences. Apparently we are still too offended by the original sin to see the power and beauty beneath.
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Skin Games
