Let’s Make Whoopee!

A bad time for the economy doesn’t mean a bad time for sex. Actually, it’s bed time. This week, American newspaper The New York Times reported on an unusual experiment done by Rev. Ed Young of the evangelical Fellowship Church. It was called the Seven Days of Sex. Its motto was: “How to move from whining about the economy to whoopee! Improve your marriage and forget your problems.”

When you deal with sex through the media, you have a good chance of being heard. The subject evokes curiosity for most of us, probably for all of us. Tabloid covers with their sex scandals, special TV shows, movie titles and even some articles, like the one you are reading right now. I wish I knew how many of you were attracted by the word at the top of the page. In this year’s IDFA programme, you will obviously stumble across documentaries which talk about sex. Maybe they’re about the lack of it and the dilemmas involved, but it is still sex! Feeding our wildest curiosities. The sessions are sold out! But be sure that part of this audience is also there looking for answers. How many of us are ashamed to confess to this intimate pursuit? The dark screening room has the advantage of maintaining our anonymity.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s now address the so-called man-hunters. Ok, I agree it’s not a respectful term, but believe me you probably already met some of them. And now, they can make a career out of it. In Bitch Academy, by Russian director Alina Rudnitskaya, the women have their own special classes in order to achieve their goals. Their motivations are multiple: from scoring a millionaire to convincing their lazy husbands to have sex. The person teaching them some naughty tips is a man - which might sound contradictory, but who would know better what a man wants? “If you want him horny, ladies, change your clothes. It’s not about you, it’s about them”, he declares. But at the Bitch Academy you learn much more than merely getting laid; you learn how to use it as a powerful resource. If money really rules the world, sex is one way to get it.

Another Russian documentary by Vitaly Mansky, called Virginity, depicts three immaculate girls and their ways of taking advantage of their chastity. They don’t dream about the wedding night anymore; what they’re after is money and fame. In the capital of vodka, Moscow, these young ladies try to cash in on their virginity, but find that it is now underpriced. After the deflowering, the girls are left only with some money in their bank account, a job as a stripper in a nightclub or a pink dream-car. This movie makes the audience think about the real meaning of sex in their daily lives.

But let’s move our attention towards the boys now, and their most feared problem: sexual impotence. This ghost freaks out a lot of men; maybe you? Without shame, the British director Chris Waitt exposes the problem already presented in the title of his film; A Complete Story of My Sexual Failures. Anxious to know why he was dumped by a string of girlfriends, he discovers that his impotence is one of the answers. His journey to fix the problem represents a sort of phallocentric point of view, where the penis never has to give up. Is anyone flawless in this field?

Joining another’s sex problems is a way to confront our own faults. If not, do the audiences gained through the subject represent a sadistic side of the public? How much do we like to watch about sexuality? How much do we talk to our friends and families about it? Facing sex as part of life is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s inspiring to perceive the changing mind and how sex is being discussed, be it on the big screen, in a crowded room, or on a small screen, in the living room.

Later on the seventh day at the Fellowship Church, the newspaper was there to note the results. In short; it was a cheerful day. Was there any doubt?

Arturo Mestanza