Getting on the...

“Shortbus”, I’ve watched it about 12 times now. I can’t get enough of it.

John Cameron Mitchell is an absolute genius when it comes to filmmaking. This movie is one of the most real and honest movies I have ever had the pleasure to watch. What? Never heard of it/him? Oh but you do know who Mitchell is, he is Hedwig of the Angry Inch variety. “Shortbus” is his writing/directing follow up movie. You may not have heard of this movie due to its content; it got a very limited release.

It is the fairy tale snapshot of a bunch of New Yorkers making their way through life. From the sex therapist that can’t have an orgasm to the good looking gay guy that has everything and still can’t pull his head out of his depression. It is a refreshingly honest take on sexuality, desperation and human nature. The actors are all real people that have never been in movies before, and together with Mitchell they created and developed their characters.

The sex scenes are intense, but not more intense than the scene where the therapist covertly tells her husband that she has never once had an orgasm in the guise of “her client said…”. Another intense scene is when one of the characters tries to commit suicide. I have never seen such a clear cut photograph of what it feels like to be so depressed that death seems like the only option. But don’t misunderstand; this is not in any way, a depressing movie.

It is full of beautiful imagery and music that eventually becomes a character in and of itself. Together, some amazing animation that makes New York look like a magical place again and a script that blends a perfect balance of the absurd and insightful, this movie will affect every person who watches it differently. The script is painful and awkward and profound:

“New Yorkers are permeable, you know what I mean? Therefore we’re sane, consequently we’re the target of the impermeable and the insane. And of course, New York is where everyone comes to be forgiven. What have you done wrong? Tell me, how have you sinned? I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”

“How would you know?”

“Well, I’m sure you did your best. Imagine if you grew up here like I did. Home, can be very unforgiving. It’s true. People said, I didn’t do enough to prevent the AIDS crisis because I was in the closet. That’s not true. I did the best I could. I was… I was scared, and impermeable. Everybody knew so little then. I know even less now.”

The main thought running through this movie is that even though we all have different kinds of sex we are all human beings and we all have problems. This movie looks at sex like a character. The actors are having sex in the movie, real uninhibited passionate sex. So if erect penises and penetration makes you nervous, I would still recommend this movie. Simply because it is not biased to a specific type of sex and the preconceived roles are not what is important. What is important is the connection that people make.

The underrated outcome of sex is that it concentrates you on the person you are with. It brings you fully into the moment. During sex there is nothing but you and your partner in consistent moments of concentration and intimacy. Looking at sex this way, in stead of as something taboo or disgusting because it is not what you like, helps us evolve together into more accepting people. The outlying specifics of who is in what kind of relationships are not important, in that each person has to go on their own sexual journey. We as a society have made this open sexuality taboo and forbidden. This movie asserts that it is not important what kind of sex you have but that you have sex; hot, unbridled, passionate, sex.

A question that has been posed is: Why couldn’t they have done this movie without the explicit sex? This is a viable question to ask, but more difficult to answer. To tell a compelling story about sexuality and intimacy and what we each go through, you couldn’t be afraid of the sex. All you could do is make it real, make it true, and do it with dignity. We human beings are at a place in time where we have spent so much time talking about what is right and wrong and who is right and wrong for doing whatever it is that they do and you don’t, that we have neglected to simply love each other.

Watch this movie. It may make you uneasy. It may arouse you. It may make you see sexuality in a different way. It may make your fear and unease of those who have different kinds of sex abate a bit. But I promise you one thing, it will, without a doubt make you think. Sex is and can be the most joyous thing we ever get to experience. And as we come to a conclusion we are left with a song whose words are important for every one of us.

We all bear the scars

Yes we all fade alive

We all sigh in the dark

Get cut off before we start

And as the first act begins

You realize there always is

For a fall, for a flaw, for the end

There’s a past stained with tears

Could you talk to quiet my fears

Could you pull me aside

Just to acknowledge that I tried

And as your last breath begins

Contently take it in

‘Cuz we all get it in the end

And as your last breath begins

You find your demons’ your best friend

And we all get it in the end

Yes we all get it in the end