movie minute

Tales Of The Bus: Creamy, the maitre d'; the sex, not bombs, room; and some serious sex are all things to be found in the movie Shortbus. The title, which is meant to signify "special and gifted people" (like the ones that ride real shortbuses) means here the "special and gifted people" in the movie. Those words could be changed to freaks or deviants by less than enlightened people just as the people who ride the real shortbuses could be labeled handicapped or mentally challenged. James and Jamie are a homosexual couple who want to open up their relationship; Sofia is a couples counselor (don't use the term sex therapist) who is married to Rob but he can't give her the one thing she's never had: an orgasm; Severin is a dominatrix who just wants to have a genuine relationship (with feeling) with someone. The whole movie deals with the issue of sex and the hang-ups and blocks we have when it comes to the subject. In our culture, sex is the one thing that polarizes us more than anything else. We can watch a violent movie laden with vulgarity and not blink an eye but give us a movie about sex and we get all a-twitter and even angry and defensive. Why? Sex is supposed to be a natural and liberating thing and as everyone does it (or should, anyway) at one point or another, we shouldn't be afraid of it or try to limit our view of it. To each his own as they say and that should be something everyone should respect. I'm not a prude by any sense of the word, yet I can't help but feel that some of the sex and nudity was gratuitous; the film is very graphic in the area of sex. I'm going to single out PJ DeBoy as Jamie in the relationship of James; he loves James (he used to be Jamie too but now wants to be known by the more formal version of the name) very much but doesn't seem to be enough for James. Justin Bond, a queer performer from New York City, is also in the movie and the movie itself is directed by John Cameron Mitchell, the performer who brought us Hedwig And The Angry Inch which is itself better as a stage show. The film has a lot to say about sex and there are some really funny moments and lines. One in particular involves a vibrating egg, an altercation and a remote control that someone uses to try and change the tv channel. And one character says, "In my show, I use menstrual juice for makeup." To that, another character replies, "It's a period piece." Many people may be put off by the sex of this film, but that's exactly why this film should be seen. These people aren't special or deviant; they are normal and everyday people dealing with the same issues as everyone else; only they are more open about it.

Bags of popcorn (out of 5): 3.25

peace,

paul