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Studio: Genius
MSRP: $29.95
Rated: NR
Running Time: 158 minutes
Special Features: Nichts.
The
Pitch
“A
Brief History of Dykes.”
The
Humans
Written
and directed by Katherine Linton, and featuring a host of faces,
recognizable and un, such as Skye Blue, Tristan Taormino, and a
gaggle of lovable dominatrices.
The
Nutshell
A
six-episode miniseries, with each episode devoted to some facet of
overt lesbian sexuality. No covert lesbians here, with dark glasses
and Enigma machines hidden in their trenchcoats; these are the
lesbians that ride helicopters into battle, blaring Wagner.
The
Lowdown
I
can honestly say that I’m not on the bleeding edge when it comes to
lesbian sexuality. I have lesbian friends, sure, but we don’t talk
about issues related to sexuality, apart from defining “Abraham
Lincoln” in terms of naked charades. I’ve seen my share of
girl/girl porn, but that’s just porn for guys who don’t like watching
other men’s penises obscure the action; so I’m a lesbian virgin, and
will forever remain so, barring late-onset gender dysphoria.
Genius
Entertainment aims to close the gap between the lesbians and the
people like me with Lesbian Sex and Sexuality.
The series is targeted at hetero-types, and presented as a sort of
survey course of womanly intimacy, in all its various forms and
positions. From porn to stripping, to sensuality both subtle and
explicit (but mostly explicit), the series takes us deep into the
vagina.
May contain trace amounts of peanuts.
Things
start off with an episode devoted to pornographic lesbian movies,
which are a far cry from the latest volume of Where the Boys
Aren’t
(which I rented for reasons of comparative research). Blowfish
Productions, one of the two lesbian porn houses profiled in the
episode, get a good chunk of time to discuss what differentiates
lesbian porn intended for women from lesbian porn intended for men.
The considerations don’t dig far beneath the surface, unfortunately,
relying on professions of satisfaction of market demand as centering
the relevance and context. What’s more worthwhile about this episode,
and the formula it establishes for the rest of the series, is the
volume of anecdotes from participants in the pornography business.
These range from the intensely personal to the banal, but together
suggest a thrill of liberty that seems to have driven the whole
production.
The remainder of the
first disc is devoted to like segments, covering the realms of exotic
dancing in lesbian clubs and various forms of literary and
performance erotica. This disc makes up the expository half of the
series, and offers at least a glancing introduction to media players
in the current lesbian game.
(2) Whatever you want it to be, Mr. Webster.
The meatier segments of
the show appear on disc two, which holds episodes devoted to more
abstract concepts, such as the fulfillment of fantasies, relational
politics, and the division between niche lesbian subcultures and
mainstream society. Unfortunately, for the viewer aiming to get a bit
of edification out of the content, the show sticks to its guns in
providing only anecdotal evidence and individual case examples. I
don’t want to deny that these are interesting in and of themselves —
and, more importantly, none of them seem to contain forced emotion —
but they are necessarily limited in scope.
All
these little anecdotes combine into a broad history of lesbian
erotica in a modern context. I’d call that a too-small focus,
especially since the information included in each segment is far from
exhaustive. Instead, the producers center of individuals and their
positions on and opinions of the spectrum of lesbian sex. In other
words, as a documentary it teaches you more about Tristan Taormino
than it does about, say, hardcore lesbian pornography. I’m also kind
of surprised at the amount of footage wasted on titillation, which
could have been spent on more interviews or other dry, boring bits of
information.
Guess which celebrity’s Sidekick got stolen this time.
Lesbian
Sex and Sexuality
shows off a small, California-centered corner of its title. The
stories that it carries are inspiring — in an abstract, “good for
you” kind of way — but it doesn’t contain nearly enough solid
information to stand as a thorough exploration of the subject.
The
Package
Nothing
for you but the content of the episodes and a trailer. Also, the
thing is just letterboxed widescreen, so it comes off kind of ugly.
The visuals, not the content.
Did
I make it through without offending anyone unnecessarily, apart from myself?
6.5 out of 10