as a member of the blogosphere, I’m suppose to get all abuzz about a sunbathing Jude Law and his penis. Harumph I say, not because I’m a prude but because it’s much ado about nothing. And I’m not talking about the length of his schwing. I’m talking about all the twittering that surrounds it. Shortly, I’ll have more to say about this, but for now: headlines.
A lot of my friends enjoy reading Mark Morford via the SFGate. I tend to be a tad west coast ignorant in that regard, but I did appreciate his recent musing about Amazon.com selling sex toys and, like him, I’m pleased Amazon is selling them. I consider Amazon entry into this line of sales just another branch of pariah capitalism getting co-opted into the mainstream and I see that as a largely good thing. The more we claim as routine, the less marginalized our sexual expressions remain. Sex toys are, to me, just another consumable — and the amazingly good price on the rabbit pearl is more than I can resist. I harbor hopes similar to Morford that maybe brisks sales of sex toys could break our bad karmic culture war.
I’m not, however, completely surprised by Amazon’s entry into sex toys sales. Well over a year ago, I noticed I could buy classic sex farces and dramas from the 1970s there. Movies like Diabolique and The Image and others were mine for the purchasing. Somewhere in the blogosphere, there was a small ripple of surprise and protest (metafilter, perhaps? I don’t remember.), but big deal said I as I sat down to watch some of these old films.
Speaking of films, I saw Torremolinos 73 over the weekend and enjoyed it. Set in the 1970s, it explores a couple’s ups and downs when, as they produce their own amateur films to avoid unemployment, they encounter both unexpected celebrity and shunning, but also see their every dream fulfilled — though not exactly as they expected. A decent film with laughs and heart and just enough drama to make an engaging tale. The film’s probably long gone from big city theaters, but if it comes your way in some off-the-beaten-path theater, see it. The amateurish bonking scenes were goofy-charming in a completely ’70s sort of way.
Finally, I was thrilled to discover, upon watching Bride and Prejudice on DVD with my daughter, that the film included the traditional role of the hijras in its Bride Song number. My daughter, who’d seen it ahead of me, thought she was get going to get to surprise me with crossdressers in the number. Little did she know that she would get a lesson in social roles in return. Brava to the film’s director for honoring every element of traditional culture.
