There's something about the classic Hollywood sex scene that is just...well...sexy: A-list actors teaming up, flesh glistening in the dim lights and much of their outer beauty exposed, with only the most glamorous and glorious moments of their lovemaking appearing in the final cut...
Autoerotic, by contrast, is the cinematic equivalent to farting during sex. It's a turnoff in the highest degree. It feels like a bitter, resentful statement against those glorified Hollywood sex scenes. If these filmmakers set out to make sex as unappealing as humanly possible, they have succeeded.
The film, directed by Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard, seeks to make public the private, intimate lives of America's urbanites. It chronicles four interconnected vignettes about Chicago-based couples exploring the boundaries of self-pleasure and sexual exploration.
Although the movie's ambitions are undeniable -- examining a less glamorous, more real and private side of sexuality -- the results are anything but insightful. What could have been an audacious journey, pushing boundaries and arousing (pun intended) audience discussion instead comes off as vile and offensive. These characters are utterly repulsive in their motives and selfish desires. The audience doesn't feel empathy for any of them.
For example, one of the film's segments focuses on an earnest man with a small penis who begins taking enlargement medication, only to become a philandering asshole with a dick the size of a yardstick. Gross. If you don't find the moral of the story disgusting, then the sight of the man caressing his yardstick dick should do the trick.
Another scenario has a very pregnant woman struggling to reach orgasm through the efforts made by her baby's daddy. When she wants to give another woman a shot at bringing her to orgasmic bliss, her husband gleefully agrees and secretly watches from the nearby room, masturbating. Again, given the film's candid approach, the sight of this process is disgusting.
Autoerotic mistakenly uses comedy as the medium to portray these stories, and it just doesn't work. Its approach to these characters is strangely downbeat and condescending, so the comic material -- which usually results from extreme situations--isn't effective in the least.
The film's comedy should have come from irony and self-discovery...but it doesn't. It evolves from abhorrent, nauseating behavior. That might work in a John Waters movie...but Autoerotic never finds a similar, gleeful slapstick tone. It's sour and mean-spirited.
It's hard to make sex revolting, but Autoerotic does just that. Perhaps they could use this film to assist those considering a celibate life in the priesthood. If the subject has second thoughts about giving up sexual activity, Autoerotic could help turn them off and take the leap.
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