“Naked Therapy™ (N.T.) is an experience that combines elements from positive and person-centered talk therapy, experiential therapy, and creative play therapy, with the added component of the client and/or therapist getting naked to facilitate more honest and unique insights through the experience of arousal.”
—Sarah White, the Naked Therapist™
Sarah White, the Naked Therapist™. Photo by Francesco Sapienza
I have depression.
It took me a long time to come to terms with that, and when I finally did, it was humbling. But it was also incredibly important in terms of beginning to understand mental illness and how fucking complicated it is. Prior to accepting my own depression, I had dismissed depression as something that others used as an excuse; I didn’t understand that people don’t “choose” to be depressed any more than they choose to develop multiple sclerosis. Henry Rollins's recent op-ed “Fuck Suicide” for LA Weekly, published in the wake of Robin Williams’s death, is a prime example of the ignorance and stigmatization surrounding mental illness in our country (Hank has since apologized). Rollins’s post really pissed me off at first, but I had to remind myself of the fact that until I personally had actually considered suicide, I had the same mentality as him. What changed my perspective was when I reread comedian Rob Delaney’s open and transparent writing on his own battles with this often misunderstood mental disorder; that post in particular finally persuaded me to stop being a dick and actually pursue therapy.
For nearly a year, I have been in regular therapy. I am extremely thankful that I work in academia and that the last two colleges where I’ve been employed have had employee-assistance programs that permit a certain number of therapy sessions at no cost to their faculty and staff. Most people don’t have this benefit, which is categorically fucked because mental health is just as important as, if not more so than, regular checkups at the doctor or a biannual tooth cleaning. Through therapy, I am learning the means to manage my depression. It occurs to me now that I have experienced severe depression multiple times in my life, although I would have never admitted it at the time. My therapist in Richmond, VA, where I lived last fall, was instrumental in assisting me in pulling myself out of a severely deep, dark well. She was an incredible and supportive listener, 100 percent sex-positive, and helped me to confront my mental disorder with conviction.
LOL: “Smiling couple reconciling at therapy session in therapist’s office photo.” Copywright-free stock image
Now that I live in New York, I’ve continued with regular therapy even though I feel considerably better than I did last fall. While I might not necessarily feel the “need” before any given session to attend it, it always proves valuable in taking inventory of what’s on my mind. Regular therapy, for those of us who are fortunate enough to access it, is like going to the gym. While you might be in good shape, you continue going to maintain that shape. That might be a really shitty simile—I don’t know—I have no idea what going to the gym is like.
Shortly after moving to New York, I was at a performance night during the exhibition The New Romantics at Eyebeam to see my good friend Ann Hirsch perform a new work and to see a set from noise-duo MSHR. Following Ann’s piece, which was phenomenally uncomfortable, she introduced me to her friend Leah Schrager. Schrager works across various media, but the project that has earned her the most attention is easily Sarah White, the Naked Therapist™. Schrager views Sarah White as an ona, rather than a persona, and explains that concept in depth here.
After researching the project, and “Sarah’s” writings on the benefits of Naked Therapy™, I was obviously intrigued. In terms of contemporary art, Schrager’s hybridization of various practices including performance art, social practice, the internet as context/interface, and solicited audience participation makes the work interestingly difficult to define concretely. More often than not, performers struggle to entice their audiences into participating. It’s painfully awkward to witness something live where its author is literally begging members of the audience to do this or that. What’s fascinating is how Schrager has exploited the male gaze to garner participants who are willing to pay their own money to contribute to the development of her project. It’s a coy and, frankly, economically taut method to approach interactive performance work while avoiding actual individual exploitation through maintaining the valued anonymity of her participants (I’m looking at you, Laurel Nakadate).
While the ona of Sarah White is physically beautiful, I was also attracted to how she describes the motivations for the project, actually addressing with precise articulation the paradoxes that I genuinely feel about how to exhibit my sexuality in a responsible and progressive fashion. My Facebook feed is filled with reports from female-identified friends on the harassment they constantly experience in their day-to-day lives, and it makes me (perhaps overly) conscious of my interactions with women that I meet.
All of Sarah’s clients are men, and on her website she states that this is something about which she’s proud. Her approach places an emphasis on the benefits of arousal, a state which she argues allows one “to heal, to discover, to learn, [and] to become aware of things [one] cannot otherwise become aware of, for this state is as unique in the human mind as is the unconscious state of dreaming.” The FAQ on her website is quite comprehensive, and here’s a sample of answers to questions that I’d wager you’re probably thinking of right now:
Do you get fully naked?
Yes, if you wish it.
How explicit will you get?
That depends on what I consider therapeutically relevant.
Can I get naked during my session?
Yes.
Can I masturbate during my session?
Yes.
Photo by Francesco Sapienza
In her writing, she points out that while a vast number of men experience crises and mental disorders, very few of them ever seek treatment. This is not only a result of the social stigma attached to therapy, she continues, but also because “therapy doesn’t get men.” And while I’ve personally benefited greatly from therapy, I do understand the point that she’s making. Prior to swallowing my ego and admitting that I needed help, I couldn’t fathom how talking to a therapist would make any difference in my life whatsoever.
The first therapy session that I ever had was an awful and borderline traumatic experience; the therapist was plainly sex-negative and, to be frank, made me feel pretty shitty about what I wanted to talk about with her. Luckily, I sucked it up and forced myself to try a new therapist, the one in Richmond, who ended up being phenomenal. So, and I am of course only able to base this on my own experiences, I don’t fully agree that “therapy doesn’t get men,” but I have met with therapists who made me feel terribly fucking guilty about myself as a sexual person, mostly resulting from their aversion and obvious disapproval of things that I tried to discuss.
I ran into Schrager recently and mentioned that I’d read her (Sarah White’s, rather) writing on Naked Therapy™ and was interested in it, both in regard to what she’d said about arousal and in terms of its being a completely strange performance-art project. She encouraged me to schedule a session on Sarah White’s website, so I did. From that point forward, I was no longer communicating with Schrager but exclusively with White, a role she plays so well that I more or less forgot that it was an artistic construction.
I received an email that included terms and conditions of the session, and also a series of preliminary questions. These included an inquiry in regard to why I was pursuing Naked Therapy™ (to which I probably spilled way too many guts) and also asked me what I would like for her to wear during the session. The anxiety that I felt typing into an email what I wanted her to wear turned into arousal as I hit Send on my reply; before we’d even begun a session, I was already feeling kind of randy. Generally, White doesn’t allow any recording of the session from the client’s end, but because I told her that I was planning to write about it for VICE, she agreed to let me do periodic screen captures as the session progressed.
Look at how cute Portland, OR, is. Why I moved to this garbage pile that is New York is beyond me.
On the date of my scheduled appointment, I was on the first day of a vacation in Portland, OR. I woke up early that morning and walked around the city for a while, visiting many of my favorite places from when I lived there for several years. No matter where I went, though, I couldn’t stop feeling a simultaneous sense of anxiety and excitement about doing Naked Therapy™ that afternoon. Honestly, I was incredibly nervous about undressing in front of a person who was more or less a stranger to me, and even more nervous about the awkward initial monologue a person gives about everything that’s wrong with him the first time he meets with a therapist. I was also really horny. If you’ve not experienced that cocktail of emotions before, I kind of recommend it.
Beginning of Naked Therapy™ Session
At 2:00 PM, I logged onto Skype. White was online and sent me a message asking if I was ready. Taking a deep breath, I sat down and replied, “Sure,” and a moment later she called me. I answered pretty awkwardly, and she was sitting on her couch dressed quite impeccably as we exchanged pleasantries. I don’t find public speaking nerve-wracking in the slightest, and although I’m kind of an anxious person, I usually don’t feel like I come across as such when I’m speaking with people. But I was stuttering and mumbling and having a difficult time acting normal and I finally blurted out, “I’m seriously sorry; I am really, really nervous right now.” White asked why, and as she uncrossed and crossed her legs, an avalanche of what sounded to me like nonsense came pouring out of my mouth. During this weird rant I’d suddenly begun after being completely unable to speak moments before, she shifted subtly on the couch every so often, and it was easy to see that she knew exactly what her body was doing and exactly how I’d respond to the visuals. It was kind of weird, but completely arousing.
I’m having a hard time articulating why this particular state of arousal was different from when I’m watching porn or hooking up with somebody; but it was, well, different. Sarah took off her shirt, and I just kept blabbering. In a couple of minutes, I’d probably spit out what normally takes half of a first therapy session because I was feeling wired and increasingly horny. Like any other therapist would have done, she let me talk for a while to get out all of the initial thoughts, and then began to ask me questions about what I’d just communicated to her.
We talked about how I almost exclusively date girls that I’ve met on OkCupid or Tinder, because I feel like it’s weird or aggressive to, say, walk up to a girl in a bar and try to buy her a drink. While White stood up and took off her skirt, she told me that I could take off my clothes if I wanted to. Awkwardly, I removed my shirt. As I did this, she told me that, at least from what she could tell, I wasn’t creepy or aggressive and that I probably had enough awareness to know right off the bat if a girl was into me, or not, if I walked up and talked to them. While that should have seemed obvious to me—and consider that according to my female friends I’m not creepy at all—hearing it from somebody that I didn’t know very well somehow meant more.
Over the course of the hour-long session, I began to let my guard down and felt exponentially more comfortable. While what we were discussing were serious things that are regularly on my mind, I couldn’t help finding the entire situation relievingly humorous. By the point that both of us were completely naked, feeling embarrassed or weird about bringing up any subject I wanted to talk about seemed pretty ridiculous. Instead of being anxious about being naked in front of somebody that I barely knew, I allowed myself to just feel aroused and uninhibited.
In regular therapy, even when I’m completely at ease, I can reflect now that I probably exhibit a somewhat closed-off form of body language—legs or arms crossed, often looking at something arbitrary in the room rather than engaging the therapist’s gaze. But being naked eventually made me let my guard down, and the fact that White was completely naked (and periodically standing up and walking around seductively) made me feel completely present once I’d just accepted that the point of this was, indeed, to arouse me.
By the end of the session, I felt fucking great. Talking about anxieties related to sex and relationships, the very anxieties that so many of us experience, while feeling sexually turned on with somebody else makes complete sense. In a single session, a lot of things I’d been embarrassed to discuss with anybody came out and were addressed effectively. I’ll still continue to attend regular therapy sessions while I have the privilege of doing so, as I’m not going to ignore how fortunate I am for having that benefit. Maybe Naked Therapy™ isn’t for everybody, but if you’re somebody who’s been wrestling with any of the sex-related topics I’ve mentioned in this piece, I’d absolutely encourage you to get in touch with Sarah White. She’s right that arousal is a unique state, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see how it can be channeled in a manner not strictly related to traditional physical intimacy.
Um, and yes, I masturbated.
Sean J Patrick Carney is a concrete comedian, visual artist, and writer based in Brooklyn. He is the founder and director of Social Malpractice Publishing and, since 2012, has been a member of GWC Investigators, a collaborative paranormal research team. Carney has taught at Pacific Northwest College of Art, the Virginia Commonwealth University, the Bruce High Quality Foundation University, and New York University. Follow him on Twitter, here.
If you hate back to school time, we’ve got a bit of good news: This year brings with it the opportunity to study dinosaurs online for free. University of Alberta has an online course in dinosaur paleobiology that anyone can join as long as their relationship with computers is better than Dr. Grant’s.
The course begins on September 3 (next week!) and runs through January 10th, 2015. There’s no prerequisite knowledge required for Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology, and here’s what you can expect from the course description page:
Course material is delivered in a student-friendly short-form fashion, with numerous formative feedback sections. Many lessons are delivered from actual dinosaur dig sites. Students will gain access to a number of special interactive modules designed specifically for this course. These modules will grant users access to their very own virtual fossil collection, allow them to build dinosaur skeletons and provide them with an interactive visual representation of geologic time. This course’s unique lesson delivery, combined with a classic quiz structure, will enable students to quickly gain a solid foundation for understanding dinosaurs, their adaptations and behaviours, and their place in the long history of earth.
The course is part of a research program into online learning, so students can choose to remain anonymous or share their identity if they’d like to earn a verified certificate from completing the course. If you’re a student, it’s up to your own school whether or not to grant you credit for taking the course, but if that’s what you’re in it for, you’ll also have to pay a fee to take the final exam and be awarded credit.
It is important to understand that Coursera and the University of Alberta can’t actually grant you credit at your university or college. The decision to grant you credit is always up to the professors at your university or college. The University of Alberta and Coursera are committed to giving you everything you need to take to your university to request credit. We have built a complete course explanation package available to you when the course starts that gives you everything you need to take to your professors at your university for them to evaluate.
If you’re interested, you can head over to the course page for a video with more about the class and sign up for yourself. They also have a breakdown of what each week of the course will focus on, like “Week 3: ‘We’ll Have to See the Dinosaur’s Droppings’” and “Week 4: ‘They Do Move in Herds’” “Week 3: ‘Eating’” and “Week 4: ‘Moving Around,’” so you know exactly what you’ll be learning.
No word yet on whether cosplaying as Chris Pratt’s Jurassic World character earns you extra credit or not, but you were going to do that anyway.
(via tipster Dr. Victoria Arbour, Science Digital Learning Manager — University of Alberta, image via Jurassic Park)
La ejecutiva del PSdeG-PSOE de Ferrol ha dado a conocer este martes las 22 alegaciones que presentará al PEPRI de Ferrol Vello. Un plan que según los socialistas contempla la construcción de un centro comercial de unos 2.000 metros cuadrados y que consideran «inadmisible» porque vendría a «fulminar» el pequeño comercio que aún queda en el barrio.
El arquitecto técnico Germán Costollo ha explicado que en el Plan Especial se autoriza la construcción de un edificio de nueva planta en la Avenida Breogán, en la parcela contigua al gimnasio Delta, que podría tener usos terciarios, «incluso se fai unha rúa nova por diante» y se reservan plazas de aparcamiento en la zona.
Los socialistas defienden «un uso 100 % residencial» para esa parcela ya que en la memoria del Plan Especial se indica que la ocupación de locales comerciales disminuyó un 38 % del año 2000 al 2013. «Un edificio de uso terciario non ten cabida» en el barrio, ha indicado el arquitecto.
Tampoco están de acuerdo con el uso que el gobierno local quiere dar a la parcela de la Fábrica de Lápices, que destina en su mayor parte a la construcción de nuevo edificios. Así, los socialistas proponen que en este espacio se lleve a cabo un aparcamiento de dos plantas que vendría a solventar «os problemas de aparcamento» derivados de la peatonalización prevista para el barrio.
Además, según indica Costollo en la planta alta de esta parcela quedarían 3.500 metros cuadrados libres de uso que se podrían destinar a dotación deportiva y zonas verdes y de esparcimiento. Carencias que en la memoria del Plan se indica que deben ser solucionadas.
Asimismo, desde la ejecutiva del PSdeG-PSOE local critican que en el PEPRI se proponga la construcción de nuevo edificios que vendrían a «tapar» inmuebles catalogados, que parcelas vacías o en ruinas se dediquen a construcción de obra nueva y no a la ampliación de zonas verdes y que en el nivel de máxima protección para los edificios sólo se contemplen seis inmuebles, entre otras cuestiones.
Por ello, la secretaria general, Beatriz Sestayo, ha asegurado que el PEPRI «nin protexe, nin rehabilita» Ferrol Vello, sino que «abre portas á especulación e a obra nova». Preguntada por la postura del grupo municipal socialista, que previsiblemente votará a favor del documento en el pleno, Sestayo ha asegurado que han dado a conocer las alegaciones al grupo municipal y que están seguros de que las defenderán.
La parcela se encuentra en la Avenida Breogán justo al lado del gimnasio Delta (foto: R.C.)
This guy I had met randomly in a strip club on my 25th birthday brought me into the bathroom and had sex with me there. I would never do it again, but it was extremely hot.
2. Jason, 28
So this girl was riding me near the edge of the bed when she leaned back. I figured she was just trying to get me in deeper but it turns out she was reaching into her purse. She pulled out a warm hotdog (WTF?) and began running it between her boobs. Then she got up and pushed me down onto the bed. She turned around and moved back to my face and bent over, but then she reached her hand beneath her and started moving the hot dog around on my lips while sucking my dick. I wish I didn’t like it, but I did. God knows where she even read to do that.
3. Stephen, 33
My now-wife (and no I did not marry her for this) pulled me a little further off the edge of the bed when she was giving me head and started rimming me. At first I was totally averse to it, but then I had the best orgasm of my life.
4. Maria, 28
My boyfriend fingers me while sitting at a bar sometimes. The first time it was really scary, but now I make sure to get a table in the corner and wear a skirt with no panties when we go to a bar just the two of us.
5. Clara, 27
My boyfriend and I have been together for 4 years, and last year he suggested we roleplay/pretend to be strangers. We met up at a bar, and he pretended to be a businessman in from out of town for the weekend, and we ended up banging in the bathroom. I thought I would think it was stupid but it was SO. FUCKING. HOT.
6. Nicolas, 30
Don’t knock the “Daddy” play until you try it. In the bedroom, she’s only “baby” or “good girl,” and I’m “Daddy,” but out of the bedroom I treat her like a queen and she is the socially dominant one. It was all her idea.
7. Mark, 24
She used to make us fuck in front of an open Chatroulette session.
8. Naima, 22
This guy I used to see (not really a boyfriend, but you know, close) would film us having sex and send me clips of it throughout the day. He once made a GIF of it, which looking back seems kind of insane… but at the time it was very hot.
9. Kayleigh, 28
My boyfriend sometimes rents us a hotel room at this very nice hotel with VERY visible windows/rooms and makes us fuck in front of open curtains. Sometimes we draw a little crowd.
10. Max, 28
My wife once put an ice cube in my asshole. It was pretty hot.
11. Jada, 27
For like six months my ex boyfriend would beg me to let him put this little vibrating dildo in my butt while he fucked me and I would not let him, but I finally caved and tried it (for an anniversary of all things), and I almost died from having about five full-body orgasms that night. I miss that man.
12. Vera, 25
He started slapping me and calling me “bitch” “whore” etc during sex, lightly at first, then real, full-on slaps. It was so hot, but once he popped a blood vessel in my left eye and everyone thought I was getting domestically abused.
13. Julien, 26
Ex gf used to send photos of her panties around her ankles, which turned me on and really frustrated me bc it implied that she wasn’t wearing any but I couldn’t see.
14. Jack, 29
My girlfriend makes me vividly describe how turned on I am by other women and the sex I used to have with other girls. Now it turns us both on.
15. Geoff, 30
My ex girlfriend used to forbid me from orgasming for a week at a time, but would bring me almost to orgasm every night. One time I went temporarily blind and had to lie down when I finally came. She was a crazy bitch though.
16. Leila, 27
He took me to this really upscale sex toy store in Manhattan and said “Whatever you want. There is no price limit.” We walked out with 500 dollars’ worth of sex toys, and spend the whole weekend locked in the apartment doing all kinds of bondage. Doesn’t hurt that I got to do all that shopping, too.
17. Ira, 33
She loved to fuck on all of her roommates’ beds. It seems gross now but it was hot then.
18. Melanie, 23
For a while I was hooking up with this EXTREMELY hot divorced dad who was almost 20 years older than me, and he loved to embarrass me. He knew I was very shy about showing my naked body, so he would want to see me when it was the brightest time of day, make me get on all fours in front of the window and spread my legs, and eat me from behind.
19. Celia, 27
My boyfriend loves to watch me fuck other guys. We haven’t done it in person yet but I have hooked up with guys who agreed to be filmed, and he loves watching the videos. We’re working our way up to doing it in person (I’m not ready yet).
20. Jane, 25
My boyfriend loves to control me, and I really love to be controlled. Basically our whole life is like one extended form of foreplay, that he has introduced me to. I can’t really do anything without getting his permission, and sometimes he says yes or no based on how he feels. I will ask him what he wants me to eat today, what I should wear, if I can go out, etc. Sometimes he’ll tell me I have to wait at home naked, and I can’t eat anything, and he’ll get home at like 10 PM that night and he’ll let me put on a robe and make me an incredible meal and fuck me all night. We probably seem insane but it’s very, very hot.
21. Kevin, 23
A girl once made me have full-on sex with her while dancing at a nightclub. It kind of hurt physically but I was very, very turned on. She didn’t finish me off though. :(
Ever wanted an IMDB but for guns? Welcome to the IMFDB - The Internet Movie Database of Guns The IMDB [Internet Movie Database] is 23 years old this year. Launched in 1990, and filled with cast/crew info as well as trivia and goofs it is the go to location for film information online. But did you know that the IMFDB [Internet Movie Firearms Database] is the place to go to get the most comprehensive information on any firearms used in media?
Covering movies, television, and video games, the IMFDB is a community wiki that aims to catalogue and list all the real, modified and fictional firearms you've ever seen on a screen. Established in 2007, the IMFDB has - at the time of this post - an hefty 16,203 articles.
You can search by media title, actor, actress, or the firearm of your choice. Handy for cosplayers, prop-makers, and just general gun enthusiasts.
But what if guns are not your thing? What if your particular geek delight is cars featured in movies? The you might want to investigate IMCDB [Internet Movie Car Database]. With an impressively international community of adminstrators and forum members behind it, the IMCDB aims to provide; "the most complete list on the web about cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles seen in movies, image captures and information about them."
Similar sites also exist for Music : Allmusic (previously known as the All Music Guide or AMG) est 1991, Theatre: ITDb established in 1999 (but appears Broadway biased), Science Fiction and Fantasy (unknown origin date) ISFDB and also the Adult film industry: IAFD.
As a taxonomy and data geek, I thought that metafilter readers might find some of these useful.
The Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank can tell you what you're like in 40 sentences, most of which will be written by you. The responses to very short prompts are scored according to how positive or negative they are. (I wish they had some scoring guidelines for how sarcastic they are, though.)
So we don’t really have anything to sell here for today, but we’ve gone and made a list of places that can cater to watching some threeways! And if you’re on the hunt, there’s always Adult Friend Finder to help you find a third!
Sarah and her liquid pot: the true story of two best friends.
After Guiliana Rancic decided to pry into Sarah Silverman's clutch, we found out that Sarah has found a way to tolerate The Emmys, and that is by living the vape life.
Liquid pot = a vape pen.
Here's the interview in which once again we realize why Sarah Silverman is just the best.
My cooking skills are limited to toast and maybe cereal. However, I love to eat! Whenever I find myself in a new country, eating is the first thing I want to do. So here are some of my favorites in Spain, bearing in mind that I haven’t traveled to Galicia yet, which is in the north and is famous for its fantastic seafood. Here are my winners so far:
1. Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (Acorn-Fed Iberian Ham)
This is the highest quality of cured ham that you can order. It’s usually served with small breadsticks on a platter with different cheeses or some bread. A tapa (appetizer-sized portion) will cost an average of 5-10 euro. If you wanted to buy a larger portion you would pay around 20-30 euro. The entire pork leg would be a pricy souvenir ranging from 150-300 euro depending on quality. You can find it in restaurants around the country, and it’s not specific to a certain region. The pigs are raised eating only fine grains and acorns, which is how the dish gets its name.
2. Patatas Alioli (Potatoes with Garlic, Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, and Egg Yolks)
These may look like regular fried potatoes with some dressing on them, but alioli is the Holy Grail. It is used on seafood, like calamari and sepia (see below) or with potatoes. When you try alioli for the first time, it will change your life. If it were socially acceptable, I would eat alioli on top of more alioli. So what is this fantastic gift to humanity? It’s a sauce made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and egg yolks. It has many variations with other ingredients. They sell a version of it in supermarkets, but if you can get it freshly made at a restaurant you will definitely enjoy it. Oh, and you will have nasty garlic breath afterward that goes away only after you brush your teeth six times in a row, but it’s totally worth it.
3. Carrillada (Pig’s Cheeks)
This is usually served with potatoes in its own tender juicy sauce. The meat is very soft, as it is slow-cooked on very low heat for several hours. It is a traditional dish from Sevilla, and the best usually comes from acorn-fed pigs. Try it at Bodeguita Romero, a restaurant found in the heart of Sevilla in the south of Spain.
4. Sepia (Cuttlefish)
It’s usually fried and served in small, marinated pieces with alioli on the side (yay!). In the south of Spain, it can also be served breaded before it’s fried. My favorite restaurant was Las Tres Bellotas in Valladolid, Spain. I’m not a huge fan of seafood, but I thought this was great.
5. Lechazo (Unweaned Lamb)
This is a famous dish from the region of Castilla y León. Unlike the other tapas above, which are served in smaller portions, this is a full-course meal served with potatoes, salads, and wine. The price range is about 30-50 euro, but once again, it’s definitely worth it. It’s roasted in a wooden stove, and the meat is soft and juicy. This is a dish served on special occasions, especially Christmas. (I know the baby lamb thing is sad; just don’t think about it.)
I love when guys are really forward about what they want, and then let me reject it, instead of just assuming I’m really conservative or prude or whatever. Nine times out of ten, I’m into it, as long as the sex is hot.
2. Sarah, 23
Directing my head during a blowjob. A lot. I want his hand all knotted up in my hair, pushing me up and down on his dick.
3. Natalie, 30
Lots of compliments in bed. That is the secret to getting her to try anything. I once had a guy that would kiss my clit gently during oral and tell me I had “such a pretty pussy.” He could do anything he wanted.
4. Julia, 22
Measured use of fingers during oral is very underrated.
5. Margo, 29
I love when they come on things. If I’m into the guy and the sex, I love when they come on me — tits, stomach, back, whatever. It’s all good.
6. Kylie, 29
A finger in my butt during sex. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.
7. Alison, 24
One time I lay down on the bed with my head hanging off the edge, and the guy fucked my face. I’d love to do that again.
8. Olivia, 21
Put on a good song with lots of bass and fuck me to the beat.
9. Gabi, 28
I feel like the guys who want to do anal are never the ones you want to do it with, but with the right guy in the right circumstances, it can be great. Guys should be smart about it, I wish more would work their way up and do it the right way, and not just try to slip it in. A guy who knows his way around an ass is a keeper.
10. Lily, 31
Bite me, hard enough to leave marks. I love being scratched, bitten, choked — all in the context of really good, hot sex, of course. But I love a little bit of pain.
11. Naomi, 25
Say the nastiest shit to me possible in bed. I am very, very into degrading and super-dirty talk in bed. The hottest sex talk is always the kind that makes you both extremely turned on and embarrassed when you think about it the next day.
12. Elia, 23
I love when a guy comes into me a TON right before we go out and its dripping down my thighs all night, and he knows it. Games like that are very, very hot.
13. Heather, 26
Tell me what to do in bed. Don’t worry about what I will think, just tell me. Don’t ask, order. Let me obey you.
14. Jessie, 28
The best oral always starts with lots of light little kissing and teasing all over, from the inner thighs to the clit. It should take a long way to build itself up, otherwise the girl will get numb really quick and won’t actually feel what you’re doing.
15. Bea, 30
I love when guys tell me how hard they are, how much they’re thinking of me. I love feeling wanted, it turns me into a total slut.
16. Lacey, 27
This is going to sound so corny but I really love when a guy tells me how much he loves me in bed, and how much he wants to be with me, how much he needs me, etc. Once my boyfriend told me he couldn’t wait to spend his life with me while we were having sex and I thought my vagina would fall off from the hotness of it all.
17. Chloe, 22
Lick your fingers after you finger me. It’s so hot.
18. Viv, 25
Once a guy told me that he hated me, but that he couldn’t stop fucking me because it was too good. We were in the process of a (very drawn-out, because of the good sex) breakup. I have never wanted someone as much as I wanted him in that moment.
19. Fay, 25
I love when a guy is fucking me and makes me watch it. I love it, but I’m always to embarrassed to look by myself. Once a guy told me he wanted me to stare at it until he came. So hot.
20. Diana, 29
Kiss me really deeply during orgasm. Really deeply, like you want to swallow me whole.
21. Jordan, 28
When my boyfriend and I are really into it, he will look at me and not break eye contact, and have this deeply pleasured, almost pained look in his face. He’ll say “don’t fucking look away from me” and pull my face back towards him if I try to break his stare. It’s like catnip, I love it.
Hay demasiados desnudos en televisión y demasiado pocos en la radio. (Jarod Kintz, Seriously delirious)
Quitarse la ropa en un entorno en el que todo el mundo va desnudo no se considera un gesto erótico. Las playas y campamentos nudistas hacen hincapié en la sencillez, la liberación del incómodo yugo de la vestimenta y el acercamiento a la naturaleza, más que en el erotismo de los cuerpos desnudos. Sin embargo, cuando tenemos una sola persona tal como vino al mundo mientras la gente alrededor permanece vestida, se crea un ambiente cargado de sensualidad.
Muchas fantasías eróticas clásicas beben de estos escenarios. Por ejemplo: una bella señorita (o un joven caballero) se quita la ropa para bañarse en un lago. Al cabo de un rato, un paseante chistoso descubre la ropa abandonada y la esconde… En uno de los cuentos de Los amores difíciles de Italo Calvino una bañista pierde en el mar la parte inferior del bikini y no se atreve a volver a la playa, prefiriendo correr el riesgo de ahogarse a verse puesta en ridículo. Y sobre Anne Royall, una de las pioneras del periodismo norteamericano, se cuenta una historia probablemente apócrifa que siempre me ha hecho gracia. Al enterarse de que el presidente John Quincy Adams acostumbraba a bañarse cada mañana en el río Potomac, se acercó allí y le escondió la ropa hasta que el político se comprometió a contestar sus preguntas: la primera entrevista presidencial concedida a una mujer.
Verse desnudo rodeado de gente vestida se percibe a menudo como humillante y vergonzoso. La ropa es más que un adorno y una protección física ante el frío y los elementos: es también una armadura psíquica, un símbolo de estatus y posición social. Nadie tiene pesadillas con el mero hecho de verse desnudo, sino con visualizarse en pelotas en una situación pública, el trabajo, la universidad… Un truco clásico para calmar los nervios que causa hablar en público es imaginarse a la audiencia desnuda: al visualizarse como la única persona vestida de la habitación se gana inconscientemente respetabilidad y autoconfianza.
Resumiendo: un grupo de personas desnuda crea un ambiente de igualdad natural y protocomunista, pero en un grupo en el que solo hay algunas personas desnudas se crea un desequilibrio de poder. ¿Y qué ocurre si solo se desnuda un género?
Phryne desnudada frente al areópago, de Jean-Léon Gérôme.
CMNF: Mujeres desnudas, hombres vestidos
Creo que aparecer desnuda sobre un escenario es asqueroso, vergonzoso y antiamericano. Pero si tuviera veintidós años y un cuerpo hermoso, creería que es artístico, patriótico y una experiencia religiosa. (Shelley Winters)
Me marean las siglas tanto como al que más, y ya bastantes quebraderos de cabeza me da explicar qué significa BDSM. Así pues, entenderé a quien se haya asustado con la sopa de letras que da título al artículo. Sin embargo, CMNF es un acrónimo sencillo: Clothed Male, Naked Female, mujeres desnudas ante hombres vestidos.
A veces la mujer desnuda no se pasea solamente ante hombres sino ante todo el pueblo, como Lady Godiva a lomos de su caballo o la señorita de este anuncio de la MTV rusa. A menudo se utiliza el reclamo del cuerpo femenino en la publicidad, con el bien conocido peligro de objetización y machismo potencial según la forma en que se materialice. Lo que dará para un futuro artículo. Por ahora lo que me interesa es el potencial erótico-festivo de esta diferencia de vestimenta, que considerando lo ya comentado sobre el desequilibrio de poder inherente a este tipo de desnudos, se manifiesta a menudo en el mundo de la D/s, la dominación/sumisión erótica. A veces de forma explícita, como en esta imagen #readingissexy de la que desconozco el autor; a veces implícitamente, como en el autorretrato del fotógrafo checo Jef Kratochvil luciendo bigotón o en esta potente fotografía del mismísimo Helmut Newton. Cuidado: en el CMNF no siempre se enfatiza este diferencial de poder, como en las tiernas imágenes de Giulia Bersani.
Almuerzo sobre la hierba, de Édouard Manet.
Los escenarios CMNF están presentes en el imaginario colectivo desde hace siglos, y aparecen en centenares de ocasiones en el arte. Un ejemplo obvio es El desayuno en la hierba de Édouard Manet, que muestra un picnic con dos hombres completamente vestidos (el hermano de Manet y su futuro suegro), una mujer desnuda y una bañista al fondo a medio vestir. El cuadro causó un considerable escándalo al ser expuesto por primera vez en 1863, no solo por el hecho de contener desnudos en un entorno cotidiano y no mitológico o histórico, sino por el aire de naturalidad tranquila que respiraba la escena.
El siglo XIX vio un boom de cuadros CMNF gracias al auge del orientalismo, la fascinación europea por el medio y lejano Oriente. La mente calenturienta de los pintores de la época se recreó particularmente en los harenes y los mercados de esclavas… Un autor especialmente prolífico fue Jean-Léon Gérôme, que se inspiró en la mitología griega para su Pigmalión y Galatea, un escultor enamorado que ve cumplirse su mayor deseo.
Otro tema artístico habitual es el de la doncella en apuros. Los dragones y monstruos de antaño debían tener dificultades para digerir las piezas de ropa, así que exigían que las doncellas que se les ofrecían en sacrificio estuvieran desnudas o escasamente vestidas. Y dado que los caballeros errantes suelen protegerse con pesadas armaduras, tarde o temprano se producen impagables momentos CMNF, como en Perseo y Andrómeda de Tiziano… O en la famosa escena de la película Excalibur, de John Boorman, en que Uther Pendragon se acuesta mediante engaños con la infortunada Ygraine sin quitarse ni una pieza de la armadura: es un milagro que la reina sobreviviera y diera a luz al futuro rey Arturo. El cuadro El caballero errante, pintado por John Everett Millais en 1870, es otro ejemplo de mujer desnuda rescatada por un caballero de brillante armadura. La mujer está atada a un abedul plateado, árbol asociado a la femineidad con cuyas ramas se fabrican varas con las que azotar las nalgas… Originalmente la figura femenina miraba hacia su rescatador, pero esa actitud fue considerada demasiado provocativa y Millais fue obligado a repintarla apartando recatadamente la mirada.
El caballero errante, de John Everett Millais.
En ocasiones la actitud del hombre es de total indiferencia, como en la famosísima fotografía de Eve Babitz y Marcel Duchamp, más concentrado en su próximo movimiento que en la desnudez de la artista. La enorme potencia de la imagen y sus muchas lecturas han provocado decenas de homenajes; mi favorito es el de la jugadora de ajedrez Jennifer Shahade, que celebró tres partidas simultáneas con modelos desnudos. Otras veces la actitud de los hombres vestidos es de adoración y reverencia, lo que invierte el desequilibrio de poder del CMNF. El cuadro Adoración (1913) de William Strang es un buen ejemplo: a nivel metafórico suele interpretarse que el cuerpo femenino en ese cuadro representa la belleza de filosofía admirada por la humanidad. Pero también es un óleo que no desentonaría en el cuarto de estar de Sacher-Masoch.
En el mundo del modelado artístico a menudo una persona permanece desnuda rodeada de otras vestidas. En escuelas de arte y entornos académicos se siguen reglas estrictas para mantener un ambiente profesional y respetuoso hacia la modelo: se prohíbe tocarla o dirigirle la palabra durante el posado, hay una bata a mano para que se cubra, etc. Si el modelo desnudo es un hombre y en un momento dado tiene una erección, la mayoría de centros de arte detendrán el posado o no volverán a contratarlo. En la serie de cuadros de Thomas Eakins William Rush y su modelo vemos cómo en ocasiones a la modelo la acompañaba una chaperona, generalmente una viuda encargada de garantizar la virtud de la joven. No parecían hacer falta tantas precauciones, ya que al parecer el escultor era un caballero.
En entornos no académicos el ambiente puede ser más relajado, y a veces posar sin ropa se convierte en un acto cargado de sensualidad. Mi dibujo preferido de Milo Manara, como ya comenté en el monográfico manariano para Jot Down, es la imagen del pintor griego Apeles retratando a la bella Kampaspe y enamorándose perdidamente en el proceso. O, puestos a recordar un momento cinematográfico, la escena de Titanic en que Kate Winslet se desnuda, con un «dibújame como a una de tus chicas francesas» que devino carne de meme.
Audrey Munson con Daniel Chester French. Autor desconocido (DP)
Una historia interesante respecto a modelos artísticos es la de la bellísima Audrey Munson, modelo profesional de principios del siglo XX. Posó desnuda para decenas de pintores y escultores de Nueva York, inspirando famosas estatuas como La fuente del Sol Poniente de Adolph Weinman. Se la llamó «Miss Manhattan» o «La Venus Americana», y su fama la llevó a participar en cuatro películas mudas. Una de ellas, Inspiration (1915), se hizo famosa por mostrar el primer desnudo integral en una película no pornográfica. Por desgracia poco después se truncó su sueño: sin su conocimiento o consentimiento, el propietario de la pensión en que se alojaba mató a su esposa para poder estar con Audrey. La mala prensa posterior destruyó su carrera de modelo y la lanzó a una espiral autodestructiva que acabó en un manicomio.
Puede resultar sorprendente que la censura de principios de siglo no pusiera reparos a las películas en que Audrey aparecía completamente desnuda. Aparte de por la coartada artística, la escena no se consideró inmoral al permanecer inmóvil la actriz: solo era obscena la desnudez en movimiento. Cuando en el primer número de Jot Down escribí sobre los orígenes del striptease, dediqué un espacio a los tableaux vivant, espectáculos que encontraron en el arte clásico una excusa perfecta para mostrar la desnudez al gran público en las pacatas sociedades occidentales. La censura teatral en los países anglosajones prohibía que las actrices desnudas o semidesnudas se movieran provocativamente por el escenario, pero consideraba aceptable la desnudez inmóvil, congelada. Así, teatros como el neoyorquino Ziegfeld Follies ofrecían retablos de desnudos con títulos clasicistas como Ninfas bañándose o Diana la cazadora.
Toulouse Lautrec en su atelier, con una modelo (1895). Fotografía de Maurice Guibert (DP)
En el Berlín de 1908, la bailarina Olga Desmond ofrecía veladas artísticas llamadas Schönheitsabende («Tardes de Belleza»), en las que permanecía en escena inmóvil y completamente desnuda imitando famosas obras de arte. A veces se pintaba la piel con polvos blancos, acentuando su aspecto estatuesco; o aparecía con algún ayudante semivestido que completaba el retablo. Olga defendía su arte con entusiasmo: «Decidí romper un yugo de siglos de antigüedad. Cuando salgo desnuda al escenario no siento timidez ni vergüenza, ya que me muestro ante el público tal como soy, amando la belleza. El arte es mi única deidad, ante ella me inclino y le ofreceré cualquier sacrificio». La mayor parte de su vida esa diosa le fue favorable: participó en películas y abrió su propia escuela de baile y bellas artes… Pero el sacrificio llegó tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial: tras clausurar el gobierno de Berlín Oriental su escuela de danza por «decadente», Olga murió pobre y olvidada.
Lo que me lleva a considerar por un momento esta cita lapidaria de Mason Cooley en Aforismos de Ciudad: «la desnudez es el disfraz de los amantes y los cadáveres». Y es que en la sala de autopsias todos, hombres o mujeres, permaneceremos desnudos frente a alguien vestido (si el forense está desnudo en ese momento habría serios motivos para retirarle la licencia). En el impactante cuadro de Enrique SimonetLa autopsia (1890), conocido también como Y tenía corazón, vemos a un anciano forense sosteniendo el corazón de una joven, sorprendido al parecer de que una «mujer de la calle» tuviera un órgano igual al suyo. Algo más considerada parece Paola Mineo en Sudario, una corta performance resurrectora con tintes CFNF.
CFNM: Hombres desnudos, mujeres vestidas
¡Qué cosa frágil y fácilmente herida es un cuerpo de hombre desnudo; de alguna manera inacabado, incompleto! (D.H. Lawrence, El amante de Lady Chatterley).
Las siglas CFNM (Clothed Female, Naked Male) hacen referencia al escenario en que uno o más hombres permanecen desnudos ante mujeres vestidas. A veces la escena transcurre con una engañosa normalidad que esconde una sensualidad subterránea, como en esta graciosa anécdota de Foro en Femenino o en ciertos emparejamientos casuales en una playa nudista. En ocasiones la desnudez masculina no produce más que una cierta indiferencia exasperada… En cualquier caso, el infundado temor patriarcal a perder la autoridad junto con la ropa ha hecho históricamente difícil encontrar imágenes CFNM más allá de algún fresco pompeyano como el de Perseo y Andrómeda, o shungas como este de Torii Kiyonobu:
By the Light of a Hexagonal Lantern, de Torii Kiyonobu.
El CFNM está poco presente en el arte clásico: los hombres desnudos suelen aparecer como centro de la composición, pero poco frecuentemente se ven por ahí cerca mujeres vestidas lanzándoles miradas irónicas. Tampoco abundan escenarios en que la diosa Atenea, ataviada para la batalla con su lanza y armadura, se lance al rescate de un tímido hombre desnudo encadenado a un poste a merced de algún monstruo mitológico. Pero otra diosa sí es representada a menudo junto a un hombre desnudo: Kali. En la mitología hindú, el diablo Raktaveeja obtuvo un don por el que de cada gota de su sangre derramada nacerían cientos de demonios como él. Para matarlo, la diosa Kali lo atravesó con su lanza y bebió toda su sangre. Encendida por la ira y ebria con el icor del demonio, Kali estuvo a punto de destruir el mundo en su frenesí, hasta que su marido Shiva se arrojó bajo sus pies para calmarla. Más allá de su valor simbólico, imágenes como esta muestran los efectos desestresantes del CMNF celestial.
Diga lo que diga D.H. Lawrence en la cita que abre esta sección, el cuerpo masculino desnudo no tiene nada de imperfecto. Hay imágenes CFNM que resaltan su belleza apelando a la ternura, como la famosísima fotografía de Annie Leibovitz en que un John Lennon fetal se aferra a Yoko Ono cinco horas antes de morir asesinado. En el mundo de la publicidad se juega con el contraste entre un cuerpo desnudo masculino mientras el femenino se muestra ataviado para la batalla de la moda: servirían como ejemplos esta famosa foto de Herb Ritts con una muy vestida Christy Turlington, esta escena retratada por Mariano Vivanco con el modelo ruso Vladimir Aberyanov o esta fotografía de Terry Richardson que muestra la inversión del desequilibrio de poder tradicional. A mediados de los años setenta se organizaron en Nueva York un par de ediciones del concurso de belleza nudista Ms. All-Bare America, «el premio de belleza más honesto, ya que quien participa no tiene nada que ocultar». El concurso estaba dirigido a concursantes femeninas, pero tras una ola de bien merecidas quejas se abrió también a hombres desnudos.
Naked man at Folsom Street Fair. Fotografía de Jacob Appelbaum (CC)
Ya comenté en otra ocasión que el desnudo masculino en público es más escaso que el femenino, lo que acerca en cierta medida muchas imágenes CFNM a la pornografía más o menos glamourosa. La compañía japonesa de vídeos eróticos Moodyz tiene una línea puramente CFNM, en la que se muestran las carcajadas y gestos de sorpresa de mujeres vestidas al observar con ojo clínico a hombres desnudos más o menos apabullados por la situación. Estos vídeos se bautizaron de forma poco imaginativa como Mujeres que quieren ver el pene, aquí lo dejo en japonés para quien se atreva a curiosear en Google: チンポを見たがる女たち. Una versión algo más light de esta temática llegó a Fuji TV en los ochenta: Por favor, enséñame tus calzoncillos.
También en Japón son populares los Host Clubs, lugares en que las mujeres pagan por compañía masculina no sexual. Lo que obtienen las clientas a partir de unos sesenta mil yenes es charla interesante, buena educación y un surtido de caballeros vestidos con traje y corbata. Hombres-geisha… Este artículo de Miki Tanikawa en el New York Times cuenta los detalles con cierto retintín: «Clubes en que los hombres japoneses son amables con las mujeres, por un precio». Encontramos una versión más hardcore y propiamente CFNM de estos locales en los osawari host clubs, donde osawari significa «tacto, toque». Allí los azafatos ya no van vestidos elegantemente, sino desnudos o con la mínima cantidad de ropa posible. El sexo explícito sigue estando prohibido, pero sí se permite que a las clientas se les vaya la mano de vez en cuando hacia los genitales generosamente expuestos. En general, el mundillo de los strippers masculinos es pródigo en momentos CFNM, como muestra Tomás y las Águedasde Rafael Trobat.
En ambientes BDSM, en particular en locales de Dóminas amateurs o profesionales, se realizan de vez en cuando fiestas CFNM bautizadas con nombres algo menos machacagargantas. En ellas el código de vestuario es elegante para las mujeres y ausente para los hombres, es decir, que los hombres tienen que asistir en pelotas o muy escasamente vestidos para que se les permita la asistencia. A menudo los sumisos asistentes actúan como mayordomos improvisados a las órdenes de alguna Dómina. En estas fiestas la desnudez se ve como humillante, equiparándose a la exposición pública. En el shibari, tanto con modelos masculinos como femeninos se juega con el shuuchi, la vergüenza al ver expuesto y resaltado por las cuerdas el cuerpo desnudo.
No querría terminar sin subrayar que esta ensalada de siglas no es más que una forma de sistematizar situaciones que suelen ser más complejas, con hombres desnudos frente a otros hombres (CMNM, como en esta imagen de la École de Beaux-Arts), solo mujeres (CFNF, como en esta performance de shibari a cargo de Gorgone y Alice V) o una mezcla caótica de gente desnuda como en las fotos de Spencer Tunick. Pero sobre nudismo sin distinciones de género prometo hablar en una continuación de este artículo… Un texto que escribiré probablemente en pelotas.
Pedro Alonso é dos responsábeis do espectacular vídeo dun oso atacando unha colmea este verán no Courel. Nesta entrevista con GC, o biólogo explica como lograron a filmación e as políticas públicas necesarias para protexer a estes animais como, por exemplo, as indemnizacións por ataques. E tamén as medidas para evitar encontros indesexados na montaña.
Todo o que avanzan a lingua e a cultura galega polas mañás nas escolas, perdémolo polas noites nas verbenas. Digámolo xa con claridade: esas orquestras pailarocas son un cancro cultural.
Saltou en Monforte non sei que chantaxe: fai tempo que todo deus sabe en Galicia que o mundiño das orquestras é un carajal de corrupción, pagos en negro e un reparto do negocio entre dous ou tres Padriños que recorda os usos da mafia siciliana... ou arousana.
A pensión media en Galicia segue como a segunda máis baixa do Estado, só por diante de Extremadura. Un galego cobra 735 euros ao mes fronte aos 1.078 euros dun vasco.
Readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire know viewers of HBO’s Game of Thrones can expect the series to really kick it into high gear in Season 5. But as it turns out, the network may have issue filming one scene thanks to church intervention. Read on for more, plus what an HBO exec had to say about the controversial sept scene from Season 4.
[SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5 OF GAME OF THRONES]
Ready?
TMZ, of all places, (and no, I wouldn’t recommend clicking over) is reporting on a story out of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The focus is on an upcoming scene from Season 5 of Game of Thrones in which Lena Headey’s Cersei takes an utter fall from grace and is imprisoned by, coincidentally enough, the Faith for planning the murder of the High Septon. Several other crimes come out along the way, including incestuious relationship with her cousin, and before she goes on trial, is forced to do a penance walk.
Headey has spoken about the scene previously, which in the books involves the character’s head being shaved and walking naked through King’s Landing. She said, “I’ve been very adamant about keeping her kind of clothed because I think that’s part of her power. And she can still be sort of sexual and weird and female, but she doesn’t have to be naked. And I think it makes for a more shocking disempowering moment when this happens. So, we’ll see. I’m a little scared.”
But here’s what TMZ reported on the proposed scene:
The scene is supposed to be shot in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where the church has a lot of power and a rigid policy against public displays of sexuality.
We’re told the local film commission will not give producers a permit to shoot the scene because they take their cue from the church — in this case the Church of St. Nicholas.
Sources tell TMZ … they can’t cut the scene because it’s crucial to the story line and it’s an iconic moment from the book.
So far … producers haven’t figured out a workaround … and Hail Marys probably won’t do the trick.
A workaround doesn’t seem too difficult—I’m assuming they could just film this on a set elsewhere (which would probably make life easier for Headey). But regardless, it’s interesting to see the show, which has never shied away from violence, sexual or otherwise, hit a roadblock here.
For his part, HBO president of programming, Michael Lombardo spoke about the violence on the show at the Edinburgh International Television Festival recently. Specifically touching upon the controversy over the Cersei/Jaime rape scene from Season 4:
I personally don’t see myself as a libertine. I don’t think [graphic scenes] have ever been without any purpose. Dan [Weiss] and Dave [Benioff] are two very sober, thoughtful men. They have books as a map. Which involve wars, violence, sex. We have certainly not given them an edict or a note that they need to tone down the sexual content in the show.
I appreciate there was some controversy and it generated a conversation about what consensual sex is and isn’t…People responsible for programming have two responsibilities: To be responsible, not to have sex and violence that’s gratuitous. That is certainly not who we are. At the same time we don’t want to be a censor that inhibits the authentic organic creative process by policing how many breasts should be on a show.
It is an adult service. Our subscribers pay a fee for uncensored shows. My job is to be in business with responsible creative forces. And if I am doing that I trust their decisions about what is appropriate for the character or not. And I feel we made the right choice with Dan and Dave and they continue to try to be responsible. As long as I feel that [violence] isn’t the reason [people] are watching the show, that it isn’t a show trying to attract viewers with sex and violence, I am not going to play police.
“People responsible for programming have two responsibilities: To be responsible, not to have sex and violence that’s gratuitous. That is certainly not who we are.” I think True Blood and well, almost every other HBO series contradicts this quote but OK.
We did a large discussion of the scene and what it means for viewers and the show, while Headey herself and the writer and director of the episode as well as Martin gave their thoughts. After that, I know many viewers have lost their trust in the creative team to “be responsible” and many assume the Cersei scene, although in the novels, will lead it down an even darker and more dangerous path. Both for the precedence it will set and the message it will send.
El caso es que había dejado aparcada la serie regular de ‘Daredevil’ en el primer tomo recopilatorio del tercer volumen que edita Panini. No es que fuera malo, al contrario; estaba bastante bien, y además tenía el valor añadido de incluir a Mark Waid como guionista, que me ganó en sus memorables etapas en ‘Capitán América’ y al español Marcos Martín a los lápices, pero con tantas otras lecturas, me fui olvidando de la serie.
Así que este verano decidí retomarla; releer el primer tomo y atacar el segundo. Tanto crítica como público señalaban el buen rumbo que estaba tomando la serie. Y pardiez que es así.
‘Daredevil: Corazones en la oscuridad’ es el segundo tomo que recopila esta nueva andadura del Hombre Sin Miedo.
Mark Waid prefiere dejar atrás todos los conflictos de un Matt Murdock torturado por los crímenes que cometió durante su anterior posesión-maxicrossover y devolvernos a un Daredevil divertido, que se ríe del peligro, que se toma a broma el que Nueva York sepa cuál es su identidad civil, que vuelve a ser libre en muchos aspectos. Y eso es lo que hace memorable este tomo, y la serie. Diálogos interesantes, buena planificación de las historias, que se van engarzando unas con otras, y apuesta por utilizar algunos supervillanos prestados, pero con una curiosa relación con nuestro héroe (como el Hombre Topo de las páginas de los Cuatro Fantásticos).
Waid sabe combinar sabiamente las dos vertientes del protagonista, la civil y la heroica, para contar historias entre lo ameno, lo emocionante y lo divertido.
El tomo incluye un minicruce con Spiderman (‘El diablo está en los detalles’, que incluye el número de la cabecera del Lanzarredes para poder seguirlo mejor), que es una pequeña delicia, sobre todo en los geniales diálogos entre ambos héroes, dos de los más parlanchines de los cielos de la Gran Manzana, y por la aparición sensual estelar de la Gata Negra.
También en este segundo tomo se incluye la historia ‘El hombre vivo más buscado’, ganadora del Mejor Episodio de serie regular en los Premios Harvey, en la que Murdock lleva de excursión a un pequeño grupo de niños conflictivos. Aunque para la fama que tenía este episodio, me esperaba algo más impactante.
Por lo que respecta al apartado gráfico, Paolo Rivera hace un trabajo genial, con un trazo limpio, ágil y dinámico. Emma Ríos, la dibujante del número de Spiderman, está también soberbia y mejora a cada nuevo cómic que leo suyo.
Hablamos muchas veces de reboot, de vuelta a empezar, de retorno a las raíces , y supongo que éste es el caso de esta etapa de Mark Waid. Un Matt Murdock que vuelve a los orígenes (un aire pre-Frank Miller, nos dice J.M. Clemente en la introducción) por enésima vez, sí, pero eso no debería importarnos porque las historias son resultonas y muy bien ejecutadas. Se nota que Waid se lo pasa bien escribiendo esta serie: no hay grandes pretensiones, aunque sí algunas reflexiones interesantes; pero lo principal es la diversión. Soy de seguir pocas series regulares, y menos de supertipos empijamados, pero este Daredevil de Waid me ha vuelto a reenganchar a esa costumbre, lo reconozco.
Death abounds on HBO's Game of Thrones — just ask Jack Gleeson (Joffrey), Rory McCann (The Hound), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Sibel Kekilli (Shae), or Rose Leslie (Ygritte). But each of those actors knew their characters' fates upon landing their respective roles, since George R.R. Martin had previously killed them in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels upon which the show is based.
So what happens when Game of Thrones executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss decide the show no longer needs a character that still exists in Martin's books?
Turns out, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who played Jojen Reed (until he was killed in the Season 4 finale), was just as surprised as fans to learn about his character's fate.
"I found out on the plane flying over to film Season 4," the actor revealed to BuzzFeed during an interview for his new movie, The Maze Runner. "It happens in the last episode, so I was reading all the scripts and I got to the page where it says, 'Jojen gets stabbed repeatedly in the stomach.' I thought, That's OK. I'll be fine because no one's told me yet and I'm not dead in the books. I'll be fine.
"So I keep reading and see, 'Meera comes over and slits his throat.' Then I thought, Well, I'm amongst all these White Walkers. Maybe the plan is to turn me into a White Walker — that would be really, really cool. Then, that little girl comes out, throws a Molotov cocktail, and I burst into flames. That's when I knew I was definitely, definitely dead. Dead. Properly dead."
Liza Minnelli once said that three types of love stories exist: “The guy meets the girl, or the guy loses the girl, or the guy gets the girl.” This summer, another gay icon is adding a new type of love story to the canon—the story of a young boy who falls in love with an old man.
In filmmaker Bruce LaBruce’s new romantic comedy Gerontophilia, an 18-year-old boy named Lake falls in love with Mr. Peabody, an 81-year-old resident at the nursing home where Lake works. Between sponge baths, Lake starts a sexual and romantic relationship with Mr. Peabody. Fans and critics know LaBruce for his explicit underground films, like LA Zombie, but Lake and Mr. Peabody’s relationship never seems creepy or shocking. Through hilarious scenes at the nursing home and at a gay bar, the relationship becomes one of the most moving cinematic romances of the year.
This month, I skyped with LaBruce—who was a VICE columnist for years—to discuss the movie, his new art show about celebrity perfume, and a real life teenage boy who dated two famous old men.
VICE: How did you come up with the idea for this movie? Bruce LaBruce: A friend of mine—his name is Marcus Ewert—from San Francisco, when he was 17 or 18, he was lovers with William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. I was always really interested in his story because he had separate relationships with both of them—they were kind of love relationships. He had so much respect for their wisdom and heart that it became a romantic and sexual relationship. That made me think, I’ve made a film about hustlers—you know, gay hustlers, gay for pay. It isn’t always that way. In my experience, [old men’s relationships with hustlers are] quite often much more complex relationships. They’re getting a lot from these old men. They’re taken care of, but they also get taken care of emotionally. In our society there doesn’t seem to be much reverence for the elderly, so why not sexual reverence?
Do you think there are negatives to being both young and old?
Absolutely. I felt myself identifying with both of [the characters]. I was projecting back to when I was 18 and what that was like. For me, it was very traumatic. I grew up in a rural environment, and my sexual identity was a big problem for me—there was a lot of homophobia. Projecting ahead to Mr. Peabody is what we have to look forward to in the future. It’s kind of scary: He’s been abandoned by his family, he’s been institutionalized, he’s being overmedicated, he’s being bullied, and he’s also vulnerable. There are hazards on both ends.
Why did you decide to make the young boy character, Lake, a lifeguard?
Somebody pointed out to me—which I didn’t really think about self-consciously—that the film is kind of like a reverse Lolita, with the old man in the Lolita role. This is a weird invert of pedophilia. Lake hangs out at school crossings, not for the children, but for the old men; he hangs out in swimming pools, and he gets a job at a nursing home. Some people kind of gloss over it and don’t accept [his attraction to old men as a fetish] because their relationship is so sweet, so natural. It’s a kind of perversion, but it’s still a fetish. There’s something a bit compulsive about it.
Did you purposefully make the film less sexual than your previous films?
I wouldn’t say it’s less sexual. I’d say it’s less sexually explicit. This time I got government financing from Canadian governmental film financing entities—it was a bigger scale of production for me. The whole idea was to create a more commercial film. I wanted to choose a topic that was true to my other work—dodgy and kind of risky—but because I used professional actors, there was not really a question of it being explicit.
Your latest art project is a celebrity perfume called Obscenity. Where did that idea come from?
I do art shows frequently. I had a photo shoot in Madrid three years ago called Obscenity. It caused a ruckus; it was photos of well-known Spanish artists and personalities, and it was about the intersection of religion and sexuality. There was a protest. Somebody tried to throw a bomb at the gallery. I let that cool off for a while, but it’s always been in the back of my mind to make the Obscenity perfume almost as a satire of celebrity. I have a jeweler friend, Jonathan Johnson. We had been looking for a project to collaborate on, so I got him to design the bottle cap—which is a naked nun—based off 3-D imagery of his wife. I did a photo shoot with his wife and a black model with her dressed as a nun and [him dressed as] a priest.
Do you feel like celebrity perfumes are an example of bad straight camp?
They can be, but it depends on who is doing it. Alan Cumming had a perfume a few years ago called Cumming, [which was] like good gay camp. I always love the good straight camp, like the Chanel commercials, but some of it is definitely bad. Lady Gaga’s perfume is bad straight camp.
Catholics have protested your work in the past, yet both Obscenity and the new movie are filled with Catholic references. Were the allusions intentional?
I’ve been [referencing Catholicism] a lot in my movies. Saints throughout history have been very perverse. Some of them are very masochistic and sexual—kissing the feet of Christ, sucking the puss out of a leper’s sores. I just find it so interesting that they’re supposed to be super religious, and at the same time they’re super sexual. Most people wouldn’t think an 18-year-old boy who gets a job at a nursing home to fuck old men is a saint, but I do.
Gerontophilia will be available on DVD in France on October 7 and in Germany on November 28. The film will have a theatrical release in the US in early 2015.
Bruce LaBruce's Obscenity installation opens at 10 PM on Thursday, August 28, at Chez Priape (1311 rue Ste-Catherine E) in Montreal. The exhibition will be on display at that location through September 1. To order Obscenity, visit Jonathan Johnson's website.
Remember the good old days of the internet, when AOL sent us new coasters every week, Google was still a force for good, and many websites sported that cheesy Geocities style?
The late 90s and early 00s really weren't that long ago in the grand scheme of things. In fact, it was such a short time ago in terms of webpage lifespans that many of these sites are still up and running, in all their early internet glory.
Missing those simpler days of dial-up romance, chat rooms and email love letters? Then you'll appreciate the fact that the You've Got Mail website is still up and running, even though it doesn't appear to have been updated since 1998:
Readers of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire know viewers of HBO’s Game of Thrones can expect the series to really kick it into high gear in Season 5. But as it turns out, the network may have issue filming one scene thanks to church intervention. Read on for more, plus what an HBO exec had to say about the controversial sept scene from Season 4.
‘Daredevil: Corazones en la oscuridad’ es el segundo tomo que recopila esta nueva andadura del Hombre Sin Miedo.
Waid sabe combinar sabiamente las dos vertientes del protagonista, la civil y la heroica, para contar historias entre lo ameno, lo emocionante y lo divertido.
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