When writer/actor/director/comedian Woody Allen offered the above quote as a tongue-in-cheek justification for self-pleasure, he probably didn’t think hoards of college students would be asked to analyze and dissect the underlying psychological meaning. Fortunately for the sake of his fame, Allen’s comedic contribution sparked an academic movement devoted to equating his self-serving yet self-deprecating style to the rest of the world. Sex is the golden topic of the moment. Although it has existed since the dawn of time, it is now becoming a subject of easy conversation. The culture industry thrives on it, despite the emotional connotation which can often be associated. It is often said that “the only bad publicity is no publicity,” which lends itself to how sex is seen in the media. For example, raunchy comedies make a killing at the box office by throwing in crude, witty banter about anything pertaining to genitalia. Other movies, involving sexual deviants or any other kind of film with a dark, sexual nature (like 2006’s Little Children) are nominated for awards. But back to Allen – the characters he often portrays are said to be reflective of himself. While we know that he has had his fair share of strange sexual encounters (marrying his adopted daughter) his fictional characters have been received as being of a perverse nature. It is safe to say that no one reacted with attraction to Allen’s attempt at “sexiness” in any of the movies shown in class. So what makes Allen’s sex jokes gross, and Michael Cera’s awkward attempt to laid in Superbad hysterical? Age is a deciding factor in what can be seen as acceptable in the entertainment industry. Just as older actresses are replaced with newer, fitter, “perkier” models, those who are allowed to make the funny sex jokes exist in a tailored niche.
Generally speaking, it is safe to say that sex plays a major role in movies, music, books and other artistic outlets. This is not a new development, as sexual scandal sold the story of the Greek Tragedy Oedipus Rex, deemed Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint one of the most controversial and banned texts, continually existed in the subconscious background of Allen’s movies and writings, and in the works of Chuck Palahniuk – master of the modern day perverse. Looking at all of these works, however, it is striking to notice the way the characters are portrayed. To be more specific, it is notable how age plays a factor in how the male brain is presented to an audience. In movies and literature today, young, sexually minded males are portrayed as humorous, while adult sexually minded males are seen as perverse or psychologically disturbed.
Sex has simultaneously served the purpose of perpetuating the human race and creating an arena for pleasure and obsession. Although the act itself is of an innate, programmed hormonal reaction, society is being steered in the direction of sex for pleasure, comedy and commodity. Once a taboo subject only discussed in hushed whispers between bored housewives, eroticism is everywhere the consumer turns. While gender barriers and expectations still exist in many parts of the world, it is undeniable that the subject of sex sells and is wholeheartedly popular. As a country that thrives off of consumerism and anything that boasts a hefty price tag, the United States reaps the benefit of sexualized media. News media is no longer strictly reporting on crime and politics, but elements of the entertainment industry. Hard news is often eschewed in place of weekend box office hits on Friday morning shows. The point is that sex sells. How did we reach this point and what steamrolled this trend?
Austrian neurologist/psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud first suggested the Oedipus Complex in the early 20th century. This psychological term/condition explains the alleged unconscious (and usually repressed) sexual feelings and desires that a male feels for his birth mother. This “complex” is presented as a phase of life where the young male feels not only unexplained desire for his mother, but also a sense of protectiveness. In class it was suggested that the physical bond formed in nine months of pregnancy alone is enough to create an inherent connection toward one’s mother. The male child is groomed to compulsion toward his mother from the time of conception to the time of breastfeeding, where he can freely gaze into her eyes. Just as a grown man would become protective of his girlfriend or wife, the young male feels a built-in need to protect and love his mother as if it is his duty and responsibility. As the child grows older, this mindset wears off but still exists in the subconscious.
Although the Oedipus Complex supposedly wears off when the male child enters adolescence, traces of the condition rear its head in all of the aforementioned texts. While Woody Allen’s works are entirely more cerebral and self-serving than most at the box office, bookstore or newsstand today, modern audiences are still presented with the idea of the sex-consumed male. Age is a master manipulator of the psyche and emotions. As the entertainment and culture industry thrives, we submerge ourselves into the escapist worlds of the characters created for the big screen and in the pages of novels. While women definitely exhibit more and more sexual freedom, for the purpose of this argument, males are dominantly portrayed and sexual minded creatures. The difference is, though, that grown men are often seen as sexually confused, plagued and consumed with the act resulting in being viewed as deviants, while teenage boys are seen as hormonal, normal and funny in their quest to get laid.
Freud liked the tear the small intricacies of life apart, looking for an excuse to tie the people of the world together with a “freak” string. Through dreams and the subconscious, he made it common for individuals to become wrapped up in the idea of the “repressed.” Emotions stemming from early life as a child were said to affect the adult brain. Almost every Woody Allen movie references an “analyst.” The neurotic, mismatched couple always gets into an argument over sex or love, and results in “I can’t do this – I have a meeting with my analyst.” Allen doesn’t make the subject of sex a cut and dry punch line, though. His on screen affairs are sloppy and drama-filled creating an air of negativity and confusion. Sex in Woody Allen movies involves uptight, neurotic adults who make the entire act unsexy and unattractive. It is said that confidence shines through in someone, helping to creating a sense of attractiveness – Freud would have had a field day ripping Allen to shreds, analyzing his deep-rooted emotional issues, neurosis and tendency to be a self-deprecating mess.
Existing the same spectrum of a strange sexual nature is Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint. Originally published in 1969, Portnoy’s Complaint was received as a scandalous, horrific depiction of a sexually obsessed young adult man. The audience engages with the main character, Alexander Portnoy on a most personal level. Portnoy is young, Jewish, neurotic yet self-loving (in more ways than one) and spilling his guts the entire length of the text to his therapist, Dr. Spielvogel. Alex’s “mommy issues” shine through very clear, paving the way for reflection of how people are portrayed in arts and entertainment. Once again, Freudian theory rears its ugly head, and lends itself to the grotesque side of the sexual playing field.
Throughout the novel, Alex spends most of his time telling anecdotes of his childhood. While his father was a hard-working insurance salesman who was delegated to the poorest, hardest neighborhoods, Alex never fully respected him or gave him the credits he deserved. His feelings toward his mother, however, are the complete opposite. Alex talks about his mother in a way that makes her seem superhuman. For example, the reader is treated to an inside account of how he feels about both of his parents right off the bat –
“It was my mother who could accomplish anything, who herself had to admit that it might even be that she was actually too good… she could make jello, for instance, with sliced peaches hanging in it, peaches just suspended there, in defiance of the law of gravity” (Roth 11).
Alex loves his mother with such an inherent passion that he depicts her nothing short of holy. His father, however, is largely hated/ignored:
“Indeed, during that extended period of rage that goes by the name of my adolescence, what terrified me most about my father was not the violence I wished every nightt at the dinner table to commit upon his ignorant barbaric carcass” (Roth 41).
Both of these quotes work together to illustrate the point that the male brain is psychologically wired to feel passionate toward his mother and resentful of his father. Portnoy’s Complaint does not lack in sexual deviancy, as mentioned above. The beginning of the book largely focuses on Alex as a young boy, coming into his sexual-own. While he lays on the all too cliché chaise lounge, Alex rattles off his sexual exploits. Starting from the time he was a child, he relays anecdotes which being told in an almost repentant manner. Alex tells his stories with passion and fervor, looking for validation about his needs and desires. The constant need to masturbate ties in with the stress of his beloved mother always existing in the background. As Alex becomes more and more in-tune with his carnal side, he never really can escape to a place where he can be totally alone. From the time of childhood, where he blamed his excessive bathroom time on something he ate, his stories are seriously descriptive, but not disturbing. As the reader, we laugh at what poor Alex is trying to hide. Of course he isn’t going to be as forthcoming (no pun intended) to his mother while he’s in the bathroom “taking care” of himself. That element of embarrassment and secrecy is almost endearing. When Alex starts to tell Dr. Spielvogel about his exploits as a young man, however, reactions go from slightly humorous and juvenile to feelings of disgust or exploitation. Readers expressed the transfer of reactions from slight amusement to reaching the “too much information zone.” The idea of a teenage boy running home from school to get some “alone time” seems normal and natural. The idea of a man sexually assaulting a piece of liver or masturbating on public transportation is unnecessary and perverse.
I’m not saying that if a little kid did it, it would be acceptable. The idea is that while sex is becoming a more and more acceptable topic of conversation, there is an age limit where the audience can laugh it off as exploratory and not exploitative. The young male is viewed as explorative and amusing, and the adult male is viewed as a deviant. This does not just take place in literature though, as shown in many current films.
Judd Apatow is undoubtedly one of the most successful director/producers on the planet right now. His works include Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks, both TV sitcoms exploring the emotionally and sexually frustrating lives of high school students. Apatow is more recently praised for his feature films, including Knocked Up, Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Apatow’s credits are prime examples of the idea of sex as mechanism of young, male life. For example, the 2007 box-office hit Superbad follows two best friends, Seth and Evan. As graduating seniors, the boys embark on a mission to somehow score booze with their socially inept friend’s fake ID. The quest for alcohol does not exist in the hopes of a night of inebriation, but instead to garner the respect of Jules – Seth’s crush. Jules’ house is the ultimate destination – where the boys know they have sex as a reward for “bringing the party.” Shenanigans ensue throughout the film, all revolving around sexually charged jokes and references.
The beginning of the movie plays host to a scene where Evan and Seth discuss what porn sites to subscribe to. While Seth suggests the “Vagtastic Voyage,” Evan says that a site like “Perfect Ten” would be more appropriate, and less conspicuous to their parents credit card bills. Once again, teenage boys look at porn for fun in preparation for the life ahead of them. When grown men look at porn, their wives or girlfriends write to the Cosmopolitan “Ask Cosmo” column begging for advice on how to get their men to stop.
The audience response was more than positive and is now considered to be a “classic.”
In all honesty, if Apatow had asked the writers of Superbad to tweak their premise, possibly making Seth and Evan 35 year old men instead of 17 year old boys, it is highly likely that the audience response would find the flick to be less appealing. Why is that? For one reason – although almost everyone thinks about, wants and has sex, being a hormonal teenage boy hell-bent on getting some action while encountering unsavory characters and trying escape a drunken fist fight is much more acceptable than witnessing a 40+ year old man battle his “sex demons” such as in Choke – a novel by Chuck Palahniuk.
Youth has been stamped as a period of your existence where mistakes can be made and all dumb mistakes made are looked back on with endearment. It’s perfectly acceptable to be a pizza delivery driver at 17 years old, but not necessarily the most coveted position as an adult. When the plot of Choke unfolds, the scene is set for the main character named Victor Mancini. Mancini is a former medical student who now works as a colonial re-enactment park, which is presented as a cause for pity alone. He frequents sex addict meetings not to better his “addiction” but to take advantage of the women he meets.
As a child, his mother provoked the law causing her custody to be turned over to the state. As Victor bounced from foster home to foster home, he found ways to be back with his mother who would announce her presence in places like drugstores (over the intercom, using a specially assigned code name.) Now approaching his thirties, Victor lives a menial existence of working a dead end job, having sex with anything that won’t walk away from him and tends to his mother – who is in a nursing home for the mentally unstable. Freud would suggest that the motivation for Palahniuk’s “Victor Mancini” comes from a place rooted in the Oedipus Complex. As a child, Victor adored his mother, only to have her ripped away. He rebelled as a youth and grown up, focusing his emotional distress into abundant sexual fetishism and “addiction” as a coping mechanism to fulfill his childhood desire of inherent sexual attraction to his mother. When Victor attends sex addiction meetings, the scene is warped into a dark place of abnormality. Who’s to say that a thirty-something doesn’t want sex (if not more than) a hormonal 17 year old?
When examining movies and literature from both past and present, it is important to recognize the driving force behind what sells. The idea that “sex sells” is a common one, but the elements of this aren’t widely discussed. News broadcasts containing poignant, newsworthy stories have been placed on the back burner in lieu of celebrity gossip and sex scandals. The entertainment industry controls the country we live in as we depend on it to provide escapism in times of instability. Sex has played a huge role in this industry, as we've witnessed it come out of the darkness of being a subject of unspoken unacceptable and taboo consquence to a modern, everyday element of every genre of movie.Freud proposed that the male brain is inherently and sexually tied to his mother – while it wears off, the compulsion toward sex is ever-present. The way the audience percieves the individual immersing himself in sex is an entirely different story though, as young males indulging in sex are seen as comedic and light hearted, and the adult male is seen as a deviant. Maybe we should all just take a step back, watch Superbad and realize we're programmed to procreate.
WORKS CITED
Superbad (Unrated Widescreen Edition). Dir. Judd Apatow. Perf. Michael Cera, Jonah Hill. Sony Pictures, 2007. DVD.
Freud, Sigmund. Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1989.
Palahniuk, Chuck. Choke. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
Roth, Philip. Portnoy's Complaint. New York: Vintage International, 1994.
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