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* "My So-Called Sex Life" by David Kelly (emerging sexuality) 10, 10,
10
"My So-Called Sex Life" by David Kelly. I have watched "My So Called Life" on television just a few times. It must conflict with something else I do. It was a good show, and my kids watch it regularly. My impression is that the television show deals with emerging adolescence in a quasi-humorous fashion; and this set of stories is going to attempt to give a similar treatment to emerging sexuality. So far this series is pretty good. The first story starts out with the young heroine going to her parents' bedroom to ask permission to go out. When no one responds to her knock, she opens the door and sees her mom giving her dad head, while a porn flick runs on the television screen. "At least they weren't using handcuffs," she smiles, as she runs out of the house. "What's that on Daddy's face?" asks her little sister. So the author had my attention. Episode 1 is mostly about an all-girl threesome, with Angela contemplating taking the plunge with Jordan Catalano, the young man who is the "object of her desires and thirty four separate masturbation fantasies." The dialog is natural and sexy: "I gave Jordan a hand job. It was... nice." Angela said. "Nice?" Rayanne said, "you make it sound like a Hallmark card or something!" In the second episode Angela and Jordan do the deed. It was indeed nice. I look forward to more of these thoroughly enjoyable episodes. I may even watch the original show more often. Although lightheartedness pervades both episodes, there are some serious insights. For example, after the all-girl mini-orgy, there's this passage: "What does this mean?" Angela wondered. "It's not like I am attracted to women, but it was, um, good. What if I do it too much and become no longer attracted to guys? Time to re-think this." This is an important thought. Teenagers should be open to the idea that same-sex activities (and fantasies) are likely to be really enjoyable; and they should be able to think about this option without either (a) being filled with disgust over not being "normal" or (b) committing themselves to a lifelong designation as gay or lesbian. Life is more complicated than that. To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer that my own 15-year-old daughter discover that she enjoys *fantasizing* about doing it with other girls as much as she enjoys *fantasizing* about doing it with boys. I'm not going to disown my children if I find out they've been having sex; but I really do like the idea of letting them grow up before they become active participants. I myself graduated as a popular, heterosexual student athlete who happened to be a virgin; and I am absolutely certain that my virginity was not a personality flaw that impeded my future sex life. So who's going to read these stories - the under-18-year-olds who comprise the protagonists or the older generation who are theoretically allowed to read this stuff on a.s.s.? I suppose the Christian Coalition would object - and I am not going to leave these stories on the coffee table for my children; but I would not really be upset to know that my children were reading stories like this. The teenage movies and TV shows are filled with innuendo; these episodes just make explicit what is implicit in those stories. My kids have already heard my lecture about how real-life differs from the movies. (For those who are interested, here are the three big differences: (1) People have to fall in love and jump into the sack really quickly in the movies, because more realistic and desirable timelines are impractical in a two-hour movie or half-hour TV episode. (2) Indians really would not be so dumb as to ride around in circles, and some of the bullets would hit horses. (3) At least occasionally the Indians would rape the women (and men) whom they captured.) So even though I encourage people to follow the laws of their state or nation, I'm not going to be upset if consenting adolescents occasionally see these stories. The other major audience for these stories consists of "old" people (over age 18), who can remember what it was like to be a teenager. Even though I graduated from high school without ever doing anything like the activities described in this story, I can identify with them. Doing these things would be fun. Even the Christian Coalition people would have fun doing these things. They'd go to hell, maybe; but they'd have fun. And that's what fiction is for - vicariously doing things that for some reason (in this case, a good reason, if eternal damnation were really a possible consequence) you would otherwise never experience. All right - so that's not the only reason for fiction; but it's one good reason anyway. Ratings for "My So-Called Sex Life" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 |