Sex Health Food for Thought

Comments (0) By Nirmala Nataraj Wednesday, Apr 30 2008

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Given all the pro-abstinence propaganda that's been passing itself off as sex education for decades now, it seems like primitive cave paintings are capable of more insight about the birds and the bees than our own reluctant parental units and public schools. However, film is one medium that's never pussyfooted around carnality, even way back in the golden silent era. "Sex, Film, and Videotape: 100 Years of Sexual Health" offers a meta-dialogue about film clips to examine how our approach to sexuality -- in both its clinical and recreational aspects -- has and hasn't changed. Sex educator Mark Schoen features dozens of reels, ranging from risqué to antiseptic, educational to erotic. Aside from all the classroom videos about the birds and the bees and TV clips that were among the first to seriously entertain teen pregnancy, Schoen also broaches technology's role in breaking the taboo of fleshly pleasures. The one-click atmosphere of the Internet may have revolutionized how we consume mass-produced sex, but it's the kitschy, under-the-radar stuff from days of yore that'll have you giggling like a coy adolescent girl.
Thu., May 1, 8 p.m., 2008