The release of Shortbus arguably marked a turning point in how people viewed the relationship between art and pornography. Yes it IS eyeroll-inducing when people in warehouses in Hackney Wick point at a sepia-filtered shot of Grimes’ pussy and protest “but it’s not porn, it’s ART! It’s TASTEFUL!”
Increasingly there’s a lot of hot air and pretension around the issue. LOOK AT ME, I’VE TAKEN AN OVEREXPOSED SHOT OF A CUCUMUBER UP MY ARSE. But buried somewhere under all the self-congratulatory Tumblr generation smut is something tangible. There IS a differentiation between porn and art, and Shortbus is one of the few creations to bridge that gap.
With an indie vibe but actually quite a high budget and glossy production, John Cameron Mitchell’s comedy/drama revolves around the intertwining lives of a host of troubled, eccentric characters seeking sex and love in New York City. It’s got straight sex, gay sex and bisexual sex. It’s got rimming (gasp!), actual visible penetration, and ejaculation. By many people’s definition, that means it’s pornography. But it has real heart, soul and humour, as well as underlying messages and sociopolitical implications. I’m not saying porn films don’t have that too, but it’s rare (Mickey Taylor, any thoughts?).
It’s all pleasingly honest and grown up. What I love most about it was that it shrugs off one of the things that irritates me most about cinema – pussyfooting around sex, or implying it with laboriously cheesy double entendres. We’ve all done it, for christ’s sake, just show us the fucking money. It also says a lot about modern society that films which feature people getting shot in the head are released on a weekly basis, but release one with an erect penis in it, and there’s international outcry.
Another great thing about the film is the acting. Sook-Yin Lee does one of the most emotive and underrated turns I’ve ever seen as troubled sex therapist Sofia, while the brilliant Paul Dawson flawlessly portrays the complications and various ins and outs (so to speak) of being in a gay open relationship. Interestingly, neither actor went on to do a great amount with their career afterwards, which perhaps speaks of stigma towards this sort of thing in the industry.
Anyway, Shortbus is a wonderful, important little film. If there were more films like Shortbus, perhaps things would be a bit better. Perhaps schools would actually teach sex education rather than playing a cartoon and shoving a condom on a banana and leaving it at that. Perhaps porn performers and sex workers would be treated better. Perhaps people would stop thinking sepia shots of Grimes’ vagina were edgy.
• Shortbus is available on Netflix.
