Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Hah!!! Did you think I had graduated into sex advice or something?
No, the roomies and I caught Woody Allen’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). It was made in 1972, back in Allen’s Golden Age. The film is based on an actual sexual guide, but don’t worry, you won’t actually learn anything watching this one.
The movie is a series of vignettes, each answering purportedly answer a question: Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching an Orgasm? What Are Sex Perverts? Do Aphrodisiacs Work? You’ll recognize a lot of the actors, including a strapping Burt Reynolds and a shockingly young Regis Philbin. I was reminded most of Monty Python sketches, both in their absurdity and affinity for male cross-dressing. Every You Always Wanted also riffs on other cinematic tropes – the Shakespearian epic, the mad scientist horror schlock, and, my favorite, Allen as the Felliniesque Italian alpha director (but still neurotic, of course).
I also wonder why there aren’t movies made like this today. Wouldn’t this be a better alternative to the shlock like Valentine’s Day? For all the boasting about living in a post-Sex and the City world, I’d say most mainstream movies have steered firmly away from adult sexual relationships – unless you want to know if sex friends can be best friends.
The internet has kindly provided a sampling of the final, and funniest, segment – What Happens During Ejaculation?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFQUOElTwgU]