Let’s talk about sex! And how awkward and weird it can be! AND about how we all have it! Sex is so prominent in American culture, but we are terrified to talk about it. Even saying the word ‘sex’ as a server walks by your table at lunch is enough to make your cheeks turn rosy. Why are we so meek when it comes to talking about the deed? In A Sexplanation, health reporter, Alex Liu, sets out for authentic sexual education–no matter how hard it takes.
Everyone’s relationship to sex is different, and that is something that A Sexplanation puts out there right away. This is a personal mission for Liu to understand why he has been so skittish to talk about sex, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t giggle and learn at the same time. The film opens with a Marlene Dietrich quote, “Sex. In America, an obsession. In other parts of the world, a fact.”
If we can eliminate the stigma of just talking about sex, that can open the doors to having more nuanced, honest, and relaxed conversations with our partners. Liu paints a wide brush with his documentary by talking to everyone from adolescent psychologists to Todd Weiler about why he thinks porn is a public health crisis. Liu even masturbates in an MRI machine under the supervision of Barry Komisaruk and Nan Wise from Rutgers University. His first interview of the film? Liu talks with his parents and his grandmother about whether or not they should’ve had a more up-front discussion about sex. Could you do that with your parents?
Liu puts his audience at ease right away, because he is so relatable and eager to learn. He admits that he’s awkward around the subject, so you automatically are ready to be taken on this ride with him. His nervous giggles throughout the film actually put you at ease, and you might find yourself thinking of questions to ask yourself. At the top of the film, Liu says, ‘I was raised on a diet of Gushers, Salt-N-Pepa, and abstinence.’ Same, girl. If you aren’t willing to talk about something that we all think about every day, that’s the first indication that we aren’t having the proper conversations about sex–let alone the proper education.
A Sexplanation is a fun, sexy, joyride of a documentary. It asks you to think about your own experiences and to share them with people. There is no room for shame when it comes to sex, and Liu’s film is a gloriously sex-positive step in the right direction.
A Sexplanation is available to rent on the film’s website and on Amazon.
