Comment One

This post is in response to Fran's post on masturbation: http://beingabadgandalf.blogspot.com/2008/03/since-lecture-on-this-aspect-of-being.html

Hey Fran
I totally agree with your comments on how masturbation is treated in films, either as a joke or as something that is strange or kind of pervy (couldn't think of a better word). I think that in reality masturbation is the one of the lesser serious of the bad behaviours discussed in the module, yet in some films it is portrayed as something quite wrong.

The film 'Happiness' springs to mind when commenting on masturbation in films and I think it is the only film I have seen that tackles the subject of masturbation with some degree of dignity. The film features two sub-plots in connection with masturbation, one portraying it as a normal behaviour discussed between a young boy and his dad (even though its quite a morally wrong conversation) and the other portraying it as a behaviour practiced by a pervy stalker guy who is obsessed with his neighbour. Although the film has some darkly funny moments it is a serious observation on disfunctional families/individuals and I think that this is why the subject is included with some sort of seriousness. If you are going to see this film (is you haven't already) it has some really cringey moments!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147612/ is the link to 'Happiness' IMDB page