Friday, February 27, 2015

Masters of Sex; Showtime 2013-2015; TV-MA



This is the story of sex researches Masters & Johnson. They were the first researches to actually watch humans have sexual intercourse. They did more than watch. They measured everything from heart rates to orgasms. They were the first to document that a woman’s orgasms usually centered around clitoral stimulation rather than from a penetrated penis. This was just one of their many discoveries. They worked in the 1950’s at Washington University in St. Louis. To say that their work was controversial is an understatement. It is unimaginable to think that in all of research, not until Masters & Johnson, have we documented the sexual act that continues our specie.
This production of the story of Masters & Johnson is presented in a titillating, erotic and provocative format. The research alone would make this story fascinating. However this erotic presentation including the complex personalities, drama and sexual relations of the researches, make for fascinating TV. Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen give great performances as Virginia Johnson and Dr. William Masters. Allison Janney also is remarkable as she plays a sexually frustrated middle age wife. In season one we are treated to an erotic sex scene with Allison Janney. This is a rare scene in media of a middle aged women enjoying sex.
Masters of Sex is great soft porn but also is a true story. The series looks at this time when gender roles changed. Virginia Johnson was Key to the ground breaking research AND got credit. This despite her having only an undergraduate degree. This series is a great story and it is also erotic. What a combination.

The historic fact is that Masters & Johnson did have sex together. It seems to be accurate that originally the sex was to measure their own bodies’ response, yet later became more of an affair. They both were unsure how they felt about each other. This is despite their later marriage and then still later divorce. They had part of their minds engages in the erotic pleasure but then another part scientifically "watching." The series presents Masters in later episodes as not just acknowledge Johnson, but making her a co-investigator on all his papers and co-author on their major book publications which arguably (with Freud and Kinsey) is the most important research in sexuality. 2/27/15

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