Hyde Park on the Hudson; 2012, R

There has been much written about Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt’s non-traditional marriage, including the recent best seller “Franklin & Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage’ by Hazel Rowley. The Film Hype Park on the Hudson should be added to this list. History documents at least four intimate & sexual long standing relationship FDR had with women. The four woman were Eleanor, Lucy Mercer, Marguerite Lehand (Missy) and Margaret Suckly (Daisy). Two of these woman served as key advisors (Eleanor & Missy). Likewise, Eleanor enjoyed intimate relations with other woman and at least one man. It is unclear if these relationships were sexual, but most likely they were with the women. Please note that I have not used the word “affair,” which connotes illicit cheating. Thought certainly FDR’s first relationship with Lucy Mercer was an affair causing Eleanor much grief, the later relationships (on both parts) were acknowledged, welcomed and supported.

Today there is also much published about Open & non-monogamous relationships. One of the most popular is the weekly podcast Savage Lovecast with host Dan Savage. Dan Savage is also a frequent contributor to MSNBC. It therefore seems important to document maybe the most famous and functional non-monogamous marriage. A relationship where Eleanor agreed to “share” Franklin with other woman, and Franklin agreed to “share” Eleanor with other women. Just as a “by the way” footnote, this couple had arguably the most positive affect on American culture (and maybe the world) since Abraham Lincoln.

Franklin on the Hudson is not a perfect movie. It stars Bill Murray as FDR and Laura Linney as Daisy. However, I give it 5 Stars. It certainly captures the facts of this non-traditional marriage. It also honors the brilliance of Franklin and Eleanor. I know of no other story line where famous people affirmed each other’s sexuality and continued in an “extraordinary relationship.’ The file is available on Netflix streaming. 7/10/16

The Diary of a Teenage Girl; 2015, R

This is an amazing and wonderful film. It is very sexual but it is not erotic. OK, don’t be creeped out. Here is the storyline. A 15 year old girl is having a sexual relationship with her mother’s boyfriend. However, she is not a victim. This is a coming of age film whose focus is on a young woman’s sexual energy and sexual pain. Bel Powley is brilliant in depicting this precocious and artistic young woman. This is one of the best coming of age films since The Breakfast Club. 4/5/16

Love 2015; UR

This is a sexually explicit film that is available streaming on Netflix. It is a serious film yet has the type of explicit sexuality usually seen only in pornography. The story walks backward. It starts with violence fueled by drugs yet as we go backward we understand a history of tenderness in this same relation. I recommend this film if for no other reason than a document of extreme sexuality, yet easily available on Netflix streaming. It is a document of our current culture that is absent of any form of sexual censorship. I believe this is positive, yet leaves the censorship to us as viewers. 4/5/16