Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 31: Shortbus

Is the indie film Shortbus really a poly film?  This movie claims to have it all - alternative sexuality, BDSM, polyamory, consensual & ethical non-monogamy, swinging, "free love", and more.    I'm just going to come right out and say it ... I didn't like this movie. I know, it's all groundbreaking with its use of real, actual, penetrative sex among the actors and it's gritty look at alternative sexuality. But I didn't like it. I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the situations, I just didn't like it. Shortbus is a movie that takes us on a series of vignettes of random people with no other connection to each other except the Shortbus - an alternative club that features a drag queen host and just about every sexual desire you can imagine. We have the sex therapist who has never had an orgasm, the gay couple who want to add a third to their family (well, one half of the couple wants to add a third), the creepy voyeur across the street from the gay couple, and the depressed dominatrix. Yeah, it belongs on a poly-ish movie list because the movie embraces all forms of relationships and sexualities, including consensual non-monogamy. I just thought it was a crappy movie that tried too hard to be avant-garde. The moral of the story seemed to be "sex with strangers fixes everything", and that bores and irritates me. But just about everyone I know loved that movie, so don't avoid seeing it just because of my review. We might have different tastes in films, and I seem to be an outlier on this one. polyamory; polyamorous; poly; polya; polyam; poly-ish; nonmonogamy; non-monogamy; ethical non-monogamy; consensual non-monogamy; ENM; CNM; opening up; open marriage; open relationship; hierarchy; hierarchical; couple privilege; unicorn hunter; triad; love triangle; vee; threesome; ménage à trois; quad; polygamy; bigamy; adultery; cheating; affair; infidelity; mistress; polygyny; polyandry; mfm; fmf; mff; relationship; polycule; group sex; swinging; wife swapping; partner swapping; ethical slut; unicorn; couple; throuple; thruple; NSSO; rbamp; lesbian; queer; LGBTQ; LGBTQIA+; movie review