Can sexual obsession be about something outside of oneself?

I rented Black Sheep Boys, and found this as one of two additional short films by director Michael Wallin included on the DVD. It was, without a doubt, the best of the three films.

The narrator, using clips from 60's and 70's gay porno films, and still images from porn magazines of the same era, establishes his premise that sexual obsession is an internalized phenomenon in which his sexual encounters are merely living out fantasies, projecting his obsessions onto anonymous partners. The encounters provide only brief relief from his obsession, and then it returns as he cruises for the next partner who can fit into the template of his fantasies. Then he meets a man with whom he develops a relationship for the first time, and he questions the whole nature of his obsessions.

The first half of this film is well edited from grainy bits of old porn and street shots of a cruising district in some mid-70's city. The soundtrack is the narrator discussing his obsession and ultimate inability to satiate it. The second half resembles home movie footage, of the new boyfriend as the new relationship develops. Eventually the couple make love in a very beautiful, and completely graphic scene. It is completely convincing that this is video of two men in love having beautiful and passionate sex. It is hotter than any pornography that I've ever seen, yet it seems so real and beautiful and in now way sordid or dirty. I am pretty sure it is really what it seems to be, two men in love. The soundtrack for this portion is a discussion between the two men about sexual obsession and the realization that their obsession is coming from each other, and not just playing out internalized fantasies that they project.

In gay society, so many men manage to live their lives in the first half of the film, never coming to the realization of the second half of the film. Making that leap from sex to love is a hurdle many gay men today can't seem to face. This film makes a wonderful case for taking that leap!

The romance genre features the theme of romantic relationships and emotional connections between characters. These stories focus on the development of love, desire, and intimacy between protagonists, often exploring the challenges, conflicts, and triumphs that arise in their relationships.

Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)

This pre-AIDS film offers an explicit exploration of gay male sexuality. Dealing with sexual love and sexual hunger this film shows how tenderness can enter into the male sexual act.

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