I caught up on TV shows Thursday and Friday night with one of my Hulu marathons. Two shows stood out to me this week - Bob's Burgers and Raising Hope.
The episode opens as Bob and his children are on an art crawl. I went on a gallery crawl on Thursday in Chelsea. I can't say the art I saw was "really, really bad". I gained some inspiration from the PAT: Unseen, unheard, unexplained exhibit at the Thomas Erben Gallery. I ended up at Chelsea Market afterwards and gazed at self-portraits by Kerry Skarbakka. The following day, I learned of the Nue York exhibit opening next month and was invited to the Freedom to Create show at the Ana Tzarev Gallery (If you've never been to that gallery, I encourage you to visit. It's a beautiful space). I need to make my next solo photo exhibit a reality. It's time.
On Bob's Burgers "Art Crawl", Bob's sister-in-law, Aunt Gail (that didn't go unnoticed), hangs a series of paintings of animal anuses in his restaurant. The family and patrons were offended by the art but couldn't tell her. Too much for a dining establishment? Or just too much?
Man. Toy. displayed dildos. I had a great turn-out during my opening reception and the duration of the exhibit. If anyone was offended by the art they didn't tell me. I heard more comments along the lines of people surprised at the quality of the images and in some photographs, they forgot they were looking at a dildo. The best conversation I had was with an ad exec who stated the fact that I could take the dildo and put it in various situations and scenarios was a great marketing skill. I hope no one was "treating me like a mental patient." I can handle the truth.
Later in the episode, there was a battle over whether images "displaying certain offensive orifices", should be up at all. How offensive are they? Could the art crawl committee determine what art is displayed in a private establishment? These are all issues I'll have to face as I continue to shop Man. Toy. around for another show and when I seek a gallery to exhibit my gender-questioning photo series.
To appease everyone, Aunt Gail decides to add pants and huge pendulous breasts to the animals. What's the bigger "issue" - art showcasing body parts, art being offensive or art being bad?
Raising Hope raising my hopes
I had about 5 episodes of Raising Hope to catch up on. Near the end of my Hulu marathon came "The Cultish Personality".
Mike, the cousin who ran off with a cult, returned with his wife and three brother husbands. His wife described them as reverse-gender polygamists. My first response to the reveal was, "Get it, girl!" not that I found her husbands attractive but the polyandry, I could get down with that.
I'm not pro-polyamory and anti-monogamy. I have had more than one lover at once. And each man knew they weren't the only one. It ended when one of them couldn't handle that they were sharing a lover. I've also been the lover of a man who was in an open relationship. I was friends with his girlfriend and one of her past lovers as well. People enter into open or polyamorous relationships for a number of reasons. This past Monday, I met a man who is in a sexually open relationship because his wife can't provide that to him.
I can't recommend the book, The Ethical Slut by Easton and Hardy enough. I think it gives a great overview of the different types of relationships without trying to "convert" the reader (Law and Order: SVU sent Benson and Stabler to a swingers club) I love the fact that polyandry was addressed on television. Polygamy is usual portrayed as a husband with many wives. At times, when the protagonist is a female character, one of her lovers is usually a woman.
As with any relationship, there are problems. During the episode, the three spouses break up with Mike because he wasn't taking an interest or spending time with his wife or brother husbands. To win them over again, he (the family) serenaded his "other" family with a song was actually very touching -- Let's not just share a lover, let's share love. I've come to realize that most people's issue with polygamy/open relationships and/or the cause of jealously stems from thinking there's not enough love to go around; the faulty belief is if the person you're with loves more than one person, then they're loving you less.
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