By Dave Riley
The magazine format is increasingly popular on television. Each program is a series of grab segments. You can catch up with the latest on quasars or the use of chook poo on a garden border. So why not one on sex?
Ten points for a snappy title and a triple A rating for boldness, Sex is true to name. Billed as a series on sex and sexuality, it's a very frank exploration of hormones at work. If the early episodes are any indication, there is promise that the mechanics of sexual hygiene are tempered by a much broader sociology.
The premier carried segments on a fight for condom vending machines at a school in Hobart, whether to keep your fantasies to yourself, getting to know the clitoris, the sexual practices of US sailors on shore leave, the explicitness of music video clips and whether gays like being gay.
The program is anchored by well-known actor Sophie Lee, who was involved in the Fact and Fantasy File before it was banned. “When the federal government withdrew its funding”, she says, “such a fuss was made I thought it was an issue that had to be tackled. If funds are withdrawn for a book that tells how to use a condom, then something must be wrong.”
The brashness and accessibility of this television program are a breakthrough in reaffirming the joys of sex before a very wide audience indeed. Puritans must hate it.
We enter each segment through opening shades -- as though we are peeping Toms or Tammies -- and each commercial break is phased in through scenes of copulation. Despite this keenness for decoration, Sex's light touch seems imbued with sincere intent. This is as close as crusades come to television.
We are promised many stories through the program's six-week run. How well and confidently it deals with supposedly controversial issues -- like abortion -- will test its mettle. If the courage is there, Sex could be a television landmark.
