MovieChat Forums > Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Discussion > So why do people find the orgy so distur...

So why do people find the orgy so disturbing?


Disclaimer, I'm not saying it's not.

But I find it interesting that, even as attitudes towards sex grow increasingly liberalized, most people's gut reaction to a secret society which gathers for group sex is revulsion.

Why does this film provoke such an intense psychological reaction in a time when so many argue that all sexual practices should be accommodated and are inherently harmless?

Additionally why does the implication that those at the orgy are the powerful in society seem to magnify peoples' disturbed and angry feelings? Do people expect the powerful in society to be held to a different standard than the rest of us, or to be more moral? I doubt a suburban swingers party would incite the same reaction, but isn't it really the same thing?

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If it was just orgy, I don't think you'd get any particular reaction. An orgy is a very normal thing in porn, people see it every day.

It's EXACTLY the other aspects, that when combined with a primal, animalistic lust like sexual desire and then having an AIM to satisfy such carnal, bodily thing with such secrecy and seriousness, the juxtaposition is terrifying.

It's not about 'free love' of the hippies era, it's not some dirty teenagers gathering in a tent to rub all over everyone.

It's SYSTEMATIC, and it has to do with POWER plus SECRECY, it's basically ESOTERIC, instead of organic and natural.

It's not the sex, it's not the orgies, it's the other stuff - not to mention that it is one of those movies that SHOWS YOU THE TRUTH, and how bizarre and disturbing it actually is in this world.

In a similar fashion, 'Yes, Minister' and its not-as-good sequel, 'Yes, Prime Minister' shows you a BELIEVABLE (or unbelievable) reality that's not 100% accurate or truthful, but gives you an idea of just how weird the truth actually is, and DARES to go surprisingly close to how it's actually done.

I think THAT is why it's creepy instead of just another orgy.

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