'The Little Death' is more than just a sexual comedy

CAUTION: Explicit post. Maybe spoilers. Proceed at your discretion.

Introduction

‘The Little Death’ is a 2014 Australian featurette running for ~90 minutes which classifies as a sexual comedy. It traces the lives of five urban couples who are engaged in exotic fetishes apart from normal sex. It explores the effects of an individuals’ desires on their marriage, daily life, emotional tolerance and other facets of life.

The phrase ‘The Little Death’ (fr. la petite mort) is a slang for an orgasm. The movie is a modern commentary on how diversified human sexual behavior has become when it comes to seeking pleasure. It investigates newer avenues of satiating oneself that are being commonplace as we accept a more technologically integrated lifestyle. Someone asked a guy, “You don’t have any weird fetish, do you?” to which he replied, “I don’t know. Define weird”.

Fantasies

Masochism (sexual pleasure derived from pain, humiliation or suffering), Dacryphilia (pleasure derived from seeing someone cry), Roleplay (pleasure from pretending to be someone else), Somnophilia (pleasure derived from watching someone sleep), Telephone scatalogia (pleasure derived from making obscene phone calls to strangers) and Podophilia (foot worship) are the fetishes explored via different couples. At one point, a guy asked,“Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned run-of-the-mill sex?” Hmm, food for thought.

As I was analysing the actions of the people and their consequences, a general motif emerged. People have fantasies. But it is wrong to hide them. Those who lied generally ended up in a bad situation. But love and trust can override the initial “embarrassment” and lead to a more rewarding experience for both parties.

What people really want

The couple that stood out for me on the losing side was Maureen and Phil. Dozing off at work owing to staying up at night adoring his wife sleep, he quickly entraps himself in a mesh of intricacies. Phil was unable to confront his wife with the truth when asked why he was spending money on women’s clothes and body care and falsely accepted he was having an affair. Clearly, lack of trust warranted him to believe his wife will take cheating less offensive than his somnophilia. It turned out, he was drugging his wife and dressing her up at night, trying to spend time with her which he couldn’t. However, what really stood out for me was his soliloquy,

Maureen: …So, why couldn’t it be me?
Phil: Because she’s softer than you. She’s quieter than you. She doesn’t yell. She doesn’t call me an idiot. Or tell me to shut up all the time. She listens to me. She is nice to me. And she doesn’t make me feel the only thing stopping her from being happy…is me.

The irony is, he was talking about his wife. In the end, it didn’t turn out well.

When people really care

In the same neighborhood, we have Paul and Maeve who has a rape fantasy. Paul goes to the extent of oschestrating a rape with paid actors, fake bottle, perfume just to make her happy. He couldn’t actually do it (and the whole ordeal is pretty hilarious) but the fact that he took so much pain to satiate her subtly refers to the idea that it is okay to go to unimaginable heights for people you truly care about.

The deaf Sam and the interpreter girl, Monica who works at Video Relay Service. The whole idea was new to me and quite refreshing. Their story was cute, so to speak. It is joyous to know technology has enabled more human bonds to foster than ever before. And then that phone adult service interpretation was simply hilarious.

Favourite song

“The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies is a classic so that checks out. But I really liked this new song called “Light” by Sleeping At Last. Sample this,

Though your heart is far too young to realize
The unimaginable light you hold inside

Wow.

Conclusion

On a personal level, it is heartening to see people experimenting and getting what they really want instead of accepting what they are given to deal with. In my opinion, unconventional sexual behavior shouldn’t be taboo because there is nothing unconventional about it. We all are different, so is our needs. Little Death celebrates that.