There is a reason why FOURPLAY's tagline is "four short tales of sexual intimacy" and not "sexual eroticism." I have been counseled at times to change the tag line to imply that the film is erotic or even pornographic, but I think the distinction between eroticism and intimacy is key to understanding what the film is up to.
For me, sexuality and sexual expression is a form of communication. Intimacy is the height and paragon of a kind of sexual communication that is democratic as it allows a form a empathy to permeate the union. Eroticism is more of a one way street, where the viewer or participant "gets off" in a transactional relationship to sexual expression that is akin to buying a cheeseburger. Eroticism in film is an extension of the voyeurism that is at work on the most base level when watching a film. But films that are cathartic, that have the ability to pierce our consciousness and resonate beyond the transaction of watching them during their running time, work by getting us inside the head of either the characters in the film or the filmmaker's consciousness and potentially lead to a new understanding of the world around us. This was the goal with each of the four shorts that comprise FOURPLAY, and whether we failed or succeeded you can be the judge.
Below is an interesting article by Gail Dines, author of Pornography: How Pronography Has Hijacked our Sexuality, from the Leftist muckracking publication Counterpunch about the proliferation of pornographic imagery and the potential impact this proliferation is having on communication and society. We'd welcome your thoughts!
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/07/pornography-and-gender-politics-within-neoliberalism
- Kyle Henry, Director FOURPLAY
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