Three-Letter Word Dr. Jill McDevitt is the proprietor of Feminique and is the only person in the world with three degrees in sex With movies being the central theme of this issue, I’d like to showcase sex education on the big screen. Moreover, as a movie lover and sexologist, I’ll be giving my reviews based on how close the film comes to accurately portraying sex education as it happens in the real world. The 40-Year-Old Virgin 2005 The Scene: Carell’s character visits a health clinic where a sex educator asks if there are any questions. Three people ask questions, including the famous, “Is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it?” My Review: Fairly unrealistic. The sex educator responds with an annoyed, “Is that a serious question?” and is generally condescending. No real sex educator in a professional health setting would get so flustered over an innocent inquiry. On a daily basis they’re asked the most off-the-wall, absurd, and sometimes vulgar questions. In real life, that educator wouldn’t have lasted a week in the job. Milk Money 1994 The Scene: A 10-year-old boy locks his sex ed teacher out of the classroom, then hires a prostitute to sneak in through the window and give a live lesson in front of the 6th grade students using her own body. My Review: If I could give zero stars, I would. This would never happen, lest there be all sorts of lawsuits against the school, the teacher, and the prostitute, who I’m sure would have to register as a sex offender. And if such a thing ever were to happen, the children in the classroom would be rightly horrified, not laughing and flirting with the teacher/prostitute as was depicted in this film. Varsity Blues 1999 The Scene: A high school sex education teacher asks students to list slang terms for genitals. James Van Der Beek’s character rattles off a long list, the most memorable being “purple-headed yogurt slinger.” My Review: Pretty good. In fact, I’ve used the slang word activity before in classrooms. The only unrealistic part is that in all of my years I’ve never had a student so boldly use such language. Usually it takes some prodding, which is why it’s a good ice breaker. Never has it happened that a student raises their hand and starts listing “schlong, pecker, dick, willie…” in my college classes, let alone in a high school. Mean Girls 2004 1/2 The Scene: The physical education teacher, wearing a jogging suit and a whistle, says to the students in health class, “Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant, and DIE! Don’t have sex in the missionary position, don’t have sex standing up. Just don’t do it, promise? Ok now everybody take some rubbers.” My Review: Realistic. Tine Fey, who graduated from my alma mater, wrote the script based on her experiences in our high school. I absolutely sat in on that 11th-grade health class. The film loses half a point for offering the students condoms–that would never happen in an American public school. jmcdevitt@thewcpress.com
january 2013 | thewcpress.com
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