Masters of Sex: arousing our interest
Masters of Sex is the latest in a succession of American dramas attempting to emulate the formula of the hugely successful Mad Men. The liaisons of buttoned up men and impassioned women, against a stylish backdrop of cocktails, cigarettes and suburban repression are evidently in vogue. What results is a genuinely compelling and relevant portrait of America.
The series dramatizes the histrionics of Dr William Masters and his unlikely partner – confident secretary Virginia Johnson – as their pioneering research transforms America’s views on sex.
With its hospital setting and slick white coat world of charismatic doctors and coquettish nurses, Masters of Sex does have the propensity to appear somewhat contrived.
The attractive cast and 1950s décor immediately scream erotic potential thanks to the success of Mad Men. Indeed, viewers fearing a parroting of the tacky Pan Am wouldn’t be impressed with the show’s immediate display of ‘sexual surrogacy’, with Doctor and Nurse having sex under the guise of Master’s research project.
This fetishised fun is inescapably gimmicky, a tone set by the drama’s opening credits – a montage of phallic and climactic images that includes erupting volcanoes and fizzing champagne bottles.
The show treads a narrow line as director Michelle Ashford remains visibly conscious of marketing a show solely on its sexual content, yet this seems inevitable, with the lingering possibility of Masters and Johnson themselves taking part in the study suggested in the first episode.
Viewers are left feeling cheaply voyeuristic, tuning in each week in the hope of seeing the stiff Michael Sheen limber up.
This fetishised fun is inescapably gimmicky, a tone set by the drama’s opening credits
Despite this initial tackiness, Masters of Sex is a witty and compelling depiction of 1950s America. Far removed from Mad Men’s somewhat smug boastful suggestions of how far society has travelled, Ashford’s creation forces viewers to confront their own conservative views.
Relevant themes approached in the series include the guilt of Johnson, workaholic mother of two, played by the fantastic Lizzy Caplan. Her frantic attempts to balance a healthy work ethic alongside childcare resonates with modern questions on the responsibility of a woman. Furthermore, the Provost’s (Beau Bridges) illicit encounters with male hookers surely provokes questions on gay rights in a country that still fails to legally value sexual equality.
It is the emotional depth and complexity of the characters which further saves this show from becoming another average example of the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqwahKjI2bg
Although the Mad Men formula of strong women is reused, with Virginia Johnson holding fort as the bastion of sexual liberation, the role of masculinity is subverted. Masters of Sex is seemingly devoid of domineering men. Barring Sheen’s role, male characters occupy the periphery, often wallowing in their incompetence and undeniably overshadowed by strong women.
Viewers may find Virginia annoying – she embodies moral perfection, and indeed appears a canvas onto which today’s cultural ideals of the liberated and confident woman have been projected.
However the plot perpetuates how women were constrained by societal laws, both de facto and de jure. Notably, in order to take out a car loan, Virginia must ask Masters to co-sign the documents.
Ultimately, it is Michael Sheen’s austere Masters that steals the show. The plot’s central irony is that the man at the centre of scientific sexual revolution is in fact sexually ignorant and impotent.
Juxtaposed with this genuinely touching drama there are moments of great hilarity
He appears shallow and proud, forcing the responsibility and shame of his own secret infertility on his broody wife. Yet it is easy to sympathise with his increasingly fragile persona, following his wife’s miscarriage. One of the most moving scenes sees him ask Virginia to close her eyes as he breaks down in front of her.
Juxtaposed with this genuinely touching drama there are moments of great hilarity. One of Masters of Sex’s greatest assets is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. This manifests itself in a glass dildo that goes by the name of Ulysses, and Master’s scathing wit.
There is also the comic potential in the dysfunction of personal lives. The era’s cacophony of sexual repression has provoked the incestuous entanglement of the Scully family. While the Provost Dr Scully is cruising, colleague Dr Langham is in bed with Mrs Scully; and daughter Vivian is being deflowered by young obstetrician Dr Haas.
Fundamentally it is the brilliant script, complex characters and farcical moments that equip Masters of Sex with its quirky, easy charm. This eccentric charm allows the show to confront America’s social mores head on.
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