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Well, hi, folks.
Laci Green here.
Let's watch a movie!
I watch documentaries a lot.
Thanks to a huge selection that I have on my Netflix account.
Netflix is pretty amazing.
It give you access to TV and movies
through the internet machine.
So check it out, netflix.com/dnews to try it out
for a month of free streaming.
And let me know what documentaries you're watching.
Last night I watched (A)sexual, which
is a documentary that I've been meaning to watch for a while
now.
Because I've heard great things about it.
And it worked with a few people in the film.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film.
Asexuality is pretty misunderstood.
Sexual people hear about it and they're like, what?
You don't like sex?
At all?
That's crazy!
But it's a real sexual, or rather asexual orientation.
About 1% of the world is asexual.
These are people who don't experience sexual attraction.
Period.
They don't want to have sex with anyone.
A good chunk of the film follows David Jay,
who was openly asexual and was one of the first activists
to try to organize asexuals online.
He's been really outspoken, he's been on TV a number of times,
raising awareness, and giving asexuals a place to belong.
Before the internet, there really
wasn't a great way to connect to such a small community.
And a lot of people felt-- and many
continue to feel-- like there's something wrong with them.
They don't experience sexual attraction.
Meanwhile, the entire world is preoccupied with sex.
I mean I can imagine that could make
a person feel like a real outsider.
And it doesn't help that asexuality apparently
makes people really uncomfortable, confused,
and even angry.
There's one scene where the asexuality group visits
San Francisco Pride, the bastion of love, tolerance,
and acceptance, right?
Nope!
It was shocking to me how many people were like,
I don't support your lifestyle.
There's something messed up about that.
Close-minded comments that the queer community gets
from straight people all the time,
and yet they turn around and spew it
at someone who is different than them.
Clearly, navigating the world of sexuals when you're asexual
could be tough.
And I like that the film gives a voice to those stories.
One part of the film that I really enjoyed, but also wish
had been made a little more clear
is the difference between a romantic orientation
and sexual orientation.
Asexuals make the distinction between the two
to accommodate the fact that they still
need love and partnership in their lives.
And I think that the idea that romantic desire
and sexual desire are different, but often overlapping
is something beneficial to people
of all sexual orientations.
In the film, they interview romantically oriented
asexuals to talk about how it's 100% possible to have
an intimate, romantic partner that you
don't have sexual attraction to.
So from a scientific perspective,
asexuality is really interesting.
In the film, they talk about a study debunking
the idea that asexuals have an underlying sexual trauma
or mental illness.
Just like some of the first studies
that were done on homosexuality, actually.
Everyone thought that they were crazy.
Turns out, asexuals aren't any different
from the average person.
Could it be that asexuality is an evolutionary response
to overpopulation?
Could it be hormonal?
I mean, we know that asexuality naturally
occurs in some animals in the wild.
So we're hoping to catch up with David Jay, himself, soon
and to talk about this end of the sexual spectrum.
So I'll keep you posted on that.
And if you want to watch (A)sexual,
you can watch it for free on Netflix by visiting
netflix.com/dnews.
And, hey, let me know what you think
I should watch next down in the comments below.
Thanks for joining me, friends.
I'll see you next time!