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A Small Circle of Friends
Reviewed by Sensuous Sadie
SensuousSadie@aol.com
www.sensuoussadie.com
Synopsis from Netflix: Three
friends develop a tight bond during the turbulent 1960s in this drama.
Harvard students Jessica (Karen Allen), Leo (Brad Davis) and Nick
(Jameson Parker) grow close as they undergo personal metamorphoses, but
the friendship is jeopardized when both men fall in love with Jessica.
After Leo is drafted, Jessica makes the surprising decision that the
threesome should move in together.
In 1981, the summer before I would graduate from high school, I watched
an interesting film on television that had come out the year before. I
was about 17 at the time, and had lost my virginity two years before so
I wasn’t exactly innocent, but then I certainly wasn’t the gal I am now
either. It was this movie: A Small Circle of Friends, a film
destined to be a loss-leader for the rest of its natural life. It took
me 25 years to discover the title and rent it. I did that by remembering
the actress Karen Allen although I didn’t know her name at the time, and
who of course is now in her mid-life as an actress. Remember that in
those days there were no VCRs, not to mention places like Netflix to
rent DVDs.
You might wonder why I would remember a film for 25 years that on the
surface is simply a coming of age film for three college students in the
turbulent 1960’s. Directed by Rob Cohen (not the Cohen Brothers of
Fargo Fame) who directed well-known movies such as Dragonheart and
television series like Miami Vice, this film holds up well with
excellent pacing and strong characters. You will enjoy it for the film
itself even if it didn’t have anything to do with alternative
lifestyles.
But here’s the really interesting part, hidden in this film are some
very subversive ideas – none of which are spoken of overtly. FILM
SPOILER AHEAD – so be forewarned that I’m going to give some stuff away
here in order to get you to rent this movie.
It’s a two-hour movie, and in the very last half hour, something very
unusual occurs. During the movie – along with lots of other drama –
these two men Leo and Nick have been the closest of friends over many
years; we know they love each other deeply. Both have also loved their
dear friend Jessica at different times and the usual love travails
occur. At the end, instead of the usual ending we’d expect with one
of them winning Jessica’s love, Jessica invites them both to the bedroom
with her. We could easily take this – if we wished to – as just a
threesome where both of them fuck her brains out, but don’t touch each
other. But director Rob Cohen made no such suggestion of this sort,
which would have been the easy way out. In fact, the situation is so
open to interpretation that I could quite easily believe that our two
men made love as well. Later, all three move in together, which further
solidifies my belief that this film is an example – a very quiet example
– of polyamory.
This is polyamory as I understand it to be – people who love more than
one person and share that together. As I thought more about this film, I
was astounded that this had been slipped in at the end and no one really
noticed it. Remember that in 1980 there were nearly no GLBT films, and
this was the start of the AIDS epidemic; not a time when gay rights were
at their peak.
I salute Rob Cohen for his remarkable open mindedness and courage in
creating a film which included a genuinely positive portrayal of
polyamory.
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Sensuous Sadie is the author of Spiritual Transformation through
BDSM; Stories and Submissions from Fellow Travelers. Read an excerpt
and more at Sadie's Kinky Goodies
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/sadieskinkygoodies.htm. She is the
founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM
group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for
reprinting can be addressed to her at
SensuousSadie@aol.com or
visit her website at
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/. Sadie believes the universe is
abundant, and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance,
so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.
Copyright 2008 Sadie Sez Publications
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