Masters of Sex (first episode is available on Youtube) is a new hour-long drama about William Masters and Virginia Johnson, sexual researchers in the nineteen-fifties. Starring Michael Sheen and the fabulous Lizzy Caplan, and airing on Showtime, this show has the potential to broach the subject of sex with the style of Mad Men and the explicitness of Talk Sex with Sue Johanson.
The pilot opens at a dinner honoring Masters for his work as a fertility doctor, everyone in fancy attire. But not to worry, within three minutes we’re in a seedy motel room where a prostitute is servicing a john, while Masters observes from the closet, using his clipboard to take notes, and a stopwatch. During his debrief with the prostitute, he learns the baffling fact that she fakes her orgasms, often. She thinks he’ll need to recruit a female research partner if he hopes to gain any insight into the truths of sex. And thus the premise of the show is born.
Masters is a cold scientist with an undeniable God complex, and more arrogance than any other TV doctor, or at least on par. His clinical approach to the subject of sex is so anesthetized he cannot seem to understand the emotional or psychological implications of sex, only interested in the physical changes the human body undergoes while experiencing sexual stimulation. His viewpoint as a scientist leaves him woefully ignorant of the true nature of his study, asking the bland questions while being supplied with fascinating answers. Virginia, a lounge singer turned secretary, and a single mother, serves as an essential counterpoint to his detached attitude. Not possessing the scientific background of Masters, but studying at the college attached to the hospital, she brings a more grounded, humane touch to his work, treating his patients as people, while also developing a wonderful rapport with his wife.
After a quick introduction to Dr. Haas, a co-worker, we follow Masters home to meet Libby, his wife, and catch a glimpse of this bizarre relationship, with his nickname of ‘daddy’ and the most depressing act of sexual congress in the entire episode. With the clinical coldness of a laboratory experiment, Masters joins his wife on her single bed, situated next to his single bed separated by a night table, and, laying back to front, proceeds to have sex at her, which is the only way I can think of describing it. One of those moments where a single tear rolls down an actress’s face.
In contrast, Virginia, more open than her associate and coming from two failed marriages, arrives home from her date with Dr. Haas explaining that she looks forward to their friendship. Although friendship doesn’t exclude kissing, oral sex, or actual intercourse, just love. And while this stance may be progressive, her friend certainly has difficulty understanding the concept. Over the course of the episode, Haas’ increasing attachment leads to physical violence when Virginia refuses his emotional advances. And while he slaps her across the face for her perceived insolence, when she socks him back in the nose, a righteous wave of vindication washes over the viewer.
The rest of the episode develops the premise, a pilot requirement, but never feels overly explanatory. Masters and Johnson recruit men and women to participate anonymously in a study of sex, while also working to have the project approved by the hospital. Here we find the best one-liner of the episode when Virginia reassures a female test subject undergoing stimulation while the University Provost observes. “He’s not watching you, he’s watching science.”
The frank treatment of the subject is refreshing. Of course, I don’t know the specifics of sexual politics in the nineteen-fifties, having missed the gender studies courses in college, but I think the complexity with which these characters approach sex offers a depth of exploration. The strict social constructs surrounding sex in this period beg for a lengthy examination, and have the potential to highlight the liberation women of this time can grasp, a platform for past and current feminism. Virginia’s progressive stance on sexuality is a fascinating inversion of the usual male female sexual dichotomy, placing her in this feminist camp, no matter how fervently women avoid that word today. While she attempts to separate sex and love, the man she’s enjoying sees them as inseparable, much the opposite of today’s thinking. Women aren’t perceived as the ones seeking friends with benefits, while young men view the concept as the holy grail or a unicorn. We have women unfulfilled, delusional men, and a subject no one feels comfortable discussing. Perfect television fodder. Since the story is based on historical events, I’m curious how accurate a telling we’ll receive, but with such great acting, I think I’ll give this show a handful of episodes before running to the possible spoilers of actual history.
The likeness of this pilot to previous American period dramas is immediately apparent. I suppose to TV producers, the fifties and sixties in America are as rich with content as the Victorian era across the pond. After the success of Mad Men, networks tried to capitalize on the same style of show, i.e. The Playboy Club and Pan Am, with terrible results. Granted, those shows failed more because their attempt was to embrace the style of the period, rather than character driven stories surrounded by a beautifully detailed world. Luckily, the creators of Masters of Sex don’t seem as interested in relishing the period as these other shows, simply embracing the environment in which the story is set. The focus revolves more around concepts of sex and the emotional mindset of America at that time, rather than well-tailored suits and furniture your grandparents owned.
Critical Dan 