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| Through the heavy use of intertextual relay, the sex scene in San Junipero constructs a highly mediated and hyperreal reconstruction of sex itself. We cut from the commencement of the sexual act to a cliched shot of waves crashing on a shore to a slow zoom-out of Kelly and Yorkie in bed. Such a montage is highly familiar to audiences, who will recognise not only the symbolic implication of the montage, but also the unrealistic, idealist depiction of sex. To put it simply, sex in films and television shows feels far more 'real' than sex in real life, which is a symptom of postmodern existence... |
Romantic comedies typically end immediately after the first kiss between the characters, or a declaration of love. The film typically ends before any real intimacy, a relationship being shown etc. This reinforces the ideologically perspective that the run up to romance is more exciting, and being in a relationship is boring. Kids, mortgages, arguments, these things are all boring. True love is the start of a relationship. It is real, it is exciting, it is hyperreal. In the sex scene in San Junipero, we see a hyperreal representation of sex, romance and relationships.
The MES of the women’s costumes is hegemonically attractive and perfect. Costumes in TV shows are made to fit actors, altered by teams of costume designers and other people. This emphasises and symbolically constructs the idea that these women are both perfect and hegemonically attractive, however they are so completely different. By selecting attractive characters, not only do they appeal to Van Zoonen’s idea of the male gaze, they may also appeal to a smaller and more niche lesbian audience. These women reinforce and cultivate certain beauty standards. Finally, attractive people look good, are more relatable, and are easier to accept for the mainstream. This hegemonic expectation that everybody is beautiful is a classic example of hyperreality, the idea that the representation is more real than the thing being representation
The music that starts to play as K&Y start to kiss is somewhat atypical. The use of synthesiser is connotative of the sci-fi genre. This non-diegetic music anchors a sense of intensity to the emotions of these characters and smooths out the sense of awkwardness and voyeurism that comes from the audience’s intimate positioning. Furthermore, we cut instantly from the scene scene to the shot of waves crashing on a beach. Not only does this symbolise calmness and contentment, it also symbolises the orgasm. By not showing the characters having an orgasm, a hyperreal representation of sex is constructed, where the sex itself is not shown., Instead, a brief montage, including a jump cut of Yorkie’s jeans being unfastened, reinforces the intent to have sex, and also the romantic intensity of this sequence
Gender performativity - how our performance of gender affects the world around us
- Yorkie (discussing Kelly’s flat) - “It’s so big” - Kelly’s power is reinforced through her monetary capital. In Hollywood films, everyone is rich, and if they are not, they are marked by their poverty.
- Yorkie “Is this your mother?” (Kelly kisses Yorkie) - Kelly’s gender performance here is at odds with Yorkie’s here. Yorkie is asking in order to become more intimate with Kelly, yet Kelley shuts down the conversation by kissing Yorkie. Not only does this take advantage of Yorkie’s naivety, it also exemplifies Kelly’s gender performativity and her use of her own sexuality to achieve her own goals
- “You have to show me” - Yorkie here puts Kelley in control of the situation, and becomes submissive, partly due to her own inexperience.
- “You never slept with a woman before… that was fucking awesome” - the idea that Yorkie is instantly good at having sex constructs a hyperreal representation, and avoids all awareness and embarrassment that can be associated with losing one's virginity
- “When did you know you liked women?” - Yorkie asking Kelly about her sexuality may symbolise that she is scared of her own sexuality. Contradicting heteronormative assumptions of media products, Yorkie is clearly interrogating Kelly as she is confused about her sexuality and wishes to know more. Yorkie is clearly confused about her gender performance and what to do with it.
- “I like men too” - By responding like this, Kelly is clearly avoiding the question. Yorkie’s gender performativity, as a naive, innocent and young woman actually makes Kelley awkward and uncomfortable. This personal and intimate mode of address is completely at odds with Kelly’s own performance of gender.
- “I never acted on any of it. I never did anything. I was in love with him. I really was in love with him”
- “I’m passing though, before I leave, I’m going to have a good time” - Kelly clearly wants something else from this world than Yorkie, and uses her dominance and assertive nature in order to get it.
- The gender performativity that exists between these two characters is highly complex. Lesbians are often represented in a highly sexualised and even fetishistic way for the enjoyment of a heterosexual male audience.
This sequence contains a number of intertextual references to other films and television shows. These references are implicit and not explicit. The MES of the duvets hugging the bodies of the actors not only preserves their modesty, but also constructs a hyperreal representation of sex. This is highly common in romantic films. The pillow talk sequence, with the actors facing and chatting with each other, is also highly familiar. Kelley lives in a lovely house, on the beach, white expensive, freshly laundered sheets, the cliche of the waves crashing on the beach… all these elements combine to construct a hyperreal simulation, a representation of something that doesn’t actually exist, that will mean more to the audience than their own experiences of sex.
- Diegesis - in the world of the narrative
- Diegetic sound - sound that exists in the world of the narrative
- Non-diegetic sound - sound that exists outside the world of the narrative