Y tu mamá también (And your mother too, Mexican Spanish, 2001)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Interestingly, sex has always assigned the duty of maturing someone and smacking people with the profound answer of the reason for existence. Tinseltown impresses us that sex is the panacea to all our worldly problems. Of course, we all know that sex may also create problems of its own.
There was a time when sex was accorded a special status in society. Because of its mysterious nature, which was ill-understood by primitive men, sanctioning permission to indulge in this biological activity was complicated. Many requirements and rituals had to be fulfilled to obtain access.
As the societal restrictions became increasingly questioned with no logical explanation in sight, the biological act came to be treated as such, a biological process, not needing frills and pomp. Humans were merely continuing the spread of their seeds for the continuity of species.
Slowly sex lost its respected status in society. No more did ritual-sanctioning coital-related activities make any sense. Sex became a plaything and acquired many new roles - break-up sex, revenge sex, coming-of-age sex, casual one-night-stand sex and more; all deviated from its intended purpose, i.e. sowing the oats. Oats were sowed alright, but wildly.
But then, in modern society, sexuality becomes more complicated. Their premise is that love does not necessarily blossom between genders but within genders too. Gender is fluid, and a person picks and chooses the gender he feels at that moment; a male in the morning and a female in the evening, perhaps?
The boys obviously want to bed the sexually mature lady. After many ups and downs, quarrelling and soul searching, the summer turned out to be a season none of them could forget, especially the boys.
"Life is like the surf, so give yourself away like the sea." is a dialogue in the movie. Well, it is not so straightforward. If one has put his mind to surfing, he has to manoeuvre his body and posture in such a way that he stays afloat and not swept away by a massive wave and goes under. In strict terms, he is not merely giving himself away to the sea but skilfully using the buoyancy of the water and propulsive forces of the waves to his benefit. Similarly, man cannot simply surrender to his primal instincts but plan his life with his intellect.
