Alexander Wolff
Pauwen en reigers[Cinematographer: Geert Lautenschutz]
Peacocks and Herons is a half-hour comedic series which aired on Dutch television in the late aughts.
As far as what its about: search me (There’s nothing about it in English.)
I don’t make a habit of posting shit I know fuck all about but this not only has a nice Jeff Cronenweth vibe, it represents something of which there should be a lot more: depictions of male nudity in visual culture.
Granted I haven’t seen a single episode Peacocks and Herons, it could be packed with graphic depictions of female bodied nudity. But I would still give kudos to the Dutch.
Why kudos? Unfortunately we haven’t made very much progress in the more than thirty years since the instance of full-frontal male nudity in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was eight-sixed due to erect genitalia being perceived as ‘aggressive’ by the MPAA censors.
Meanwhile for every scene of male bodied nudity managing to somehow slip through unchallenged, tens of thousands of instances of female bodied nudity flood in unchecked. A proliferation which pushes the boundaries of what is considered edgy/graphic. To the point where the majority of instances of female bodied nudity carry an instinctive and compelling correlation to sexual activity.
I’m with Blake on his assertion that “the naked woman’s body is a portion of eternity to great for they eye of man.” But the glaring double standard and inequality it facilitates piss me right the fuck right off.
We need more Micheal Fassbender in Shame, more Alexander Skarsgård, more Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, more Peacocks and Herons.
