Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson in Showtime's Masters of Sex
Sex and expressions of sexuality are aspects of American culture and society that are both ever-present and that usually make people uncomfortable. In almost all forms of advertising, entertainment, fashion, technology, etc., the allure of sexual temptation is a draw that piques the interest of the public. On the other hand, at the heart of many of the most contentious social issues are perceptions of sexuality and its effects, whether it be abortion, marriage equality, education curriculum or objectification. So we buy things based on the sex appeal of advertisements and our technology is based around varying degrees of porn procurement, and yet we're still a culture that has a hard time having open and honest discussions about the intricacies of carnal knowledge.
Similar to AMC's Mad Men, Showtime's Masters of Sex uses a 1950s America setting to show how different some things are to the present-day and how some issues seem to be around no matter the time period. Developed by Michelle Ashford and based on Thomas Maier's biography Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love, the series uses a fictionalized account of the events surrounding the Masters and Johnson research to expound on sexism, lust, infidelity, love and all the things that make for a good soap opera.
Masters of Sex has recently returned for its second season and focused on trying to define what exactly is the nature of the relationship between Masters and Johnson (played by Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan). And that ambiguity and inability at self-assessment is mirrored in all the other characters and relationships, all the while conducting scientific experiments based on accuracy and honesty about sex.
“What's a fuck when what I want is love?” ―Henry Miller
There's a great quote from the Civil Rights era that I wish I could remember exactly. But to paraphrase it, those who hold others back are not only destructive to people they see as less than or different, but to themselves. A piece of the person is always going to be down in the dirt, worrying about keeping someone down, rather than rising to heights that may be possible. That idea and notion not only applies to bigotry about race, but also to views about homosexuality and perceptions of femininity. If someone spends their life worrying what others think, or about what a woman can do with her own body, or that two guys might enjoy oral sex with each other, they probably aren't enjoying things in their own life.
Masters of Sex argues that one's ability to truly enjoy pleasure, whether in sex, work or whatever, is dependent on how comfortable people are in their own skin and to their surroundings. This may not hold true for absolutely everyone, but the best sex is not always about being with the hottest person. It's many times about being with someone attractive whom you feel comfortable with and can be honest with about desires and fantasies. But many hold themselves down through denial and self-deception. And with sex, there are societal barriers that make honesty costly, especially in the 1950s at Washington University Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. While many of these issues are still around in one form or another, it was still a time when options for women were largely limited and homosexuality would still be considered a “mental disorder” by the American Psychiatric Association for another two decades.
From Alan Sepinwall at Hitfix:
If Masters (Michael Sheen) and Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) need more time to figure out what they're doing, "Masters of Sex" certainly does not. It was one of TV's very best dramas a year ago, and in many ways the start of season 2 suggests it's gotten even better.
The first season ended with both disaster and epiphany, as an early version of the famous Masters and Johnson study was greeted with horrified indignation by Masters' medical colleagues, but also with the suddenly-unemployed Dr. Masters finally admitting that his desire to sleep with Mrs. Johnson had little to do with contributing to the study and a whole lot to do with his emotional feelings for his adventurous, independent, sexy, whip-smart partner.
This was a big moment. Given that "Masters" creator Michelle Ashford has a whole lot of chronological ground to cover just to get from the late '50s of season 1 to the 1966 publication of Masters and Johnson's book, she could have easily pulled a "Mad Men" and bounced forward significantly in time, only revealing later what happened in the immediate aftermath of Master's declaration to Johnson. But the new season only jumps ahead a small amount — enough time for various characters' situations to have advanced, but not so much that we miss all of the real emotional tumult from the events of last year.
Since reading either William Masters or Virginia Johnson's Wikipedia pages could be considered spoiler territory, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to reference any specific events in Masters or Johnson's life beyond where the story is currently at. However, if people want to talk about either person's later life in the comments, I have no problem with it.
- The unknown factor: The second season has Masters and Johnson having sex without wires. Instead of fucking in the name of science, everything about their sexual encounters has the trappings of an affair, but both characters are still hiding the sex behind their work. In all of their research, there's been one factor they've been unable to control for and it's love. Yes, the nuts and bolts of sex are hormonal and biological. But the quality of what most people consider to be "love" is not exactly quantifiable or for that matter logical. The easiest choice for Virginia would have been to accept Ethan's (Nicholas D’Agosto) proposal, even if Vivian (Rose McIver) would have clawed her eyes out. It would offer financial security and allow her to pursue her own degree in medicine. But she cares about Bill and tied her fortunes to his. But their current situation has Masters and Johnson separated professionally. Bill is at a new hospital, with a new secretary Barbara (Breaking Bad's Betsy Brandt). It's also interesting to think about Virginia Johnson's situation in present-day terms. The relationship between her and William Masters would be a sexual-harassment case nightmare.
- Bedside manner: It's interesting to note that Dr. Masters is a lot better dealing with the feelings of his patients than the feelings of the people he's supposed to care about in his life. And since the continuation of Dr. Masters' research is now at the mercy of a wealthy benefactor (Greg Grunberg), he now has to placate the extortion-like demands of that benefactor's wife, Betty Moretti (Annaleigh Ashford), and her sham fertility treatments. But even with all of his faults (and he has many), there's a sense of decency to Bill and a form of ethics to his work.
- The other woman: The day his wife Libby (Caitlin FitzGerald) gave birth to his son, Bill was confessing his feelings to Ginny. Libby has elements of January Jones' Betty Draper, especially in the latest episode where her passive aggression could be cut with a knife. But the series has defined Libby as someone who largely knows what she wants and can acknowledge when she's wrong, but flawed in a significant way.
- Fifteen percent of married couples have not had sex with their spouse in the last six months to one year, and about 75 percent of all women never reach orgasm from intercourse alone: The marriage between Margaret Scully (Allison Janney) and Barton Scully (Beau Bridges) continues to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the series. Both Bridges and Janney, along with Lizzy Caplan, were nominated for Emmys for their season one performances. Barton is a closeted gay man who had been seeing prostitutes outside his marriage, and Margaret has her own affair to find some fulfillment. The dysfunction of the situation continues to compound. Not only does Margaret refuse to let her husband fantasize about men when he tries to have sex with her, but Barton reaches a place where he attempts suicide. And all of that has led to Barton attempting to "cure" himself with the 1950s version of aversion/conversion therapy. But both characters are torturing themselves in a situation that makes neither happy because they want to conform to something that isn't true.
- Sometimes you don't want to know: Julianne Nicholson's Dr. Lillian DePaul served an interesting role during the first season, where she's an antagonist towards Virginia because she falsely believe Virginia's position is based on sex and not talent. But she was also a professional female character who's experiencing many of the same prejudices as Ginny. And the reveal that her championing of the pap smear is based on her own cervical cancer softened the character as she became more respectful to Virginia. And Lillian and Ginny's relationship hit an interesting position in the latest episode.
Dr. William Masters (Michael Sheen) urges his teenage patient Rose Palmateer (Ana Walczak) to forgo a sterilization procedure
From Gwen Ihnat at the
A.V. Club:
Gini and Lillian are also in a power play: First Gini forces Lillian to film a public service announcement about pap smears that she doesn’t want to do, then drags her to the oncologist to confirm what Lillian already knows: Her cancer is metastasized and terminal. Gini, like Bill, aims to uncover the truth, but what about when that’s not the best option? Gini is so ambitious—driven, we find out this week, by a mother who had big dreams for both of them—that Lillian tells her, “Nothing is ever big enough for you; your eye is always on some other prize.” When Lillian receives the devastating diagnosis, Gini still wants to fight (“What are our options?”), but Lillian suspects an effort will be futile, adding, “Virginia, what good did this do?”
The problem with thinking we know better than other people how to fix their lives is that we really don’t; we have no idea what’s actually going through their minds. Lillian arguably would have been better off without Gini’s interference. Rose’s mother’s solution to her daughter’s problem would have possibly devastated the girl years later if she wanted to become a mother herself. Coral’s expert swaddling helped the baby, but hurt her employer, and all Libby’s commentary did was to hurt her back in return ... The only person who receives any actual valuable advice is Rose, from two unlikely sources: Masters and Betty. (Betty is as shocked as anyone: “He said something useful?”) Bill talks Rose out of her hysterectomy and offers her an IUD instead, while Betty tells Rose about her similar childhood, with a mother who kept calling her a tramp until she stuck up for herself.
But I believe Masters’ offscreen advice is the winner here. Rose’s life changes when he tells her: “You’re not your worst part.” None of us are, even when we’re insultingly condescending to our new nanny, or sleep with our own sister-in-law, or force our friend into a discovery she didn’t want. These kinds of character explorations are the most valuable parts of Masters Of Sex, showing interiors that go even further than sexual desire.