Broad City S2 Ep9 - The SSL Review

You all know I love Broad City. It's funny as shit. Also (and of much importance) of the 8 episodes I've SSL Reviewed so far in the first 3 seasons, all of them have a 5 out of 5 vulva rating except 1 (it has a 4 1/2 out of 5 vulva rating). This show is clearly, in my opinion, written by women who are willing to unabashedly speak the truths of their sexual experience. It's an Orgasm Equality approved show.

This episode is the first from Broad City, though, that I feel a bit conflicted about. It's really just 2 statements in this episode; one that speaks about orgasm and another that speaks about the g-spot (which is not technically eligible for SSL Review, but the overall scene, I believe is qualified).

SSL Review

First, though, a quick reminder about an SSL Review. It is a critique specifically of the depiction or discussion of female orgasm, female masturbation, or the clit. I'm particularly looking for the level of physical realism and for how the depiction/discussion fits into the larger cultural conversation about female sexuality and orgasm. Sometimes I comment on other aspects of the movie/TV show. Sometimes I don't.

Please feel free to check out all the SSL Reviewed movies HERE and the SSL reviews TV shows HERE.

The Scenes 

Simultaneous Orgasm

Ilana has met a woman named Adele and they are incredibly and immediately attracted to each other. She's walking down the street talking with Abbi about it, and she's telling her how amazing it all is. She says, "I had my first simultaneous orgasm last night, and ....and Adele and I only kissed. I think this is what love might feel like." After that they go on to discuss something else and the scene moves on.

G-spot Located

Later, we're in Ilana's room, on her bed, and Adele is going down on Ilana. She's almost to the point of orgasm. Her 'almost there' qualitites seem sensible enough. There's nothing over the top. She's focused, and clearly getting a lot of pleasure. And then her focus starts to go because she starts getting creeped out that Adele looks so much like her.

She looks down between her legs and sees herself instead of Adele. She freaks out and stops it. She tells Adele that they are super alike and it freaks her out, and Adele's all like, yeah - obviously, assuming that's why Ilana approached her in the first place. However, Ilana disagrees saying it's other things, but then realizes the truth, "Of course I'm attracted to myself. I masturbate in the mirror."

To which Adele says, "Me too! That's what's so hot about it. It's like hooking up with yourself."

Ilana is all like, I know, but...and she starts saying how she likes to be with a variety of people who are different than her, but Adele points out an upside to their sameness.

Adele tells her, "Nobody knows our bodies the way we do. Look. Your G-spot is riiiight Here."

We only see the two from their chest up, so we can't really see what is happening with Adele's hands, but it seems clear Adele reaches somewhere mysterious in her nether regions and touches her 'G-spot.' Ilana immediately makes an intentionally overly goofy sputtering face like she instantly orgasmsed in the most silly of ways, and then Ilana stops her by saying, "Too intense. Too intense. Oh my god. I lost my vision...for a second."

They move on to finally break up for good just seconds later when Ilana realizes Adele doesn't smoke weed.

My Thoughts

So, I'm of two minds about this.

The Negative

Kissing is not a realistic way to get an orgasm. That's obvious...so obvious you might even call it a joke. The overly silly and way too immediate O-face Ilana makes when Adele touches her G-spot might also be considered merely a joke. I'm gonna critique anyway, so please hang with me.

I think even with the idea that these are jokes, it's important to remember that women are said to orgasm from some crazy, unrealistic shit (have you ever read 50 Shades of Grey). Women need clitoral stimulation to orgasm just like men need penile stimulation to orgasm. That's just true, but that truth has never stopped anybody from also claiming anything and everything has made a woman come and has never stopped anybody from believing it either. Women can think themselves to orgasm? Okay. A woman can get ass-fucked to orgasm? Cool. A woman can have an orgasm from making art (this was actually claimed in the really popular non-fiction book Vagina by Naomi Wolf)? Why not. Women can get slapped, spanked, banged, tickled, kissed on the neck, or meditate her way to orgasm? Sure, I guess.

The truth is people claim and believe that kind of stuff about female orgasm all. the. time. It's easy to do because we as a people don't really understand what actually makes women orgasm (seriously, it's not that confusing though), so it's hard to be certain when claims about it are really, really off base (here's a clue, if the clitoral glans area isn't getting consistent stimulation, it's probably not a likely way to orgasm). That's where I'm at with these scenes.

Yeah, I'm pretty certain they're jokes, but they are also so close to the reality of common but ignorant talk about female orgasm, that they might not be jokes for the right reasons. Like, maybe the joke isn't that kissing is such an impossible way for someone to orgasm that claiming it is is funny because of how over-the-top ridiculoso it is. Maybe people see the very sexual Ilana as one of those 'special' women who is 'wired' differently and can come any ol' way, and the joke is really just about  how silly it is that her likeness to this woman makes their sexual connection so over the top.

Maybe when Adele found Ilana's G-spot, and the audience saw Ilana's crazy, silly expressions of ecstasy, the audience didn't see the humor in portraying the ridiculousness of the idea that there's this magic uber-orgasm spot somewhere secret in the vagina that only very special circumstances unlock. No, it wasn't the insanity of thinking of the female orgasm in such magical terms that was funny in that scene - the humor could have just come from Ilana's slap-stick facial expressions and the nature of how sexually connected Ilana and Adele are just because they look similar.

So, my negative side looks at these scenes and says that maybe for a lot of people these jokes reinforced kinda shitty assumptions people already have. Maybe after watching this, some woman out there, is thinking, 'man, I knew I was missing out on the BEST orgasms because my boyfriend can't find my G-spot! Even the Broad City gals know you should be working the g-spot to get your mind blown!' Maybe another woman out there is thinking, 'I wish I could come from a kiss like Ilana and all those other super sexual women. Orgasming is just so hard for me.'

The Positive Side

The other part of me has context for how the writers of this show think. They generally are not willy nilly about female sexuality. They put thought into it. So, I also totally see the intention for having Ilana talk about orgasms from kissing and the G-spot as comedy of the surreal. They chose things that are not real but also much loved and sought after, like a unicorn. The joke was proably that Ilana and Adele, because of their strange attraction of being so alike, have moved into a magical, almost delusional situation that includes such hallucinogenic delights as "The Orgasm From Kissing' and 'The G-Spot.'

(btw, the G-spot as an area in the vagina where the prostate area can be stimulated and maybe induce ejaculation in some women is a sensible thing. The G-spot as an area in the vagina that can be stimulated to orgasm, is not a thing. There is no spot in the vagina, in all of scientific literature, that has been observed to create orgasm when stimulated).

The Vulva Rating

So, I'd like to think the intention of this scene was what I described in my positive side. However, I think in reality these scenes, no matter the intention behind them, in some ways reinforce incorrect and confused ideas about how women orgasm. It highlights the already popular, yet incorrect idea of G-spot-as-uber-amazing-orgasm-button that probably brings to mind the idea that 'special women' have vaginal orgasms from it. I'm thinking about this way too hard. I know that, but I also know that people are too confused about lady-gasms and g-spots to weed out the silly from the insanely ridiculous from the realistic, so anytime the silly and the ridiculous are depicted, it might just further embed silly or ridiculous ideas instead of making fun of them. I'm not giving this a bad SSL Review, but I'm not giving it a particularly good one either, because I think there could be some damage done, even without intention.

I give this 3 1/2 vulvas

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