Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

(announcer speaking in foreign language)

(upbeat music)

- Believe me, you wouldn't want to be an air hostess.

I've never been pinched so often in my life.

I'm black and blue all over.

Just a minute, I'll show you.

- Oh, I'm half-convinced already.

But why did you decide to change your profession?

- I'm not really certain.

Of course, it's true that my old life

was dreadfully exhausting, but I always enjoyed myself.

- Well, they say a change is as good as a rest.

Do you agree?

- Yes, that's quite true.

And I believe one should be prepared

to face new experiences whenever destiny offers them.

- So this is just a passing fancy.

- Everything's a passing fancy, you know.

The important thing is for an experience

to have a creative value.

- Couldn't too much experience damage

your creative capacity?

- No, I think it gets deeper and wider.

- Oh, that certainly makes sense. (chuckles)

- (chuckles) I hope you're thinking

of the same kind of experience as I am.

- But surely the range that a nightclub has to offer

is very limited, isn't it?

- On the contrary, it's vast.

You see, for example,

when a striptease artiste is undressing physically,

she's making the spectator undress morally.

The situation is the opposite of what everyone thinks.

It's not the girl on the stage

who's the degrading spectacle, it's the audience.

Wouldn't you agree?

- That's a very interesting theory.

Can you clarify it?

- Do you really not understand?

- Well, the audience pays for their entertainment, after all.

Don't you think they're entitled to it?

- Not all of them, just some.

You see, there's a violent, sadistic element in many

of the spectators that a striptease artiste is

perfectly entitled to punish with her body...

- Sort of law of the jungle, right here in the city.

Is that it? - The two masochists said,

"If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

But I can give you a better example from my travels.

(Chinese-like music)

Do you know Hong Kong?

I've just come from there.

It's a crazy city.

The British still play it being colonialists,

and the Chinese communists play it being capitalists.

And women of all races play even stranger games.

And if they don't give you a big hand,

they may well give you the clap.

But not my friend Susie Atwell.

Have you heard of her?

She's famous in the Far East.

She works in a ping pong club.

- [Interviewer] They don't seem very good players to me.

- [Interviewee] Oh, they're not.

They're just a pretext to bring on Suzy's act.

(upbeat music)

(funky, upbeat music)

You can see why this club is known

as the ping pong paradise.

- [Interviewer] You said it.

But what will happen if they decide to take up basketball?

(both laugh) (music continues)

Times have changed.

So have the audiences.

I'll try to explain what's happened.

A striptease isn't enough for the audiences nowadays.

They want something more violent.

In order to make an impression today,

the artiste has to take advantage of the oldest trick

in the book: exploiting her sex.

- Thank you.

- And here's to it. - You said it.

- In Greek comedies,

the actors used to wear high boots and masks

and long cloaks and everything, but everything

was exaggerated to emphasize the sexual aspect.

- Aren't you exaggerating right now?

- And what about their tragedies?

They're full of rape, incest,

and every kind of adultery, especially with animals.

And after the Greeks, what next?

More sex. The Bible is full of it.

Have you ever read anything as sexy

as the Song of Solomon, or the story of Herod and Salome,

or David and Jonathan, or the Queen of Sheba?

And don't forget the woman taken into adultery. (chuckles)

Every writer uses sex.

Chaucer and Shakespeare and all the great poets

of the Restoration.

Not to mention Byron, Shelley and Keats.

Today, people want it more direct,

but the underlying motive is the same.

(upbeat, percussive music) (wind blowing)

Even the religious ceremonies of ancient peoples

in all times have a sexual background.

(upbeat music) (wind whooshing)

(funky music)

Ancient rites have always been danced

in what people would call an outrageously sensual way.

My friend Jean Wawal is in Dallas, Texas, right now,

performing an elaborate tribal dance of the Cherokee Indians

with a particularly interesting symbol:

the wahkunsa, traditional Cherokee boots.

(upbeat music continues)

The audience doesn't realize

that the fur boots are meant to tease.

They're the way the artiste wields her power

over the public.

She strips down to her booties but leaves them on,

and the insatiable unconscious curiosity

of the spectators focuses on her feet,

the only thing they can't see.

(exciting music)

(audience clapping)

What I want to say is that there's always an element

of ritual in every performance that is

in any way connected with the representations of sex.

And this is because the sex act itself follows

a precise ritualistic pattern, a ritual with its roots lost

in the dawn of time, yet always the same,

although the forms vary as we all realize,

if we think of our personal behavior.

Let me give you a common example.

(upbeat music) (wind whooshing)

A huge seaside city, famous for the variety of fun and games

it can provide, among which are these floating love-nests,

conceived, constructed, marketed,

and manned for no other purpose.

And here, not even the act of seduction can escape the sense

of a final ritual, which is almost identical

with the one followed by our ancient forebears, the apes.

(upbeat music)

The female finds some subtle way to indicate

her availability, thus drawing the attention

of the male, whose mind may temporarily be on other things.

The male begins to carry out the preliminary rites:

the delousing, in the case of monkeys, that is.

We have more refined techniques,

even if they're all the same in the end.

And we soon reach the final stage,

the same for mice or monkeys or men.

(upbeat music)

Now, let's get back to show business and its sensual

implications, which are always a constant part of it,

which is only logical, if we think of it as a fantasy

representation of reality with sex as a necessary component.

(upbeat music)

The so-called classical specialty of the Middle East,

of, say, Damascus or Istanbul or Cairo,

is the famous belly dance.

(exciting music)

Why they call it the belly dance, I can't imagine.

The belly is only part of it.

The dancer writhes and wiggles and shakes and twists,

and attention focuses less on her belly than on her boobs.

One of the greatest performers

of this dance is my friend, Aisha.

(upbeat music)

Aisha is very original

because she has brought a modern sexy quality to a dance

which, even though it is based on fundamental sexual motifs,

is in its original form extremely chaste.

The result is a much higher level of excitement,

sexual excitement, that is, and therefore a greater degree

of aggression towards the audience.

(upbeat music)

Did you see what I mean?

- [Interviewer] Now I understand what you said

about the artiste undressing physically,

but stripping the spectators bare mentally.

(upbeat music)

I find this reaction astonishing.

You mean...

Because they're homosexual? - Right!

- Don't forget

that this dance is a spiritual exaltation of the ass.

- That makes hash of the theory of contrasting folds.

- No, no, there are no absolute values in nature,

female or male.

- I think this interview is turning

into some kind of anthropology lesson.

- (indistinct)

I was just trying to outline the consequences

of my theory on the effect of sensual arousal

as the essentially intellectual,

which allows the artiste to assert her influence

on the public, whatever their specific sexual inclinations

happen to be.

- Could you give us a different example?

- Of course. You only have to take a look

at Northern Europe, at the so-called vice capitals.

(upbeat music)

(gentle guitar music)

(slow, intense music)

The Nordic races, with their deep-seated fear

of sex instilled by religious traditions

and their liberal behavior resulting

from political choice based on ancestral individualism,

are particularly subject to an extremely cerebral type

of stimulation.

And an essential element in this excitability

is the contrast of the normal and the abnormal.

- [Interviewer] Then according to you,

they're not voyeurs but philosophers.

- [Interviewee] Call them what you like, but remember

that there is nothing stupider than feeling superior

to someone who behaves differently just because he does so.

(upbeat music)

You must have noticed that the most excited spectators

were the women, the very ones who ought to have been disgusted.

- Perhaps their curiosity was aroused.

- No, curiosity has nothing whatsoever to do with it,

even though curiosity is often given

as the motive for carrying out certain experiments

on sexual activities and behaviorism.

- Then you think that what happens in an elegant nightclub

could also happen in a sideshow tent.

- Well, I guess it could

with inevitable variations, of course.

- A more rough and ready show, but essentially the same.

- Yes, one of the components of this show

would naturally be more in evidence.

Which one?

The violence would appear in a much less subtle form.

(upbeat music)

(speaking in foreign language)

(upbeat music)

- In a country where the customs are so free and easy,

the same goes for costumes.

Bras and panties have gone the way of the hoop skirt,

and if a show is going to be exciting,

it has to come on strong.

(upbeat music)

(speaking in foreign language)

(audience clapping)

- [Interviewer] But why the mud?

- [Interviewee] It's another sensual element.

Sadomasochistic, in this case.

It satisfies the unconscious desire

in everyone to dominate our partners up to the point

of defiling them.

(upbeat music) (audience shouting)

(upbeat rock music)

To state it in mathematical terms,

even if you alter the order of the factors,

the product remains identical.

Isn't that so?

- Yes, but the factors are always women.

- My most famous number was, to all outward appearances,

a tribute to male beauty in the sense of classical statuary

reproduced in living flesh.

But below the surface, lay the usual sadomasochistic theme:

the humiliation of the male, to whose outward appearance

there is hardly a corresponding degree of, shall we say,

efficiency, and humiliation for the female, who with

useless determination, attempts to stimulate this efficiency

but in vain.

She offers herself to him in every possible way.

And what does he do? Nothing.

She dances, she writhes, she grows insistent.

And what does he do?

- [Interviewer] He's a hard case.

I don't know if "hard" is the right word.

(both laughing)

(upbeat music)

Oh, what's happening?

Is everything there?

All right, so long.

Oh, I suppose you still have a lot of questions to ask me.

- When you were performing that number,

didn't you feel humiliated?

- Not in the slightest.

You see, I know that if I really tried,

I could get a rise out of a piece of cold macaroni.

We just wanted to give a little comfort

to anyone who can't get it up.

Let's hear more about violence, can we?

- The more skillful the artiste,

the greater the sensation she arouses.

- But art means communication.

- Of course, it does.

- Isn't there a contradiction in what you're saying?

- Do you think so?

I'll try and explain to you.

You see, beauty doesn't really arouse any emotions.

- I don't agree.

- No, it's true.

In other words, while beauty

in itself can undoubtedly arouse a variety of sensations of

a certain interest, it fails to excite

the same profound reactions

that are the essential object of artistic expressions.

- Are violent sensations indispensable?

- Oh, I think they're underlying everything,

the whole basis.

Of course, a beautiful sight can also produce

certain agreeable reactions.

(upbeat music)

Take a closer look and you'll see this is just, well,

to put it frankly, it's lifeless.

It just doesn't turn you on.

Like those floor shows they tell you are really wild.

Then you find out they're about as wild as life

in a monastery, or less.

(upbeat music)

(dancers singing in foreign language)

Performances of this type belong to the ancient history

of sex shows by now, just as Paris has become

the world capital of old-fashioned conformity.

The modern spectator demands something different.

And it is up to us in our roles as artistes and performers

to satisfy this.

I'm always ready to do my duty.

That's what it means to be a professional.

(smooth, lounge-y music)

For one day only,

Omar, the world's greatest lover.

This is the kind of show that will arouse today's audiences.

He's a rather brutal lover.

A great lover can't be anything else.

He doesn't have time to waste on love-play.

(music continues)

(music builds in intensity)

- [Interviewer] I think that's cheating.

It means the great lover is no better

than the living statue.

- [Interviewee] Well, you see, he needs to be provoked by

some sort of insult to his professional dignity.

(music continues)

(audience clapping)

The show is over. The performance is finished, and behold

the happy couple who will soon be enjoying

its liberating effects in the comfort of their own bed.

And I'm sure they're not the only ones

who are feeling that way.

There must be many of you out there who have noticed

the liberating effects of Omar's performance.

It's a kind of catharsis in which the artist functions more

successfully than any doctor or psychologist, to free us

from those innumerable sexual taboos, which centuries

of sexual fear have created between men and women.

These taboos have been branded as being beyond hope

of redemption.

Practically all sexual manifestations, to the point where

we connect the concept of punishment

with that of sexual gratification.

Famous spoilsports like Luther and Calvin spread this

ridiculous sense of guilt through half the peoples

of central Europe, favoring the birth of sadism

and masochism.

It is due to them that certain strange manifestations

of sexual activity originated in the shadows

of Gothic spires.

(upbeat music)

(whip thudding) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

One good turn deserves another, apparently.

Naturally, it's a matter of sensual equality,

but he gets an added refined touch.

(speaking foreign language) The saying goes.

"We're born in excrement, and we often die in it, too."

But some people like to live in it and to love in it.

- [Interviewer] How awful.

- [Interviewee] It's a question of taste.

And he seems to like the taste.

I suppose there are gourmets in this field,

just like the ones who judge meat by the way an animal

was fed.

Who knows what the poor girl had to eat.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

And now the cycle is complete. German efficiency, naturally.

(upbeat music)

(psychedelic music)

And since the German soul is fundamentally romantic,

this is the joyful climax.

Obviously, it's more exciting to be whipped by a gladiator

in a helmet than by a bookkeeper with adenoids.

(upbeat music)

(psychedelic music)

So much for the romantic soul.

Now let's turn to something classic.

(upbeat music)

The island of Delos, seat of the Attic confederation

four centuries BC, has a regular forest

of objects like this. Made of marble, naturally,

which lends its own special charm.

Here we have to manage with expanded polystyrene.

Classical scholars see these monuments

as symbols of fertility and abundance.

To me, they just symbolize the secret dreams of men

and women.

You know, Freud wrote a whole book on penis envy.

(upbeat music)

It's a cycle that's being constantly repeated over

and over again in the history of humanity.

After every period of stern sexual repression,

there is a period of complete sexual freedom.

- Akind of historical about-face, hmm?

- Yes, you could call it that.

(both laughs)

In fact, that's a very good way

of describing the phenomenon.

- So at the present time, we're in a period when

the time is telling. - That's very obvious.

(upbeat music)

Look at the Americans.

They still haven't gotten away

from the Pilgrim Fathers Puritanism, and they suffer for it.

So at home they're puritans,

but on vacation they let it all hang loose.

- [Interviewer] They don't look all that loose to me.

The only thing they seem to be able to show is

that Americans have no sense of the ridiculous.

- [Interviewee] They do the best they can.

Old ladies dance with Black men for a thrill,

and retired bank clerks eye the native girls

because that's all they're capable of.

And for people married to typewriters and adding machines,

that's not bad. (both laughs)

(upbeat music)

(dancers chanting)

The Spanish, on the other hand, reacted

to the counter-Reformation and to dictatorship

by demystifying their traditional heroes.

(upbeat music)

The way Zorro treated the Governor of California

was slightly different.

But nowadays, this is more satisfying,

and who wouldn't prefer it?

A modern day duel for young and old.

(upbeat music)

(audience clapping)

The duel has finished, as all duels should, in a dead heat.

Both of them are winners.

I found this dress in Bombay.

Do you like it? - It's sexy.

Let me zip you up. There.

I must say it looks much better on you than on me.

Maybe it's the way we contrast.

- Thank you. - Look.

- Well, let's say I'm more interested in your theory

about demystification.

- Demystification isn't the right word.

The sexual symbol is pure--

- Like Snow White.

- And the Seven Dwarves, only given the hypocrisy

of the times, that symbol was well-hidden.

Nowadays, it's just a matter of bringing it out

into the open.

It's more a question of clarification than demystification.

- Sexual symbolism is present day terminology.

- We need only to be more explicit.

(upbeat music)

Paris. Paris, France. My friend Renee

was working there, wildly successful

with her version of "Swan Lake."

No need to remind you

that the swan has always been a sexual symbol,

but this is really something more explicit.

Renee leaves out nothing in her own interpretation of

the beauty and the beast.

(upbeat music)

(audience clapping)

(exciting music)

(audience clapping)

Explicit. I think that's the word for it.

And as you can see, the members of the audience seem happy

to find something explicit.

(upbeat music)

- What you mean is there's a one-way interpretation

for everything.

Yes, it seems obvious to me. Any literary work,

no matter how innocent it seems,

conceals profound and complex sexual symbolism,

even when it's not evident at first sight.

- You mean including the Constitution of the United States?

- Of course, but I'm certainly not going to comment

on that into a tape recorder.

(both laughing)

(upbeat music)

Well, I mean, anyway,

the USA is still very backward in this sector.

Behind the frenzied facade of what passes for the capital

of vice, Las Vegas, there lurks a profound insecurity

handed down from Puritans and Calvinists.

Like this party.

It's trying to be a frenzied orgy, a la punk chic.

But all it is is punk shit,

with its demented fakes that are trying to be some kind

of twisted transsexual Dracula,

or historical symbols

like La Belle Epoque.

(upbeat music)

(exciting music)

- In one final phrase, could you sum up everything

we've been into so far?

- Oh, yes, in the best, best way.

(breezy music)

Actually, the only final comment is so very simple.

Like everyone else, we've had our share of provocation,

and we've had to go along with it.

I really don't think there's anything else to say.

- [Interviewer] No?

- Unless you want me to state the obvious,

but some people certainly won't approve.

But that can't bother us.

- You mean we're victims of our own fate.

- The hypocrites will say that and worse,

but I'll stick to the opinion that any way

of making love is beautiful and true.

(upbeat music)

THE FILMING WITH AJITA WILSON WAS SHOT

AT THE HOLIDAY INN HOTEL OF FIUMICINO ROME