Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Film / Shortbus

Go To

1[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shortbus_6501.jpg]]
2
3''Shortbus'' is a 2006 film made by Creator/JohnCameronMitchell, the guy behind ''Theatre/{{Hedwig And The Angry Inch}}''. [[ExplicitContent It is known primarily for its scenes of unsimulated sex]].
4
5[[BigApplesauce Set in New York City]], the movie [[TwoLinesNoWaiting follows two occasionally intersecting narratives]]. The first revolves around Sofia, a [[{{Irony}} sex therapist who has never achieved orgasm]] in her life, and the strain it puts on her marriage. After attending the [[CoolestClubEver Studio 54-esque club Shortbus]], Sofia befriends professional dominatrix Severin, who tries to help her finally find orgasm.
6
7The second revolves around James, an amateur filmmaker and former [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold hustler]] who is [[LonersAreFreaks morose and introverted]]. He and his boyfriend, Jamie, begin an open relationship with a third man, while a fourth, named Caleb, [[StalkerWithACrush stalks James from his apartment one block over]]. The film James has been working on turns out to have an unpleasant surprise.
8
9While ''Shortbus'' has largely been overshadowed by ''[[Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch Hedwig]]'', it remains a quirky and off-beat flick with its own merits. If nothing else, [[ItsNotPornItsArt it has lots and lots of sex in it]].
10
11----
12!!This work contains the following examples:
13* {{Anorgasmia}}: Sofia is a sex therapist who has never achieved orgasm in her life.
14%%* BigBlackout
15* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Not actually discussed, but there can't be a single penis seen in the film less than seven inches long (6 1/2 minimum).
16%%* BrainsAndBondage: Severin.
17* TheCameo: Many, mostly of New York artists, musicians, and writers, and John Cameron Mitchell himself.
18* EasilyForgiven: Everyone towards everyone.
19* EmbarrassingFirstName: Severin's [[NamedLikeMyName real name]] is [[spoiler:Creator/JenniferAniston]].
20%%* EpiphanyTherapy
21* EmptyRoomPsych: [[spoiler:It turns out that the pool that James mentioned in the beginning became the place where he attempted suicide.]]
22* EveryoneHasLotsOfSex: All of the main characters have lots of sex. Extras get into the action too, with the orgy scene.
23%%* EveryoneIsBi: Except for the characters who are gay.
24* FanserviceExtra: In the orgy scene, an entire roomful of unnamed characters are shown having sex (much of it unsimulated).
25* FormerChildStar: Jamie is one, and he held it quite hard. By the way, the show that he filmed is about a white boy who was adopted by a black family (that do not tell him the truth right from the beginning, leaving him to think that he is an albino).
26* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:James is stopped just as he tries to kill himself.]]
27%%* LoveDodecahedron: Both had spades of this, although Sofia had a more complex one.
28* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Sofia is seen having sex with her husband on a ball, the piano, and against a glass door along with in bed.
29* MeaningfulName: Severin, taken from the protagonist of ''Literature/VenusInFurs''. Also a subversion, as Severin is the submissive part in ''Literature/VenusInFurs''.
30%%* MyGirlIsASlut
31* NakedOnArrival: The opening scene is different sex scenes intercut with each other, including James attempting autofellatio.
32%%* NoSocialSkills: Severin, which Sofia helped her to overcome.
33* OneSteveLimit: James' original name is Jaime, so he changed his name so that people can differentiate him and his boyfriend.
34* PairTheSpares: James and Jamie's stalker Caleb seems to hit it off with Ceth at the end after James and Jamie get back together.
35* PornWithPlot: While the actors and actresses are having ''[[ExplicitContent real]]'', penetrating sex on camera, the film actually has a bigger point to make, with various subplots and notable characters, using sex acts as StockVisualMetaphors.
36* RescueRomance: [[spoiler:James gets involved with the man that saved his life by preventing him from killing himself.]]
37* ShoutOut: A vibrating egg has the phrase ''Film/InTheRealmOfTheSenses'' written on it. And yes, it is inserted into a main characters' vagina.
38* SexMontage: Sofia is shown having sex with her husband in a variety of places and positions around the house.
39* StalkingIsLove: [[spoiler:James's stalker appears to genuinely care for him, to the point of saving his life, and they get involved after that.]]
40* ThreeWaySex: Jamie and James had one with Ceth. [[spoiler: This was actually a plan of James's for getting them together before he attempted suicide, so that Jaime wouldn't be lonely afterward.]]
41* TurnOfTheMillennium: It references many current events and trends of the early 00s, including UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, September 11th, and the New York City blackout.
42%%* TheTwink: Ceth, to some extent.
43* {{Transvestite}}: Justin Bond, he is depicted as homosexual here. [[spoiler: That doesn't stop him from briefly making out with Sofia.]]

Top