Sex & The Celts

Sex and the Celts (Documentary)

Picture: C Sound: C Extras: D Film: B

Based purely on the sensationalistic and frankly cheesy cheesecake cover of the DVD package I really didn’t expect much out of Sex and the Celts. I was pleasantly surprised by a fairly well made and serious documentary about the psychosexual development of a specific European mindset and the sociological effects of changing mores.

Focusing primarily on the history of Ireland the two part film starts in prehistoric times. As with any research dealing with this era there is a lot of speculation and very little in the way of concrete documentation. Guesses are made based on folktales, documents from later eras, and the archeological record. Most of these are reasonably sound, though I’m sure scholars could take issue with any one of a number of assertions. Prehistoric Ireland was probably a goddess-based culture, the primary result of which is more favorable status for women in general, including their

sexuality. The film leans a little too far into the idea of an idealistic nigh-utopian situation wherein the sexes were truly equal and everyone was happy and well adjusted with the uses of their genitalia. Probably not true.

From there the timeline is traced down to the present. The primary story is that of the effects of the introduction of Christianity into this pagan culture. St. Patrick ridding the island of snakes is metaphor for destroying the pagan religion as well as the more Freudian repression of sexuality. In more recent times the Potato Famine and the resulting diaspora of the Irish people to America is covered in great detail. The documentary ends with scenes of the exploding sexuality of the current Irish youth culture.

- Wayne Wise