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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 42: Family

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Release Date: 12/14/2018

Polyish Movie Reviews - Episode 54: Big Top Pee-Wee show art Polyish Movie Reviews - Episode 54: Big Top Pee-Wee

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Many today think of Pee Wee Herman as a children's show character, but that was not always the case.  He started out as a very adult stand-up character that morphed into a weird, surrealist dark humor movie character, that then got a children's show, and THEN ... made this movie. What does all this have to do with polyamory?  Good question!  Joreth watches Big Top Pee-Wee to find out how polyamory fits in with the world of Pee-Wee Herman.   Big Top Pee Wee is about as goofy as you'd expect. It's nothing like the first Pee Wee movie - Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That movie is...

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Polyish Movie Reviews - Episode 53:  Beloved Sisters show art Polyish Movie Reviews - Episode 53: Beloved Sisters

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Joreth reviews the biographical historical drama Beloved Sisters, a biopic about two sisters, Caroline and Charlotte von Lengefeld, and the man they love, German poet Friedrich Schiller.  Discussing sorrel polygyny, can this FMF polygynous arrangement be polyamorous?  Is it true?  Did it happen?  Does the movie actually show polyamory on screen?  Follow along with this movie review with the transcript located on the show notes page of the website at     Beloved Sisters is a German biographical film based on the life of the German poet Friedrich Schiller and...

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 52: A Good Old Fashioned Orgy show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 52: A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

A group of aging friends decide to say goodbye to their youth with ... an orgy?  Joreth finds out if a bunch of single people can navigate group sex with respect and maturity, and does group sex make it poly or not?   OK, I have had this movie in my queue forever and people keep telling me about it. So I finally sat down to watch it. I'm gonna say that it's not poly but ... it's not NOT poly either. Here's the thing, a little personal background on me: When I was in high school and college, I had ... um, friends. I had *those kinds* of friends. I remember having a couple of...

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 51: 5 To 7 show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 51: 5 To 7

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

A married woman takes a lover, but can Joreth take yet another affair movie?     It's so much worse when they manage to get you to like a movie before they turn it to shit. No, you're not experiencing deja vu. I said that exact same line when I reviewed Paint Your Wagon. It's still true. 5 to 7 was a Netflix recommendation, so naturally I went into it expecting it to be a total shitstorm. Instead, I found it charming. The Netflix summary says: "an aspiring young novelist finds his conservative beliefs about love and relationships tested when a chance encounter outside a New York City...

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 50: 3 (Drei) show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 50: 3 (Drei)

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Yet another movie named "3" - will this one have some polyamory in it?  Or will it be another cheating film?  Joreth reviews the German film Drei, or 3, for polyamorous content.

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 49: Something About Sex show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 49: Something About Sex

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

3 couples struggle with the definitions of monogamy and fidelity, after some "insight" from Jason Alexander.  Joreth reviews this film to see if any ethical non-monogamy could possibly come out of it at all.

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 48: Three show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 48: Three

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

There are so many movies called "Three"!  Is this one that actually has polyamory in it?  Is there really an FMF triad like on the cover?  Are any of the characters polyamorous?  Or is this just another cheating cautionary tale or threesome gone wrong story?  Joreth reviews this particular "Three" to find out!

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 47: Bandits show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 47: Bandits

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Can a movie with blockbuster names be a poly movie?  Joreth reviews Bandits with Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchet to see if there is any polyamory in this star-studded film.

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 46:  The Blood Oranges show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 46: The Blood Oranges

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

Can a movie set in the '60s and filmed in the '90s really feature a polyamorous quad?  Joreth reviews The Blood Oranges for a little-seen poly structure to see if there is any polyamory in it at all.

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Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 45: The Unbearable Lightness Of Being show art Poly-ish Movie Reviews - Episode 45: The Unbearable Lightness Of Being

Poly-ish Movie Reviews

How well does this particular fan recommendation hold up to Joreth's poly critique?

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Can a web series about a poly triad really be about polyamory?  Yeah, it probably is.  Joreth reviews the show Family, a creative endeavor by Teresa Greenan, a polyamorous filmmaker based out of Portland, OR.

 

I've posted about this show before on my personal blog, but I haven't done an official review yet. First of all, it's poly. It's about as poly as you get. Second, it's funny and weird. Third, I liked the first half better than the second half, but I liked it in general. Mostly it was just a couple of episodes in the second half that threw me off.

Family is the brain-child of Terisa Greenan, a polyamorous filmmaker in Seattle, WA. The show follows the lives of Ben, Gemma, and Stuart, a live-in triad (I get the impression that it's sexually a Vee, but they all consider themselves equal family, so I'll call them a triad) that is very loosely based on Terisa's own life.

Each episode is roughly 7 to 10 minutes long and posted on YouTube, although there are 2 or 3 "uncensored" episodes that are posted elsewhere that doesn't have YouTube's ridiculous nudity taboo. We start out by just meeting the three main characters and getting a feel for how their family is arranged. My favorite episode is the second one, where the triad goes to a poly meeting. If you've ever been to a poly meeting and have a sense of humor about yourself, this episode will have you laughing out loud at the caricature painting of poly people.

The entire series is available as a DVD, and watching all episodes one after the other is about 3 hours, and worth the watch. The show covers things like adding new partners, getting along with metamours you don't like, meeting the "in-laws", dealing with conservative neighbors, and even dealing with the media.

About halfway through, though, the show takes a turn for the weird. It introduces some pretty bizarre characters and some of the plots have less to do with polyamory and more to do with just having strange people squatting in your garage, with a bit of psychosis-masquerading-as-woo thrown in for flavor. But it doesn't leave polyamory completely, and the series finale brings it back with a very serious issue that our main characters have to face together as a family.

The production quality is pretty good, and although the acting is a little wooden at times, it's not so terrible that it distracts from my enjoyment of the show in general. Really, the strange characters starting about 8 or 9 episodes in was more distracting than any less-than-stellar acting.

I definitely recommend watching this show and, like Summer Lovers, no list of poly movies would be complete without it.

 

polyamory; polyamorous; poly; polya; polyam; poly-ish; nonmonogamy; non-monogamy; ethical non-monogamy; consensual non-monogamy; ENM; CNM; opening up; open marriage; open relationship; hierarchy; hierarchical; couple privilege; unicorn hunter; triad; vee; threesome; quad; mfm; fmf; mff; relationship; polycule; ethical slut; unicorn; couple; throuple; thruple; NSSO; movie review