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À propos de moiI just want to say that I'm ready happily to go to a meeting with new adventures, acquaintances and changes in my life! I can be different: a sexy lady and affectionate girl!
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Understanding Male Sexuality
There are many stereotypes that portray men as sex-obsessed machines. Books, television shows, and movies often feature characters and plot points that assume men are crazy about sex and women are only concerned with romance.
But is it true? What do we know about the male sex drive?
Stereotypes about male sex drive
So what stereotypes about the male sex drive are true? How do men compare to women? Let’s look at these popular myths about male sexuality.
Men think about sex all day long
A recent study at Ohio State University of over 200 students debunks the popular myth that men think about sex every seven seconds. That would mean 8,000 thoughts in 16 waking hours! The young men in the study reported thoughts of sex 19 times per day on average. The young women in the study reported an average of 10 thoughts about sex per day.
So do men think about sex twice as much as women? Well, the study also suggested that men thought about food and s***p more frequently than women. It’s possible that men are more comfortable thinking about sex and reporting their thoughts. Terri Fisher, the lead author of the study, claims that people who reported being comfortable with sex in the study’s questionnaire were most likely to think about sex on a frequent basis.
Men masturbate more often than women
In a study conducted in 2009 on 600 adults in Guangzhou, China, 48.8 percent of females and 68.7 percent of males reported that they had masturbated. The survey also suggested that a significant number of adults had a negative attitude toward masturbation, particularly women.
Men usually take 2 to 7 minutes to orgasm
Masters and Johnson, two important sex researchers, suggest a Four-Phase Model for understanding the sexual response cycle:
- excitement
- plateau
- orgasm
- resolution
Masters and Johnson assert that males and female both experience these phases during sexual activity. But the duration of each phase differs widely from person to person. Determining how long it takes a man or a woman to orgasm is difficult because the excitement phase and the plateau phase may begin several minutes or several hours before a person climaxes.
Men are more open to casual sex
One study conducted in 2015Trusted Source suggests that men are more willing than women to engage in casual sex. In the study, 6 men and 8 women approached 162 men and 119 women either at a nightclub or at a college campus. They issued an invitation for casual sex. A significantly higher proportion of men accepted the offer than women.
However, in the second part of the same study conducted by these researchers, women appeared more willing to accept invitations for casual sex when they were in a safer environment. Women and men were shown pictures of suitors and asked whether or not they would consent to casual sex. The gender difference in responses disappeared when women felt they were in a safer situation.
The difference between these two studies suggests that cultural factors like social norms can have a big impact on the way that men and women seek out sexual relationships.
Gay male couples have more sex than lesbian couples
This myth is difficult to prove or to debunk. Gay men and lesbian women have a variety of sexual experiences just like heterosexual men and women. Single gay men living in urban cities have a reputation for having a significant number of partners. But gay men engage in all kinds of relationships.
Lesbian couples may also have different definitions about what “sex” means to them. Some lesbian couple use sex toys to engage in penetrative intercourse. Other lesbian couples consider sex to be mutual masturbation or caressing.
Men are less romantic than women
As suggested by Masters and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model, sexual excitement is different for everyone. Sources of arousal can vary greatly from person to person. Sexual norms and taboos often shape the way that men and women experience sexuality and can impact the way they report it in surveys. This makes it difficult to scientifically prove that men are biologically not inclined toward romantic arousal.
Sex drive and the brain
Sex drive is usually described as libido. There is no numeric measurement for libido. Instead, sex drive is understood in relevant terms. For example, a low libido means a decreased interest or desire in sex.
The male libido lives in two areas of the brain: the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These parts of the brain are vital to a man’s sex drive and performance. They are so important, in fact, that a man can have an orgasm simply by thinking or dreaming about a sexual experience.
The cerebral cortex is the gray matter that makes up the outer layer of the brain. It’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for higher functions like planning and thinking. This includes thinking about sex. When you become aroused, signals that originate in the cerebral cortex can interact with other parts of the brain and nerves. Some of these nerves speed up your heart rate and b***d flow to your genitals. They also signal the process that creates an erection.
The limbic system includes multiple parts of the brain: the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala, and others. These parts are involved with emotion, motivation, and sex drive. Researchers at Emory UniversityTrusted Source found that viewing sexually arousing images increased activity in the amygdalae of men more than it did for women. However, there are many parts of the brain involved with sexual response, so this finding does not necessarily mean that men are more easily aroused than women.
Testosterone
Testosterone is the hormone most closely associated with male sex drive. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone has a crucial role in a number of body functions, including:
development of male sex organs
growth of body hair
bone mass and muscle development
deepening of the voice in puberty
sperm production
production of red b***d cells
Low levels of testosterone are often tied to a low libido. Testosterone levels tend to be higher in the morning and lower at night. In a man’s lifetime, his testosterone levels are at their highest in his late teens, after which they slowly begin to decline.
Loss of libido
Sex drive can decrease with age. But sometimes a loss of libido is tied to an underlying condition. The following can cause a decrease in sex drive:
Stress or depression. If you are experiencing mental health issues, talk to your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication or suggest psychotherapy.
Endocrine disorders. An endocrine disorder may decrease male sex hormones.
Low testosterone levels. Certain medical conditions, like s***p apnea, can cause low testosterone levels, which can impact your sex drive.
Certain medications. Some medications can impact your libido. For instance, some antidepressants, antihistamines, and even b***d pressure medications can impair erections. Your doctor may be able to suggest an alternative.
High b***d pressure. Damage to the vascular system can hurt a man’s ability to get or maintain an erection.
Diabetes. Like having high b***d pressure, diabetes can damage a man’s vascular system and affect his ability to maintain an erection.
Only you can measure what is normal for your sex drive. If you are experiencing libido changes, talk to your doctor. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to someone about your sexual desires, but a medical professional may be able to help you.
Outlook
Does the male sex drive ever go away? For many men, the libido will never completely disappear. For most men, libido will certainly change over time. The way you make love and enjoy sex will likely change over time as well, as will the frequency. But sex and intimacy can be a pleasurable part of aging.
Written by Susan York Morris
LIRE PLUS
But is it true? What do we know about the male sex drive?
Stereotypes about male sex drive
So what stereotypes about the male sex drive are true? How do men compare to women? Let’s look at these popular myths about male sexuality.
Men think about sex all day long
A recent study at Ohio State University of over 200 students debunks the popular myth that men think about sex every seven seconds. That would mean 8,000 thoughts in 16 waking hours! The young men in the study reported thoughts of sex 19 times per day on average. The young women in the study reported an average of 10 thoughts about sex per day.
So do men think about sex twice as much as women? Well, the study also suggested that men thought about food and s***p more frequently than women. It’s possible that men are more comfortable thinking about sex and reporting their thoughts. Terri Fisher, the lead author of the study, claims that people who reported being comfortable with sex in the study’s questionnaire were most likely to think about sex on a frequent basis.
Men masturbate more often than women
In a study conducted in 2009 on 600 adults in Guangzhou, China, 48.8 percent of females and 68.7 percent of males reported that they had masturbated. The survey also suggested that a significant number of adults had a negative attitude toward masturbation, particularly women.
Men usually take 2 to 7 minutes to orgasm
Masters and Johnson, two important sex researchers, suggest a Four-Phase Model for understanding the sexual response cycle:
- excitement
- plateau
- orgasm
- resolution
Masters and Johnson assert that males and female both experience these phases during sexual activity. But the duration of each phase differs widely from person to person. Determining how long it takes a man or a woman to orgasm is difficult because the excitement phase and the plateau phase may begin several minutes or several hours before a person climaxes.
Men are more open to casual sex
One study conducted in 2015Trusted Source suggests that men are more willing than women to engage in casual sex. In the study, 6 men and 8 women approached 162 men and 119 women either at a nightclub or at a college campus. They issued an invitation for casual sex. A significantly higher proportion of men accepted the offer than women.
However, in the second part of the same study conducted by these researchers, women appeared more willing to accept invitations for casual sex when they were in a safer environment. Women and men were shown pictures of suitors and asked whether or not they would consent to casual sex. The gender difference in responses disappeared when women felt they were in a safer situation.
The difference between these two studies suggests that cultural factors like social norms can have a big impact on the way that men and women seek out sexual relationships.
Gay male couples have more sex than lesbian couples
This myth is difficult to prove or to debunk. Gay men and lesbian women have a variety of sexual experiences just like heterosexual men and women. Single gay men living in urban cities have a reputation for having a significant number of partners. But gay men engage in all kinds of relationships.
Lesbian couples may also have different definitions about what “sex” means to them. Some lesbian couple use sex toys to engage in penetrative intercourse. Other lesbian couples consider sex to be mutual masturbation or caressing.
Men are less romantic than women
As suggested by Masters and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model, sexual excitement is different for everyone. Sources of arousal can vary greatly from person to person. Sexual norms and taboos often shape the way that men and women experience sexuality and can impact the way they report it in surveys. This makes it difficult to scientifically prove that men are biologically not inclined toward romantic arousal.
Sex drive and the brain
Sex drive is usually described as libido. There is no numeric measurement for libido. Instead, sex drive is understood in relevant terms. For example, a low libido means a decreased interest or desire in sex.
The male libido lives in two areas of the brain: the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These parts of the brain are vital to a man’s sex drive and performance. They are so important, in fact, that a man can have an orgasm simply by thinking or dreaming about a sexual experience.
The cerebral cortex is the gray matter that makes up the outer layer of the brain. It’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for higher functions like planning and thinking. This includes thinking about sex. When you become aroused, signals that originate in the cerebral cortex can interact with other parts of the brain and nerves. Some of these nerves speed up your heart rate and b***d flow to your genitals. They also signal the process that creates an erection.
The limbic system includes multiple parts of the brain: the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala, and others. These parts are involved with emotion, motivation, and sex drive. Researchers at Emory UniversityTrusted Source found that viewing sexually arousing images increased activity in the amygdalae of men more than it did for women. However, there are many parts of the brain involved with sexual response, so this finding does not necessarily mean that men are more easily aroused than women.
Testosterone
Testosterone is the hormone most closely associated with male sex drive. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone has a crucial role in a number of body functions, including:
development of male sex organs
growth of body hair
bone mass and muscle development
deepening of the voice in puberty
sperm production
production of red b***d cells
Low levels of testosterone are often tied to a low libido. Testosterone levels tend to be higher in the morning and lower at night. In a man’s lifetime, his testosterone levels are at their highest in his late teens, after which they slowly begin to decline.
Loss of libido
Sex drive can decrease with age. But sometimes a loss of libido is tied to an underlying condition. The following can cause a decrease in sex drive:
Stress or depression. If you are experiencing mental health issues, talk to your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication or suggest psychotherapy.
Endocrine disorders. An endocrine disorder may decrease male sex hormones.
Low testosterone levels. Certain medical conditions, like s***p apnea, can cause low testosterone levels, which can impact your sex drive.
Certain medications. Some medications can impact your libido. For instance, some antidepressants, antihistamines, and even b***d pressure medications can impair erections. Your doctor may be able to suggest an alternative.
High b***d pressure. Damage to the vascular system can hurt a man’s ability to get or maintain an erection.
Diabetes. Like having high b***d pressure, diabetes can damage a man’s vascular system and affect his ability to maintain an erection.
Only you can measure what is normal for your sex drive. If you are experiencing libido changes, talk to your doctor. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to someone about your sexual desires, but a medical professional may be able to help you.
Outlook
Does the male sex drive ever go away? For many men, the libido will never completely disappear. For most men, libido will certainly change over time. The way you make love and enjoy sex will likely change over time as well, as will the frequency. But sex and intimacy can be a pleasurable part of aging.
Written by Susan York Morris
A Dangerous Method from Richard Wagner
Filmmakers have been borrowing and adapting the music of Richard Wagner since the dawn of cinema. The 19th century German composer's lush, dramatic music often serves as a kind of emotional hormone for the screen, providing an adrenaline rush in action sequences and surges of romantic feeling for scenes of passion.
But sometimes a soundtrack is more than just a soundtrack. In the case of two recent films -- David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" -- Wagner pervades the scores as well as the story lines, informing the psychology of the characters while adding crucial sonic subtext. To fully understand both films requires an immersion in Wagner's music and ideas.
In Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) enters into an adulterous affair with Sabina Spielrien (Keira Knightley), a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria. Their relationship takes root in a shared fixation on Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas. While they both prefer "Das Rheingold," the first opera in the cycle, it is the third opera, "Siegfried," that plays a key role in the movie.
Wagner's Siegfried is a p**********d Aryan hero, the product of an i********s union between brother and sister. In the movie, Sabina internalizes the myth to an obsessive degree. "The idea was that she would have a sinful relationship with Jung and then give birth to this hero, this heroic Siegfried," Cronenberg explained in a recent interview.
Cronenberg said he researched psychoanalytic circles of the early 20th century. "One of the unique things about these people is that they kind of mythologized themselves," he said. "Their intellectual passions were not just abstract -- they tried to embody them, they tried to bring them into their own lives and live out of them. And so they could very easily see themselves being characters in a Wagnerian opera."
Howard Shore, the Oscar-winning film composer, has scored most of Cronenberg's films. For "A Dangerous Method," he based the soundtrack on Wagner's "Siegfried." "It follows the opera in terms of its overall structure -- I used the bones, if you will, of the opera to create the structure and the arc of the music," Shore said in an interview.
In one sequence, Jung's wife, Emma (Sarah Gadon), gives birth to their first son. But instead of a celebratory scene, the movie cuts to Jung meeting Sabina for an amorous assignation. The sequence is scored to the section of the opera known as the "Siegfried Idyll," which Wagner originally wrote as a gift for his wife, Cosima.
Shore said he chose the "Siegfried Idyll" to show that Jung was a loving man, despite his faults. "He had this strong desire to be with Sabina, but he loved is wife and his family life," he said. For the movie, Shore used a piano arrangement of the "Siegfried Idyll," and the piece is performed by pianist Lang Lang on the soundtrack.
"A Dangerous Method" was written by Christopher Hampton, adapting his play "The Talking Cure," which itself was inspired by the 1993 nonfiction book "A Most Dangerous Method" by John Kerr. As explained in Kerr's book, Sabina's "Siegfried complex" was a complicated neurosis that "stood simultaneously for the son [Sabina] would give Jung and for Jung himself."
In Hampton's original play, Jung says at one point that he admires Wagner's music but not the man himself. For the movie, Cronenberg changed the line so that Jung expresses his admiration for all of Wagner, which would implicitly include the composer's anti-Semitism. (Spielrein was Jewish -- and so, of course, was Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, who ended up mentoring both Spielrein and Jung.)
"David and I had a very long discussion about this," Hampton recalled in an interview. "It was the only single line for which we had a long discussion."
Cronenberg said he had no agenda when it came to the characters: "I have read a lot of Jung and I do not get the impression that he had any problem with Wagner and in particular his anti-Semitism. ... I don't think Jung would be at all bothered by his anti-Semitism because he had a bit of it himself. In the context of the times, you wouldn't think that Jung was anti-Semitic, but in the context of our times, you might well."
The filmmaker added: "We're not trying to rehabilitate [these characters]. If Jung behaved badly in a certain way, then so be it. In other words, we're not looking to create a character who's likable if he's not." "Melancholia," the latest movie from Lars von Trier, takes its thematic inspiration from a different Wagner opera, "Tristan and Isolde." The futuristic movie follows a new bride, Justine (Kirsten Dunst), and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), through a disastrous wedding reception followed by a cataclysmic end-of-the-world scenario in which a rogue planet named Melancholia crashes into Earth.
A sense of impending annihilation pervades "Melancholia." Von Trier begins the movie with an overture sequence set to the mournful prelude of "Tristan," and he repeats sections of the prelude throughout the film. On the story level, "Melancholia" fully absorbs the opera's themes and ideas, though not in a literal sense.
"Tristan" begins with an u*******g bride being taken to her wedding; "Melancholia" likewise introduces Justine on her way to the wedding reception where it is soon revealed that she suffers from depression and can barely tolerate her new husband (Alexander Skarsgard).
Wagner's opera is a nocturnal reverie -- the illicit lovers meet under cover of night and consummate their love in the small hours of the morning. "Melancholia" is also obsessed with nighttime, with key scenes taking place in the deep of twilight, including the wedding reception, Justine's nude frolic by the water and the first awe-inspiring encounter with the planet Melancholia.
Most significantly, "Melancholia" borrows the opera's central theme of "Liebestod," or "love-death." In the opera, the protagonists escape the mundane by sublimating their love through death. In "Melancholia," Justine reaches a plane of transcendence just as the rogue planet nears Earth and human life is threatened with total destruction. In both cases, death offers the characters a form of extreme emotional release and all-consuming catharsis.
Von Trier has been connected to the music of Wagner before. The Danish filmmaker was supposed to direct the 2006 production of the "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth but eventually withdrew.
For "Melancholia," adapting the music from "Tristan" fell to Kristian Eidnes Andersen, the sound designer and music arranger on the movie.
Andersen said that Von Trier initially wanted a lot of sad music but eventually settled on the "Tristan" prelude. The music "puts people in a fragile emotional situation ... you open up people's feelings and to the greatness of the world," Andersen said.
The "Tristan" prelude was performed for the movie by the City of Prague Philharmonic. Andersen said that he had a soloist dub over the cello section to provide a more unified sound and to "get more into the emotions." He added that Von Trier wanted to repeat the "Tristan" prelude over the end credits, but they ended up using the opera's Act 3 prelude instead.
"I think people should have after-thoughts and needed a less complex piece," Andersen explained. "This prelude from Act 3 is much simpler."
Andersen acknowledged the movie's debt to Hitchcock's "Vertigo," the soundtrack of which is also based on Wagner's "Tristan."
"[Hitchcock] started it and then we followed," Andersen said. The opera "has big emotions but it's personal. That's what you need in a film score."
LIRE PLUS
But sometimes a soundtrack is more than just a soundtrack. In the case of two recent films -- David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" -- Wagner pervades the scores as well as the story lines, informing the psychology of the characters while adding crucial sonic subtext. To fully understand both films requires an immersion in Wagner's music and ideas.
In Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) enters into an adulterous affair with Sabina Spielrien (Keira Knightley), a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria. Their relationship takes root in a shared fixation on Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas. While they both prefer "Das Rheingold," the first opera in the cycle, it is the third opera, "Siegfried," that plays a key role in the movie.
Wagner's Siegfried is a p**********d Aryan hero, the product of an i********s union between brother and sister. In the movie, Sabina internalizes the myth to an obsessive degree. "The idea was that she would have a sinful relationship with Jung and then give birth to this hero, this heroic Siegfried," Cronenberg explained in a recent interview.
Cronenberg said he researched psychoanalytic circles of the early 20th century. "One of the unique things about these people is that they kind of mythologized themselves," he said. "Their intellectual passions were not just abstract -- they tried to embody them, they tried to bring them into their own lives and live out of them. And so they could very easily see themselves being characters in a Wagnerian opera."
Howard Shore, the Oscar-winning film composer, has scored most of Cronenberg's films. For "A Dangerous Method," he based the soundtrack on Wagner's "Siegfried." "It follows the opera in terms of its overall structure -- I used the bones, if you will, of the opera to create the structure and the arc of the music," Shore said in an interview.
In one sequence, Jung's wife, Emma (Sarah Gadon), gives birth to their first son. But instead of a celebratory scene, the movie cuts to Jung meeting Sabina for an amorous assignation. The sequence is scored to the section of the opera known as the "Siegfried Idyll," which Wagner originally wrote as a gift for his wife, Cosima.
Shore said he chose the "Siegfried Idyll" to show that Jung was a loving man, despite his faults. "He had this strong desire to be with Sabina, but he loved is wife and his family life," he said. For the movie, Shore used a piano arrangement of the "Siegfried Idyll," and the piece is performed by pianist Lang Lang on the soundtrack.
"A Dangerous Method" was written by Christopher Hampton, adapting his play "The Talking Cure," which itself was inspired by the 1993 nonfiction book "A Most Dangerous Method" by John Kerr. As explained in Kerr's book, Sabina's "Siegfried complex" was a complicated neurosis that "stood simultaneously for the son [Sabina] would give Jung and for Jung himself."
In Hampton's original play, Jung says at one point that he admires Wagner's music but not the man himself. For the movie, Cronenberg changed the line so that Jung expresses his admiration for all of Wagner, which would implicitly include the composer's anti-Semitism. (Spielrein was Jewish -- and so, of course, was Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, who ended up mentoring both Spielrein and Jung.)
"David and I had a very long discussion about this," Hampton recalled in an interview. "It was the only single line for which we had a long discussion."
Cronenberg said he had no agenda when it came to the characters: "I have read a lot of Jung and I do not get the impression that he had any problem with Wagner and in particular his anti-Semitism. ... I don't think Jung would be at all bothered by his anti-Semitism because he had a bit of it himself. In the context of the times, you wouldn't think that Jung was anti-Semitic, but in the context of our times, you might well."
The filmmaker added: "We're not trying to rehabilitate [these characters]. If Jung behaved badly in a certain way, then so be it. In other words, we're not looking to create a character who's likable if he's not." "Melancholia," the latest movie from Lars von Trier, takes its thematic inspiration from a different Wagner opera, "Tristan and Isolde." The futuristic movie follows a new bride, Justine (Kirsten Dunst), and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), through a disastrous wedding reception followed by a cataclysmic end-of-the-world scenario in which a rogue planet named Melancholia crashes into Earth.
A sense of impending annihilation pervades "Melancholia." Von Trier begins the movie with an overture sequence set to the mournful prelude of "Tristan," and he repeats sections of the prelude throughout the film. On the story level, "Melancholia" fully absorbs the opera's themes and ideas, though not in a literal sense.
"Tristan" begins with an u*******g bride being taken to her wedding; "Melancholia" likewise introduces Justine on her way to the wedding reception where it is soon revealed that she suffers from depression and can barely tolerate her new husband (Alexander Skarsgard).
Wagner's opera is a nocturnal reverie -- the illicit lovers meet under cover of night and consummate their love in the small hours of the morning. "Melancholia" is also obsessed with nighttime, with key scenes taking place in the deep of twilight, including the wedding reception, Justine's nude frolic by the water and the first awe-inspiring encounter with the planet Melancholia.
Most significantly, "Melancholia" borrows the opera's central theme of "Liebestod," or "love-death." In the opera, the protagonists escape the mundane by sublimating their love through death. In "Melancholia," Justine reaches a plane of transcendence just as the rogue planet nears Earth and human life is threatened with total destruction. In both cases, death offers the characters a form of extreme emotional release and all-consuming catharsis.
Von Trier has been connected to the music of Wagner before. The Danish filmmaker was supposed to direct the 2006 production of the "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth but eventually withdrew.
For "Melancholia," adapting the music from "Tristan" fell to Kristian Eidnes Andersen, the sound designer and music arranger on the movie.
Andersen said that Von Trier initially wanted a lot of sad music but eventually settled on the "Tristan" prelude. The music "puts people in a fragile emotional situation ... you open up people's feelings and to the greatness of the world," Andersen said.
The "Tristan" prelude was performed for the movie by the City of Prague Philharmonic. Andersen said that he had a soloist dub over the cello section to provide a more unified sound and to "get more into the emotions." He added that Von Trier wanted to repeat the "Tristan" prelude over the end credits, but they ended up using the opera's Act 3 prelude instead.
"I think people should have after-thoughts and needed a less complex piece," Andersen explained. "This prelude from Act 3 is much simpler."
Andersen acknowledged the movie's debt to Hitchcock's "Vertigo," the soundtrack of which is also based on Wagner's "Tristan."
"[Hitchcock] started it and then we followed," Andersen said. The opera "has big emotions but it's personal. That's what you need in a film score."
I want to be spanked.
Best wishes, your ass.
Best wishes, your ass.
He smiled sagely as though he had read my thoughts (my mind) and knew about everything
(as though he knew what was on my mind\what I was thinking about)
(as though he knew what was on my mind\what I was thinking about)
I'm Charlotte
Vu
I'm ready for changes in my kink life
Dallas,
États-Unis
Afficher plus d'informations
Ville
|
Dallas,
États-Unis
|
Genre
|
Femelle
|
Orientation
|
Hétéro
|
Statut financier
|
Je ne peux pas donner de cadeaux et je n'ai pas besoin de cadeaux
|
Rôle (BDSM)
|
Switch
|
À propos de moiI just want to say that I'm ready happily to go to a meeting with new adventures, acquaintances and changes in my life! I can be different: a sexy lady and affectionate girl!
|
|
Inscrit
|
Disponible uniquement pour les membres Premium
|
Interdit
|
Disponible uniquement pour les membres Premium
|
Signalé
|
Disponible uniquement pour les membres Premium
|
Objectifs
Rencontres
Amitié
Correspondants
Compagnon de club
Maître ou esclave
Fétiche
Fessée
Massage
Fétichisme de la chaussure
Talons hauts
Corsets
Travestissement
Fétichisme du latex
Masques
Look mouillé
Fétichisme du nylon
Fétichisme de la lingerie
Fétichisme du caoutchouc
Fétichisme du cuir verni
Bas
Fétichisme de la couche
Fétichisme de l'uniforme
Fétichisme du spandex
Fétichisme de la soie
Jupe d'entrave
...
4 Publication
3 Abonné
+11 karma
Pour voir ce qu'elle partage avec des amis
Understanding Male Sexuality
There are many stereotypes that portray men as sex-obsessed machines. Books, television shows, and movies often feature characters and plot points that assume men are crazy about sex and women are only concerned with romance.
But is it true? What do we know about the male sex drive?
Stereotypes about male sex drive
So what stereotypes about the male sex drive are true? How do men compare to women? Let’s look at these popular myths about male sexuality.
Men think about sex all day long
A recent study at Ohio State University of over 200 students debunks the popular myth that men think about sex every seven seconds. That would mean 8,000 thoughts in 16 waking hours! The young men in the study reported thoughts of sex 19 times per day on average. The young women in the study reported an average of 10 thoughts about sex per day.
So do men think about sex twice as much as women? Well, the study also suggested that men thought about food and s***p more frequently than women. It’s possible that men are more comfortable thinking about sex and reporting their thoughts. Terri Fisher, the lead author of the study, claims that people who reported being comfortable with sex in the study’s questionnaire were most likely to think about sex on a frequent basis.
Men masturbate more often than women
In a study conducted in 2009 on 600 adults in Guangzhou, China, 48.8 percent of females and 68.7 percent of males reported that they had masturbated. The survey also suggested that a significant number of adults had a negative attitude toward masturbation, particularly women.
Men usually take 2 to 7 minutes to orgasm
Masters and Johnson, two important sex researchers, suggest a Four-Phase Model for understanding the sexual response cycle:
- excitement
- plateau
- orgasm
- resolution
Masters and Johnson assert that males and female both experience these phases during sexual activity. But the duration of each phase differs widely from person to person. Determining how long it takes a man or a woman to orgasm is difficult because the excitement phase and the plateau phase may begin several minutes or several hours before a person climaxes.
Men are more open to casual sex
One study conducted in 2015Trusted Source suggests that men are more willing than women to engage in casual sex. In the study, 6 men and 8 women approached 162 men and 119 women either at a nightclub or at a college campus. They issued an invitation for casual sex. A significantly higher proportion of men accepted the offer than women.
However, in the second part of the same study conducted by these researchers, women appeared more willing to accept invitations for casual sex when they were in a safer environment. Women and men were shown pictures of suitors and asked whether or not they would consent to casual sex. The gender difference in responses disappeared when women felt they were in a safer situation.
The difference between these two studies suggests that cultural factors like social norms can have a big impact on the way that men and women seek out sexual relationships.
Gay male couples have more sex than lesbian couples
This myth is difficult to prove or to debunk. Gay men and lesbian women have a variety of sexual experiences just like heterosexual men and women. Single gay men living in urban cities have a reputation for having a significant number of partners. But gay men engage in all kinds of relationships.
Lesbian couples may also have different definitions about what “sex” means to them. Some lesbian couple use sex toys to engage in penetrative intercourse. Other lesbian couples consider sex to be mutual masturbation or caressing.
Men are less romantic than women
As suggested by Masters and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model, sexual excitement is different for everyone. Sources of arousal can vary greatly from person to person. Sexual norms and taboos often shape the way that men and women experience sexuality and can impact the way they report it in surveys. This makes it difficult to scientifically prove that men are biologically not inclined toward romantic arousal.
Sex drive and the brain
Sex drive is usually described as libido. There is no numeric measurement for libido. Instead, sex drive is understood in relevant terms. For example, a low libido means a decreased interest or desire in sex.
The male libido lives in two areas of the brain: the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These parts of the brain are vital to a man’s sex drive and performance. They are so important, in fact, that a man can have an orgasm simply by thinking or dreaming about a sexual experience.
The cerebral cortex is the gray matter that makes up the outer layer of the brain. It’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for higher functions like planning and thinking. This includes thinking about sex. When you become aroused, signals that originate in the cerebral cortex can interact with other parts of the brain and nerves. Some of these nerves speed up your heart rate and b***d flow to your genitals. They also signal the process that creates an erection.
The limbic system includes multiple parts of the brain: the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala, and others. These parts are involved with emotion, motivation, and sex drive. Researchers at Emory UniversityTrusted Source found that viewing sexually arousing images increased activity in the amygdalae of men more than it did for women. However, there are many parts of the brain involved with sexual response, so this finding does not necessarily mean that men are more easily aroused than women.
Testosterone
Testosterone is the hormone most closely associated with male sex drive. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone has a crucial role in a number of body functions, including:
development of male sex organs
growth of body hair
bone mass and muscle development
deepening of the voice in puberty
sperm production
production of red b***d cells
Low levels of testosterone are often tied to a low libido. Testosterone levels tend to be higher in the morning and lower at night. In a man’s lifetime, his testosterone levels are at their highest in his late teens, after which they slowly begin to decline.
Loss of libido
Sex drive can decrease with age. But sometimes a loss of libido is tied to an underlying condition. The following can cause a decrease in sex drive:
Stress or depression. If you are experiencing mental health issues, talk to your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication or suggest psychotherapy.
Endocrine disorders. An endocrine disorder may decrease male sex hormones.
Low testosterone levels. Certain medical conditions, like s***p apnea, can cause low testosterone levels, which can impact your sex drive.
Certain medications. Some medications can impact your libido. For instance, some antidepressants, antihistamines, and even b***d pressure medications can impair erections. Your doctor may be able to suggest an alternative.
High b***d pressure. Damage to the vascular system can hurt a man’s ability to get or maintain an erection.
Diabetes. Like having high b***d pressure, diabetes can damage a man’s vascular system and affect his ability to maintain an erection.
Only you can measure what is normal for your sex drive. If you are experiencing libido changes, talk to your doctor. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to someone about your sexual desires, but a medical professional may be able to help you.
Outlook
Does the male sex drive ever go away? For many men, the libido will never completely disappear. For most men, libido will certainly change over time. The way you make love and enjoy sex will likely change over time as well, as will the frequency. But sex and intimacy can be a pleasurable part of aging.
Written by Susan York Morris
LIRE PLUS
But is it true? What do we know about the male sex drive?
Stereotypes about male sex drive
So what stereotypes about the male sex drive are true? How do men compare to women? Let’s look at these popular myths about male sexuality.
Men think about sex all day long
A recent study at Ohio State University of over 200 students debunks the popular myth that men think about sex every seven seconds. That would mean 8,000 thoughts in 16 waking hours! The young men in the study reported thoughts of sex 19 times per day on average. The young women in the study reported an average of 10 thoughts about sex per day.
So do men think about sex twice as much as women? Well, the study also suggested that men thought about food and s***p more frequently than women. It’s possible that men are more comfortable thinking about sex and reporting their thoughts. Terri Fisher, the lead author of the study, claims that people who reported being comfortable with sex in the study’s questionnaire were most likely to think about sex on a frequent basis.
Men masturbate more often than women
In a study conducted in 2009 on 600 adults in Guangzhou, China, 48.8 percent of females and 68.7 percent of males reported that they had masturbated. The survey also suggested that a significant number of adults had a negative attitude toward masturbation, particularly women.
Men usually take 2 to 7 minutes to orgasm
Masters and Johnson, two important sex researchers, suggest a Four-Phase Model for understanding the sexual response cycle:
- excitement
- plateau
- orgasm
- resolution
Masters and Johnson assert that males and female both experience these phases during sexual activity. But the duration of each phase differs widely from person to person. Determining how long it takes a man or a woman to orgasm is difficult because the excitement phase and the plateau phase may begin several minutes or several hours before a person climaxes.
Men are more open to casual sex
One study conducted in 2015Trusted Source suggests that men are more willing than women to engage in casual sex. In the study, 6 men and 8 women approached 162 men and 119 women either at a nightclub or at a college campus. They issued an invitation for casual sex. A significantly higher proportion of men accepted the offer than women.
However, in the second part of the same study conducted by these researchers, women appeared more willing to accept invitations for casual sex when they were in a safer environment. Women and men were shown pictures of suitors and asked whether or not they would consent to casual sex. The gender difference in responses disappeared when women felt they were in a safer situation.
The difference between these two studies suggests that cultural factors like social norms can have a big impact on the way that men and women seek out sexual relationships.
Gay male couples have more sex than lesbian couples
This myth is difficult to prove or to debunk. Gay men and lesbian women have a variety of sexual experiences just like heterosexual men and women. Single gay men living in urban cities have a reputation for having a significant number of partners. But gay men engage in all kinds of relationships.
Lesbian couples may also have different definitions about what “sex” means to them. Some lesbian couple use sex toys to engage in penetrative intercourse. Other lesbian couples consider sex to be mutual masturbation or caressing.
Men are less romantic than women
As suggested by Masters and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model, sexual excitement is different for everyone. Sources of arousal can vary greatly from person to person. Sexual norms and taboos often shape the way that men and women experience sexuality and can impact the way they report it in surveys. This makes it difficult to scientifically prove that men are biologically not inclined toward romantic arousal.
Sex drive and the brain
Sex drive is usually described as libido. There is no numeric measurement for libido. Instead, sex drive is understood in relevant terms. For example, a low libido means a decreased interest or desire in sex.
The male libido lives in two areas of the brain: the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These parts of the brain are vital to a man’s sex drive and performance. They are so important, in fact, that a man can have an orgasm simply by thinking or dreaming about a sexual experience.
The cerebral cortex is the gray matter that makes up the outer layer of the brain. It’s the part of your brain that’s responsible for higher functions like planning and thinking. This includes thinking about sex. When you become aroused, signals that originate in the cerebral cortex can interact with other parts of the brain and nerves. Some of these nerves speed up your heart rate and b***d flow to your genitals. They also signal the process that creates an erection.
The limbic system includes multiple parts of the brain: the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala, and others. These parts are involved with emotion, motivation, and sex drive. Researchers at Emory UniversityTrusted Source found that viewing sexually arousing images increased activity in the amygdalae of men more than it did for women. However, there are many parts of the brain involved with sexual response, so this finding does not necessarily mean that men are more easily aroused than women.
Testosterone
Testosterone is the hormone most closely associated with male sex drive. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone has a crucial role in a number of body functions, including:
development of male sex organs
growth of body hair
bone mass and muscle development
deepening of the voice in puberty
sperm production
production of red b***d cells
Low levels of testosterone are often tied to a low libido. Testosterone levels tend to be higher in the morning and lower at night. In a man’s lifetime, his testosterone levels are at their highest in his late teens, after which they slowly begin to decline.
Loss of libido
Sex drive can decrease with age. But sometimes a loss of libido is tied to an underlying condition. The following can cause a decrease in sex drive:
Stress or depression. If you are experiencing mental health issues, talk to your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication or suggest psychotherapy.
Endocrine disorders. An endocrine disorder may decrease male sex hormones.
Low testosterone levels. Certain medical conditions, like s***p apnea, can cause low testosterone levels, which can impact your sex drive.
Certain medications. Some medications can impact your libido. For instance, some antidepressants, antihistamines, and even b***d pressure medications can impair erections. Your doctor may be able to suggest an alternative.
High b***d pressure. Damage to the vascular system can hurt a man’s ability to get or maintain an erection.
Diabetes. Like having high b***d pressure, diabetes can damage a man’s vascular system and affect his ability to maintain an erection.
Only you can measure what is normal for your sex drive. If you are experiencing libido changes, talk to your doctor. Sometimes it can be difficult to talk to someone about your sexual desires, but a medical professional may be able to help you.
Outlook
Does the male sex drive ever go away? For many men, the libido will never completely disappear. For most men, libido will certainly change over time. The way you make love and enjoy sex will likely change over time as well, as will the frequency. But sex and intimacy can be a pleasurable part of aging.
Written by Susan York Morris
A Dangerous Method from Richard Wagner
Filmmakers have been borrowing and adapting the music of Richard Wagner since the dawn of cinema. The 19th century German composer's lush, dramatic music often serves as a kind of emotional hormone for the screen, providing an adrenaline rush in action sequences and surges of romantic feeling for scenes of passion.
But sometimes a soundtrack is more than just a soundtrack. In the case of two recent films -- David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" -- Wagner pervades the scores as well as the story lines, informing the psychology of the characters while adding crucial sonic subtext. To fully understand both films requires an immersion in Wagner's music and ideas.
In Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) enters into an adulterous affair with Sabina Spielrien (Keira Knightley), a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria. Their relationship takes root in a shared fixation on Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas. While they both prefer "Das Rheingold," the first opera in the cycle, it is the third opera, "Siegfried," that plays a key role in the movie.
Wagner's Siegfried is a p**********d Aryan hero, the product of an i********s union between brother and sister. In the movie, Sabina internalizes the myth to an obsessive degree. "The idea was that she would have a sinful relationship with Jung and then give birth to this hero, this heroic Siegfried," Cronenberg explained in a recent interview.
Cronenberg said he researched psychoanalytic circles of the early 20th century. "One of the unique things about these people is that they kind of mythologized themselves," he said. "Their intellectual passions were not just abstract -- they tried to embody them, they tried to bring them into their own lives and live out of them. And so they could very easily see themselves being characters in a Wagnerian opera."
Howard Shore, the Oscar-winning film composer, has scored most of Cronenberg's films. For "A Dangerous Method," he based the soundtrack on Wagner's "Siegfried." "It follows the opera in terms of its overall structure -- I used the bones, if you will, of the opera to create the structure and the arc of the music," Shore said in an interview.
In one sequence, Jung's wife, Emma (Sarah Gadon), gives birth to their first son. But instead of a celebratory scene, the movie cuts to Jung meeting Sabina for an amorous assignation. The sequence is scored to the section of the opera known as the "Siegfried Idyll," which Wagner originally wrote as a gift for his wife, Cosima.
Shore said he chose the "Siegfried Idyll" to show that Jung was a loving man, despite his faults. "He had this strong desire to be with Sabina, but he loved is wife and his family life," he said. For the movie, Shore used a piano arrangement of the "Siegfried Idyll," and the piece is performed by pianist Lang Lang on the soundtrack.
"A Dangerous Method" was written by Christopher Hampton, adapting his play "The Talking Cure," which itself was inspired by the 1993 nonfiction book "A Most Dangerous Method" by John Kerr. As explained in Kerr's book, Sabina's "Siegfried complex" was a complicated neurosis that "stood simultaneously for the son [Sabina] would give Jung and for Jung himself."
In Hampton's original play, Jung says at one point that he admires Wagner's music but not the man himself. For the movie, Cronenberg changed the line so that Jung expresses his admiration for all of Wagner, which would implicitly include the composer's anti-Semitism. (Spielrein was Jewish -- and so, of course, was Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, who ended up mentoring both Spielrein and Jung.)
"David and I had a very long discussion about this," Hampton recalled in an interview. "It was the only single line for which we had a long discussion."
Cronenberg said he had no agenda when it came to the characters: "I have read a lot of Jung and I do not get the impression that he had any problem with Wagner and in particular his anti-Semitism. ... I don't think Jung would be at all bothered by his anti-Semitism because he had a bit of it himself. In the context of the times, you wouldn't think that Jung was anti-Semitic, but in the context of our times, you might well."
The filmmaker added: "We're not trying to rehabilitate [these characters]. If Jung behaved badly in a certain way, then so be it. In other words, we're not looking to create a character who's likable if he's not." "Melancholia," the latest movie from Lars von Trier, takes its thematic inspiration from a different Wagner opera, "Tristan and Isolde." The futuristic movie follows a new bride, Justine (Kirsten Dunst), and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), through a disastrous wedding reception followed by a cataclysmic end-of-the-world scenario in which a rogue planet named Melancholia crashes into Earth.
A sense of impending annihilation pervades "Melancholia." Von Trier begins the movie with an overture sequence set to the mournful prelude of "Tristan," and he repeats sections of the prelude throughout the film. On the story level, "Melancholia" fully absorbs the opera's themes and ideas, though not in a literal sense.
"Tristan" begins with an u*******g bride being taken to her wedding; "Melancholia" likewise introduces Justine on her way to the wedding reception where it is soon revealed that she suffers from depression and can barely tolerate her new husband (Alexander Skarsgard).
Wagner's opera is a nocturnal reverie -- the illicit lovers meet under cover of night and consummate their love in the small hours of the morning. "Melancholia" is also obsessed with nighttime, with key scenes taking place in the deep of twilight, including the wedding reception, Justine's nude frolic by the water and the first awe-inspiring encounter with the planet Melancholia.
Most significantly, "Melancholia" borrows the opera's central theme of "Liebestod," or "love-death." In the opera, the protagonists escape the mundane by sublimating their love through death. In "Melancholia," Justine reaches a plane of transcendence just as the rogue planet nears Earth and human life is threatened with total destruction. In both cases, death offers the characters a form of extreme emotional release and all-consuming catharsis.
Von Trier has been connected to the music of Wagner before. The Danish filmmaker was supposed to direct the 2006 production of the "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth but eventually withdrew.
For "Melancholia," adapting the music from "Tristan" fell to Kristian Eidnes Andersen, the sound designer and music arranger on the movie.
Andersen said that Von Trier initially wanted a lot of sad music but eventually settled on the "Tristan" prelude. The music "puts people in a fragile emotional situation ... you open up people's feelings and to the greatness of the world," Andersen said.
The "Tristan" prelude was performed for the movie by the City of Prague Philharmonic. Andersen said that he had a soloist dub over the cello section to provide a more unified sound and to "get more into the emotions." He added that Von Trier wanted to repeat the "Tristan" prelude over the end credits, but they ended up using the opera's Act 3 prelude instead.
"I think people should have after-thoughts and needed a less complex piece," Andersen explained. "This prelude from Act 3 is much simpler."
Andersen acknowledged the movie's debt to Hitchcock's "Vertigo," the soundtrack of which is also based on Wagner's "Tristan."
"[Hitchcock] started it and then we followed," Andersen said. The opera "has big emotions but it's personal. That's what you need in a film score."
LIRE PLUS
But sometimes a soundtrack is more than just a soundtrack. In the case of two recent films -- David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" -- Wagner pervades the scores as well as the story lines, informing the psychology of the characters while adding crucial sonic subtext. To fully understand both films requires an immersion in Wagner's music and ideas.
In Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) enters into an adulterous affair with Sabina Spielrien (Keira Knightley), a young Russian patient suffering from hysteria. Their relationship takes root in a shared fixation on Wagner's "Ring" cycle operas. While they both prefer "Das Rheingold," the first opera in the cycle, it is the third opera, "Siegfried," that plays a key role in the movie.
Wagner's Siegfried is a p**********d Aryan hero, the product of an i********s union between brother and sister. In the movie, Sabina internalizes the myth to an obsessive degree. "The idea was that she would have a sinful relationship with Jung and then give birth to this hero, this heroic Siegfried," Cronenberg explained in a recent interview.
Cronenberg said he researched psychoanalytic circles of the early 20th century. "One of the unique things about these people is that they kind of mythologized themselves," he said. "Their intellectual passions were not just abstract -- they tried to embody them, they tried to bring them into their own lives and live out of them. And so they could very easily see themselves being characters in a Wagnerian opera."
Howard Shore, the Oscar-winning film composer, has scored most of Cronenberg's films. For "A Dangerous Method," he based the soundtrack on Wagner's "Siegfried." "It follows the opera in terms of its overall structure -- I used the bones, if you will, of the opera to create the structure and the arc of the music," Shore said in an interview.
In one sequence, Jung's wife, Emma (Sarah Gadon), gives birth to their first son. But instead of a celebratory scene, the movie cuts to Jung meeting Sabina for an amorous assignation. The sequence is scored to the section of the opera known as the "Siegfried Idyll," which Wagner originally wrote as a gift for his wife, Cosima.
Shore said he chose the "Siegfried Idyll" to show that Jung was a loving man, despite his faults. "He had this strong desire to be with Sabina, but he loved is wife and his family life," he said. For the movie, Shore used a piano arrangement of the "Siegfried Idyll," and the piece is performed by pianist Lang Lang on the soundtrack.
"A Dangerous Method" was written by Christopher Hampton, adapting his play "The Talking Cure," which itself was inspired by the 1993 nonfiction book "A Most Dangerous Method" by John Kerr. As explained in Kerr's book, Sabina's "Siegfried complex" was a complicated neurosis that "stood simultaneously for the son [Sabina] would give Jung and for Jung himself."
In Hampton's original play, Jung says at one point that he admires Wagner's music but not the man himself. For the movie, Cronenberg changed the line so that Jung expresses his admiration for all of Wagner, which would implicitly include the composer's anti-Semitism. (Spielrein was Jewish -- and so, of course, was Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, who ended up mentoring both Spielrein and Jung.)
"David and I had a very long discussion about this," Hampton recalled in an interview. "It was the only single line for which we had a long discussion."
Cronenberg said he had no agenda when it came to the characters: "I have read a lot of Jung and I do not get the impression that he had any problem with Wagner and in particular his anti-Semitism. ... I don't think Jung would be at all bothered by his anti-Semitism because he had a bit of it himself. In the context of the times, you wouldn't think that Jung was anti-Semitic, but in the context of our times, you might well."
The filmmaker added: "We're not trying to rehabilitate [these characters]. If Jung behaved badly in a certain way, then so be it. In other words, we're not looking to create a character who's likable if he's not." "Melancholia," the latest movie from Lars von Trier, takes its thematic inspiration from a different Wagner opera, "Tristan and Isolde." The futuristic movie follows a new bride, Justine (Kirsten Dunst), and her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), through a disastrous wedding reception followed by a cataclysmic end-of-the-world scenario in which a rogue planet named Melancholia crashes into Earth.
A sense of impending annihilation pervades "Melancholia." Von Trier begins the movie with an overture sequence set to the mournful prelude of "Tristan," and he repeats sections of the prelude throughout the film. On the story level, "Melancholia" fully absorbs the opera's themes and ideas, though not in a literal sense.
"Tristan" begins with an u*******g bride being taken to her wedding; "Melancholia" likewise introduces Justine on her way to the wedding reception where it is soon revealed that she suffers from depression and can barely tolerate her new husband (Alexander Skarsgard).
Wagner's opera is a nocturnal reverie -- the illicit lovers meet under cover of night and consummate their love in the small hours of the morning. "Melancholia" is also obsessed with nighttime, with key scenes taking place in the deep of twilight, including the wedding reception, Justine's nude frolic by the water and the first awe-inspiring encounter with the planet Melancholia.
Most significantly, "Melancholia" borrows the opera's central theme of "Liebestod," or "love-death." In the opera, the protagonists escape the mundane by sublimating their love through death. In "Melancholia," Justine reaches a plane of transcendence just as the rogue planet nears Earth and human life is threatened with total destruction. In both cases, death offers the characters a form of extreme emotional release and all-consuming catharsis.
Von Trier has been connected to the music of Wagner before. The Danish filmmaker was supposed to direct the 2006 production of the "Ring" cycle at Bayreuth but eventually withdrew.
For "Melancholia," adapting the music from "Tristan" fell to Kristian Eidnes Andersen, the sound designer and music arranger on the movie.
Andersen said that Von Trier initially wanted a lot of sad music but eventually settled on the "Tristan" prelude. The music "puts people in a fragile emotional situation ... you open up people's feelings and to the greatness of the world," Andersen said.
The "Tristan" prelude was performed for the movie by the City of Prague Philharmonic. Andersen said that he had a soloist dub over the cello section to provide a more unified sound and to "get more into the emotions." He added that Von Trier wanted to repeat the "Tristan" prelude over the end credits, but they ended up using the opera's Act 3 prelude instead.
"I think people should have after-thoughts and needed a less complex piece," Andersen explained. "This prelude from Act 3 is much simpler."
Andersen acknowledged the movie's debt to Hitchcock's "Vertigo," the soundtrack of which is also based on Wagner's "Tristan."
"[Hitchcock] started it and then we followed," Andersen said. The opera "has big emotions but it's personal. That's what you need in a film score."
I want to be spanked.
Best wishes, your ass.
Best wishes, your ass.
He smiled sagely as though he had read my thoughts (my mind) and knew about everything
(as though he knew what was on my mind\what I was thinking about)
(as though he knew what was on my mind\what I was thinking about)