The 2002 film “40 Days and 40 Nights“
is by no means a spectacular work of art, but with it being Lent and
all, it is timely. For Lent, Matt (Josh Hartnett) gives up “sex and all
things sex-like” in response to a bad breakup. And then the rest of the
movie reveals just how sex-obsessed Matt and the rest of San Francisco
are.
In fact, the city is so obsessed with sex that even the
clergy can’t control themselves. Women wear mini-skirts in the
workplace (is that kosher?). Matt’s roommate has an impressive
collection of mainstream porn. Matt’s alt love interest Erica (Shannyn
Sossamon) just wants to bone already. Matt’s dot-com coworkers place
bets on when Matt will break–no mention of how lucky they were to
survive the dot-com bust though. No gays, but everyone knows they boink
like bunnies anyway, right?
It could be said that “40 Days”
exaggerates the city’s relationship to sex, but it is true that San
Francisco cares deeply about sexuality. We have the Center for Sex and Culture, Good Vibrations (NSFW), local queer porn companies, sex writers, the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality–the
list could go on. But what the film gets wrong is how some San
Franciscans (namely, the liberal, sex-positive, possibly feminist
denizens) view sex.
At the end of the movie, in the last hour of
his vow, Matt is asleep, handcuffed to his bed frame to prevent any
chance of getting his hands on his own junk. Matt’s ex sneaks into the
apartment and rapes him while he is still asleep. The rape, however, is
never recognized as rape by anyone in the film and not because of some
denial deal either. It’s just not rape. Erica finds out, gets mad at
Matt. They make up. Would the rape go unnoticed in the San Francisco we
know? It certainly strikes a chord with the viewer. This isn’t a sad,
unfortunate moment for Matt; this is an incredibly uncomfortable and
confusing moment that merits much more of an aftermath and reflection
than it receives.
But in some places, “40 Days” gets it right,
and that place is Erica. She’s spunky, sassy, and sarcastic: a perfect
display of the city’s
