I recently ran across a bit of information provided to me by my blog tool that someone searching Google for a "real life Shortbus salon" ended up clicking on my blog. (I can see where the last 10 people have come from, it’s an imperfect tool but interesting…) Now I have concrete evidence that I’m not the only one…I did the same thing after watching the film. And though they may not all be clicking on my blog, I wonder how many others have searched as well. Shortbus’s portrayal of such a bohemia, wherein art, intellectualism and sex combine is a compelling one. One that people wish for. The question becomes though, is this synergistic utopia possible in real life? Certainly the desire to create is is there, but would attempts fail? Would it become too seedy? too exclusive? or too protested against to really work? Or have we just not tried? I remember reading Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and was amazed at the main character’s final understanding of people and the world. The free love utopia he created, that led to his death, was one that seemed an exciting possibility but ultimately unattainable. Are we, as human, damned to ruin our own utopic dreams? And if they can live for only a short while are they worth creating? worth sacrificing for? This question became so much larger than a revival of 20s Paris salons for the modern age but both questions are interesting.
Can this fun place be made in real life. And if so, when do we start?
