1 month ago
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Dame Jilly Cooper’s new TV show Rivals proves bonking has never been more in fashion.
There’s only one new TV show that opens with a shot of a man’s bare arse cheeks while he’s mid-thrust in an airplane bathroom. This is, of course, the intro to Rivals, an eight-part adaptation of the Jilly Cooper novel now on Hulu. Back in the 1980s, Cooper was the queen of the ‘bonkbuster’ sub-genre… and now we’re getting our shags on screen.
A mere bare bottom is only the tip of the iceberg here. Across the series, viewers are treated to multiple filthy sex montages, a New Year’s Eve orgy, and a game of naked tennis that includes full-frontal male nudity. Almost every character in this bulging ensemble gets it on (yes, that includes our favorite Doctor).
We see all of this in the least politically correct way possible. The women are often objectified for the sake of political point scoring, while the men partake in continuous dick swinging, both metaphorically and physically. It’s the ‘80s, after all.
Yet somehow, this has all spelled out success. The series currently has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with five-star reviews from the likes of The Guardian and The Daily Mail. Striking a chord with fans and critics alike, Rivals has busted the biggest myth going – we actually do want sex scenes on TV, and lots of it.
But why has it taken until now to draw this conclusion? Up until this point, we’ve been adamant as a binge-watching audience that we don’t care for on-screen intimacy. Last year, it was reported that almost half of Gen Z viewers want less sex in their shows… and they’re the ones who grew up on things like Euphoria.
I can hear you saying, “Jasmine, twentysomethings aren’t going to be watching this, let alone enjoying it” – but that’s where you’re wrong. Erin Maxwell from LA Weekly wrote, “Rivals is a risqué romp filled with clever jabs and outstanding performances that offer the right amount of conflict mixed with kink to create a period piece that grabs the attention of audiences.”
Lacy Baugher Milas at Paste agreed the show is “a decadent reminder of television’s glory days.” There are Twitter fancams. There are sexually frustrated young women on socials goading their friends to watch. The hype is there, and it’s truly across the generational board.
Rivals clearly suggests we’re the opposite of sex opposed, and I think I’ve worked out why.
Let’s use myself as an audience case study here. For context, I have a very liberal attitude to sex on screen – but only in a certain way. Typically, a man thrusting his way to the top isn’t going to do anything for me. Like most of us, I want sex to drive the story forward; it can’t be done gratuitously, and for the love of Christ, can we please see women enjoying it!
So why have I fallen head over heels for Rivals, and what makes me think it’s one of the best TV shows of the year? Sure, the cast is filled to the brim with Britain’s acting stalwarts, and there are plenty of fantastic stories that weave together wonderfully (Freddy and Lizzie’s budding romance, anyone?). Still, Rivals’ use of sex plays a huge role in why I’m smitten.
In short, Rivals simply doesn’t give a sh*t about the act itself. There are no taboos here – anyone can do it with anybody else at any given time, and others are able to stumble across the fumbles at will. Think of it as a David Attenborough documentary if his subject was British snobs in a country house.
Disney+Shagging doesn’t automatically equate to “sexy” either. We have routine dutiful sex; we have power plays; we have miscommunication between two people who don’t know how else to connect. In a Jilly Cooper world where sex is everywhere, sex can mean everything.
By the end of Episode 8, you’ve experienced love, lust, and physical intimacy in every possible form, and you’re all the richer for it. You might have laughed like a 12-year-old at the sight of the first on-screen penis, but once you’ve seen more boobs than you know what to do with, you can see through the crudeness into clarity (essentially, that people can be truly terrible).
If anything, we should be applauding Rivals for doing the impossible and making us see shagging sense. We shouldn’t shy away from sex on screen when we’re all doing it (and probably worse) in real life. Instead, we should give in to the pleasure of wanting to see more instead of just quietly thinking about it.
Rivals is available to stream on Hulu now. Check out our top 10 rom-coms of all time, more love triangle drama in Virgin River Season 6, and even more TV shows streaming this month.
The show is also available on Disney+ for UK viewers, so check out upcoming releases on the streaming service too.
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