Polyamorie - Liebe zu dritt

I watched this on Showtime After Dark which carries all the adult softcore content. Lets get the elephant out of the room first - those looking for some, or lots of softcore/hardcore erotic action may be disappointed. Yes there is some good bit of erotic action and the action is almost all of the group sex kind but none of it is for gratuitous titillating viewing. In fact even the frequency of such "action" scenes is low and it is almost always short with quick editing and cuts. But what action there is full frontal with complete nudity. Other more mainstream series - think GOT, Girls, Girlfriend experience etc - or some mainstream movies - have more hardcore action shown. Lets come to the content and plot. Showtime is carrying two seasons with 8 episodes each. The series follows a group of Polyamorists in Southern California (where else!!) - as they juggle their time, families, jobs etc along with following their hearts (& loins) chasing and trying to retain and juggle and negotiate multiple lovers at the same time. And you can expect all combinations of lovers !! Kudos to the entire cast for putting it all "out there" and exposing themselves - literally and emotionally - on national TV holding nothing back. Kudos to the crew directors and everyone for putting together a very slick documentary shot and edited extremely well. Among the main protagonists is Kamala Devi - who is kind of the "Queen Mother" lets say over this commune of Polyamorists. There is a lot of material by her on the internet and mainstream media - check kamaladevi.com. Apparently she has even given TED talks on Sexuality and Polyamory Polyamorists clearly want to differentiate themselves from and keep away from the label of Swingers. The former do not look upon their lifestyle as one for recreational sex. It is one for literally - having many lovers (hence the word) who or which is supposed to enhance your life - and after you watch the series you may find yourself compelled to grant them a few points and arguments. However- and this is also the obvious reason why Polyamory is not and cannot be mainstream - the series neatly skirts all the obvious questions and problems related with legality and possessiveness - most obvious being the children. Also - the TREMENDOUS AMOUNT of discussion and communication - what they call "processing" involved - and the slightest noise or perturbation that can cause emotional flare-ups or jealousy at the least - which they all gamely try to discuss and process their way through and out of - all this makes you think and wonder how emotionally draining all this could be and how much of one's time this might all take up. It all seems a bit too much !! And in fact season 2 ends with one Polyamory live-in threesome seriously reconsidering this Lifestyle. Its hard enough with one family or partner and children etc etc. Imagine now every week or month you are trying to add new "Lovers" to the family .....is this a pursuit or rat race worth being in permanently in the grand scheme of things? Isn't it not enough to settle with one family/spouse/partner - keeping to the elegant philosophy of "Less is More" (as also espoused by the Buddha and other religious leaders in history). Also - you cannot help but think that all this is - at the end of it all - in the service of the itch of an unending Carnal drive - what they euphemistically call NRE - or New Relationship Energy (Great Word Spin there !!! one learns something new every day). :Or - Like the regular monogamous sister of one of the polyamorists comments sarcastically - "Wow! your vagina must be quite sore from all the constant action with all of your lovers". Ouch!! One cannot help but wonder whether this is a very clever and long-term strategy to legitimately and openly have as much sex as possible with as many partners as possible while at the same time not impacting your "primary" family - so why not try and make all of your lovers and sex partners (or f..k buddies) a part of your family too ??? Hmmm ....quite smart and clever if you strip away all of the pseudo spiritual, tantric, new-agey, soft-emotional touchy-feely language that this is all dressed up in, apparently. Great vicarious viewing pleasure, lots of drama - but after two seasons it becomes repetitive. At the end of it all - this cannot match the richness variety complexity and the compelling urgencies of the more regular "monogamous" world which has all the fascinating drama, excitement challenges and adventures you may want - to last you more than many lifetimes. Otherwise good for some entertaining binge watching - definitely a well-done series. I would say worth a look but see and decide for yourself!!!