Connecting "The Lobster" and "The Museum of Sex"; Societal Norms and Expectations

            I visited the Museum of Sex in New York City and it was an experience I will never forget. There is a wide range of exhibitions that are dedicated to exploring human sexuality. This was a very relevant place to visit because I am taking “Texts and Contexts: What is Love?” this semester. There were some interesting sculptures, artifacts, and pieces of art as I was roaming around this museum. I had certain expectations and assumptions of what the museum was going to be like, and it exceeded my expectations. I thought it was a really cool experience and I would love to go back in the future.

I can relate this to just about any book we have read or film we have watched in this class because of how much it relates to love and romance, something that we have been focusing a lot on this semester. There have been moments and each film or book that we have examined that I can relate to when walking through the museum. One film that I can specifically relate to this museum is the film The Lobster, which was a film we watched earlier this semester. This film is set in a near-future society where single people are forced to find romantic partners within 45 days or else they will be turned into an animal of their choosing. There are many scenes throughout this film that are very dramatic and visual. This can be related to the museum because the Museum of Sex is dramatic and visual just like the film, and the museum pulls you in with all of the pieces that you are seeing throughout it. A person watching The Lobster is able to hone in on the movie because of how over-exaggerated the scenes are. 

Both "The Lobster" and The Museum of Sex demonstrate the ways in which societal norms allow us to form certain expectations when it comes to sex, love, and relationships. In "The Lobster," the characters have to follow certain rules and are forced to find a romantic partner, while at the Museum of Sex, visitors learn about sexual norms from the past and the present. "The Lobster" and The Museum of Sex focus on the individual experience when it comes to sexuality and relationships. In this film, the characters are pushed to find a partner who shares a similar trait within their personality or appearance, regardless of whether they connect on a romantic level. Similar to this concept, the Museum of Sex focuses on the importance of personal exploration and education when it comes to sex and sexuality, rather than following societal norms. An obvious connection between the film and the museum is that they both have elements of sex and romance throughout them. In the film, we see romance building between certain people and sexual interactions among the characters. In the museum, we see sculptures that represent sex and how it has evolved over time. Overall, I believe that both the film “The Lobster” and The Museum of Sex can be related in multiple ways as well as other films and books we have studied so far this semester.