6 reasons to watch Christiane Amanpour: Sex and Love Around the World
World-renown CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour travels around the world discovering what sex and love mean to different cultures. Here are six reasons Sex & Love Around the World is a must-watch.
For those who don’t know, Christiane Maria Heideh Amanpour is the world’s sweetheart of journalism. The British-Iranian reporter, television host, and Chief International Anchor is no stranger to world travel. Her work as a foreign correspondent and conflict reporter made the journalist’s storytelling famous while also taking CNN news coverage to a whole new level. But Amanpour is also known for her love of cultures and what makes them tick–a passion she put into practice with her new series Sex & Love Around the World.
Now streaming on Netflix, Christiane Amanpour: Sex and Love Around the World was a more-than-daring idea, favored by the journalism pedigree Amanpour, well, all around the world. While the U.S., not surprisingly, is highly progressive when it comes to attitudes towards love, and more conservative towards approaches to sex, other counties tend to have an opposite approach.
Whether or not Amanpour intentionally made the show’s title open to interpretation, sending shock waves through most people’s systems with those two blush-inducing words–sex and love–this show is not what you might think. This series is not about how-tos for sex or delving into the back alleyways of foreign sex industries. It’s a show about people, how their culture influences the way they love, and how they’re choosing to love is beginning to influence their cultures.
True, this is not is definitely not family-friendly and there are subjects Amanpour tackles that are hard to take. But there’s also a magnificent beauty that’s expressed in this show through Amanpour’s travels to Tokyo, Delhi, Beirut and more. That’s why we have six reasons you absolutely have to watch CNN’s Sex & Love Around The World.
It’s culture under the microscope
From Asia, to the Middle East, to Africa, there are so many different groups of people Amanpour unpacks and reflects on during the show’s six 40-minute episodes. While social justice may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about sex and love, that’s the first thought on the minds of everyone Amanpour interviews in her series.
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In Tokyo, Christiane Amanpour discovers a majority of men and women never saw their parents hug, kiss or say I love you. In Dhelhi, she interviews transgender individuals who are treated as wish genies on the street, then ostracized in everyday society. In Beirut, women are not allowed to request a divorce, but their husbands can dictate when, where, and how often their wives can see their own children. Really, this show is more about the social norms that have suffocated these individuals’ any decent chance at a healthy love life.
But underneath the oppression, frustration and segregation are groups of people looking to lift people out of the war trenches–Tokyo hosting events for men to literally scream “I love you!” to their families, couples photo shoots in Shanghai, sex education clinics for soon-to-be-married Arabic women. These countries and cities have harsh histories, but Amanpour seeks to spotlight the brave men and women looking to bring joy and color to their communities and those who suffer in silence.
Ok, peeps. I am watching "Sex and Love Around the World" with @camanpour on @Netflix_CA and it is EXCELLENT. I'm on episode 2 right now and I am really interested to see where the series goes.
— KatzeHalifornia (@katzehalifornia) December 14, 2018
Christiane Amanpour's bewildered delight learning about BDSM is everything.
It’s challenging the meaning of love, sex and the difference between them
In Sex & Love Around the World, these cultures view sex and love as often being mutually exclusive. Love is about providing for your family, keeping them safe, and expressing appreciation for the little things. Sex, however, is something else entirely. While for many American cultures, sex is a physical expression of love, for some, it’s an unattainable fantasy or a pleasure outlet separate from their marriages.
There are actually men and women who are embarrassed to be intimate both physically and emotionally with their partners. As one woman said in Amanpour’s segment on Tokyo, “It’s just not something we talk about.” For them, happiness is about basic necessities. It’s not about romance or passion.
But the beautiful thing about Christiane Amanpour and how she approaches these discussions is she doesn’t back down. Though always kind, she never accepts a shrug or side glance for an answer. She — as much as any journalist can — plays relationship counselor advocate for many of these men and women, listening intently to their stories and then encouraging them to change the system. While these communities have been trained to separate sex and love, Amanpour blurs the divide.
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It’s getting to know the world intimately through your TV screen
What is most striking about this show is the moments men and women tear up, getting emotional about being given permission for the first time in their lives to talk about what they want in a relationship. A majority of Amanpour’s interviews are with everyday men and women, going through struggles with sexless marriages, and arranged marriages and one-sided divorces. While these concepts might be shocking to us, it’s completely normal to them.
Amanpour does feature many doctors, entertainment workers and historians on her show, but her true goal, with every episode, it to cut to the core of these cities and figure out the root of their social structure. There is no better learning experience then getting out into the world and experiencing life first-hand, but Amanour comes as close as it gets to bringing the world to viewers, offering virtually uncensored interviews of what people really think about sex and love in their own lives.
It’s about breaking out of cultural bondage
LGBT poetry nights, all-female biker groups and protest marches against sexual assault are just a few of the many progressive groups Amanpour interviews. Despite conservative upbringings and conditioned to keep silent, men and women are charging out of the woodwork and breaking free of their cultural bondage.
Sex & Love Around the World not only talks about the different individuals of different heritages have on sex and love, but also the commonality these citizens seem to share in wanting a change. And they are not waiting for that shift to happen on its own, couples young and old are banding together to show love triumphs over familial expectations and that happiness can be had for those willing to have the tough conversations.
In almost every episode, the desperate desire for a change when it comes to sex and love is evident and Amanpour seems to be playing a part in making sure that hope doesn’t go unnoticed.
It’s the best cinematography since Planet Earth
On a less philosophical note, the visuals of glitter bomb dance clubs, crystal chandeliers, and interpretive dance numbers is absolutely unreal. Plus, the close-up camera shots of individual’s eyes, mouths and hands capture perfectly the emotion that they try so hard to hide with carefully chosen words.
Almost everything is beautiful and captivating in this show, the cinematography adding so much depth to each person’s stories. One of the most powerful shots is of a young woman from Beirut, married at 18 and divorced at 22. She holds tightly to a drawing her two-year-old son, who she only gets to see once a week made for her.
While documentaries like Planet Earth nailed the jaw-dropping landscape shots, Christiane Amanpour’s team hones in on emotion with their close-ups. Not everything is shiny and perfect, like the crystal chandeliers in Tokyo’s host club, but that’s what makes this show truly stunning. You get the good, the bad and the ugly, which amounts to a fabulously human story.
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It’s the essence of good journalism and emotional storytelling
The cherry on the top of this apologetically flavorful show is Christiane Amanpour’s both personable and unbias involvement with each subject tackled in this series. There’s sincerity in all her questions, an honest and strong desire to understand and a clear sympathy for each person Amanpour meets. However, not once does she insert her own opinions or close her mind to what other people have to say.
She puts her sources first, she puts these cities and its citizens first and does her best to engage while also taking a back seat and letting these dancers, photographers, mothers, wives, husbands, fathers, business owners and change makers take center stage. Amanpour puts these people’s voices at the forefront of the world because, even if it’s a little uncomfortable, it’s the price of freedom.
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For those of you who have seen Christiane Amanpour’s Sex & Love Around the World, what are some of your favorite episodes? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Christiane Amanpour’s Sex & Love Around the World is now available on Netflix.