Women in Love
a film by Karen Everett
Outcast Films
59 minutes, Color, USA, 2005, Video
Author's note: I was recently contacted by Outcast Films to review Karen Everett's latest documentary, Women in Love. This is my review of that film. - Chias
My first impression while watching Karen Everett's film Women in Love was that this was nothing more than a video diary of her sexual escapades and swinging. The more I watched it, however, I began to realize that this wasn't entirely the case. Karen shares with us all of her emotional and raw feelings as she attempts to explore her own sexual and emotional being. As she moves in and out of relationships, going from friend to lover and back again, she begins to realize that it is possible to love more than one person at a time, and to do so in a well balanced and secure manner.
In the early stages of her documented relationships, she equates non-monogamy with sex. She discusses exploring responsible non-monogamy with her current girlfriend, only to find herself doubting her own feelings when this woman falls in love with another. They attempt to navigate this relationship, only to find Karen has become miserable and jealous over her lover's other love. In an attempt to fully understand what polyamory means to others as well as herself she begins attending seminars and conferences dedicated to responsible non-monogamy. Through these seminars she begins to realize the core philosophy of polyamory; that it is possible to feel joy over your lover's other loves and to become more emotionally secure in the process. As a person living in a polyamorous relationship for the last three years, I found myself identifying with the emotional angst Karen felt as she made this journey of self-discovery.
By the end of this film Karen's newfound strength and self confidence shine through and you see that she has made the journey unscathed and more secure in herself and her ability to love beyond the purely sexual aspects.
Karen Everett paints a poignant and emotionally charged picture of love, life, happiness and hurt. By exposing her deepest emotional scars she is able to move beyond the loneliness and insecurity that has fueled most of her life and journey into a more secure, happy environment where responsible non-monogamy plays a large role. The raw, unedited video and photography mesh perfectly with the candid, uncensored interviews to create an emotionally charged documentary of life in it's most basic form.
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