No, Rosie, It Doesn't Go There ...

I am very seldom if ever rendered speechless, but Channel 4 managed to silence me while watching The 40-Year Old Virgins (C4 Thursday 28 March.)

As with other Channel 4 documentaries its title is a misnomer (eg the patients on Embarrassing Bodies don't usually seem that embarrassed; The Undateables is an unfair, cruel name ) as neither virgin was actually 40. In fact Rosie was a mere 29 years old.

Two people who for various reasons had never gone All The Way as it were, were taken to the US for special therapy sessions. Fair enough. Only these sessions involved them becoming very, very intimate with the therapist. 

Rosie was unimpressed from the off ,which she was never going to get with her 'therapist'. Given his fondness for wearing white socks with denim and him being about 30 years her senior, I can't say I blame her.

Rosie had never shall we say, 'explored' her body or her own sexuality. She was despatched to a local Ann Summers type store where she purchased the and I quote "smallest sex toy in the shop", which she inserted in her ear. No Rosie, it doesn't go there, honey. 
Having 'played' with it she was still bemused by the whole idea of using it and it seemed , by the whole process she was in.

But we're not here to talk about Rosie.

Let's come to Clive. 

Clive clearly was a man battling demons; there was a hint of a 'childhood incident'.
Enter Cheryl, his 68 year old therapist slash 'sex surrogate' (who by the way had the same throw on her couch as Marie in Everybody Loves Raymond, and whose house looks shocked - go back and take a look at the exterior scenes).

After a lot of canoodling and crying and Clive munching a panini in a taxi ,the next thing I knew , Clive was 'cured'. 
You didn't actually see much - just Cheryl's ample white behind jiggling around - so I can't say it was 'graphic' - but I did find it unnecessary for the camera to linger. Where was the blazing fire to pan over to ? Such an important moment for Clive (not that he had too much to do with it except lie back and think of England) and he's sharing it with a camera crew and a million startled sudden voyeurs.
Clive was delighted ,  so much so that he stuck his head out of the taxi window on the way back to his hotel and screamed "I've had seeexxxx!" 

It's hard to know quite what the aim of this programmed was if I'm honest. I felt a surprising lack of empathy for the two participants and I am not sure who it helped - it didn't seem to help Rosie much (although the post script did mention she now has a relationship, but I feel she would probably have worked that out for herself) and not viewers in this situation either. 
The film makers say it was 'tasteful and respectful'. I'm not sure it was either. I feel it reflected the lack of respect for himself that Clive seemed to have.
It made for uncomfortable viewing all in all. Pushing the boundaries of documentary making may be the rationale but I for one won't be watching again.

A final thought goes to the show that followed, Gogglebox (10pm), the highlight of my TV week.
Worth watching anyway- for example, the Siddiqui boys reacting to the piece on the news about curbing immigrants , the teen boy disagreeing with his mum - but  the moment perma-pickled Steph & Dom flipped all the way back on their sofa and disappeared was gold. Catch it if you can.