Sarah Baker and I

Day 10

My day of rest.  I spend my last day at home reflecting on the time i’ve spent with Sarah.

From a personal point of view. Living in a small house made living with Sarah extremely hard at first, i felt that as an entity she was evading my personal space and the fact that i was constantly surrounded by her meant that this intervention was a full time situation. 

Initially carrying Sarah around i felt extremely self conscious, and as the days unfolded i went from being self conscious, to being defensive, defending her presence to friends and strangers, to being completely happy go lucky in the last three days..

My intervention guided me down a few roads i never expected to go down, figuritevely and literally (changing my route to school). My initial intention was to create the illusion that i was serious about sarah as a lover, gauging subsequent reactions. But as my intervention developed i realise that unless people actually spoke to me they wouldn’t have known that i was claiming to be in a relationship with her. Their point of view would be that i was airing my ‘dirty laundry’ in public. It was important to gauge their reactions as well, but my primary focus was on creating an identify for Sarah and being in a relationship with her. 

Sarah’s total friends by the end of day 10

average of about 3 new friends a day, i also need to mention that not once did people direct messages to me on Sarahs wall. these were a few of the wallposts i enjoyed 

and on one occasion, when Sarah and i attended a party themed ‘dressed to get sexed’, Sarah received this message a day before before: 

Was this girl possibly concerned that she and Sarah would wear the same outfit? Sadly this it may be plausible.

During Vega hours Sarah was praised and treated as a celebrity, but out on the street and in the real world, things were a little different. HOW SO you may be asking? well just hold on to your seat, i’m about to tell you. In the duration of the past 10 days, i have:

• nearly been arrested (3 times)
• spread against a wall and searched for drugs 
• confronted by a group of angry individuals 
• caused an entire shopping center to go completely silent on arrival
• convinced a group of bouncers Sarah was old enough to enter their club 

I will admit that at a certain point i was ready to ask Richard for a note explaining that Sarah was part of a college project, but i’m certainly glad i didn’t. By never admitting the truth about Sarah, i stayed true to my intervention and gathered data which would have otherwise been corrupted. How i feel about the police at this point is something i will leave for another project, but i do think they need to employ guys with a little more intellectual capacity, because a logical conversation with a south african policeman is about as rare as a white soccer player in our national team. 

The strongest lesson i shall take away from my intervention is honestly not to take things so personally. Half the time people know so little about you as an individual, or the context of the motives behind your actions, that their judgments are not only inadequately rectified but just plain incorrect. 

And that concludes my ten day intervention, thanks for reading, you stay classy San Diego.

Day 9

Today i introduced Sarah to a gay friend of mine. His reaction to Sarah prompted me to come straight to my blog and record what just happened. 

(gay friend Dylan walks past me, pauses for a moment, staring straight at sarah, before continuing to walk straight passed her, choosing not to address her presence) 

Me: Dylan this is Sarah, Sarah say hi 

(Sarah seems off put by Dylan’s initial reaction, and decides to remain silent. I pick up Sarah and point her hand in his direction, noticing sarah’s hands have no fingers) 

Dylan: Im not going to touch that thing, you’ve probaly had sex with it!

Me: But you’ve shook hands with all my previous girlfriends, and i’ve had sex with them?!

(Dylan produced a death stare, gives Sarah a once over, and then walks away)

Me: You’ve hurt my feelings and Sarahs!

(later, Sarah recievs this wall post from Dylan on Facebook)

clearly he felt bad, and i found his wall post ever so sweet. It goes without saying that Sarah never followed up on the cocktail offer. In fact that just sounds like the start of a bad joke … “what do you get when you cross a blow up doll and a gay male having drinks at a bar” 

hardiharhar. 

Today i told my domestic worker that Sarah will be leaving Cape Town to go back home, at this point i think he genuinely hates me. For the past ten days all my food has had a bitter taste to it, hopefully he’s just been trying out a new type of salt? Friends all said goodbye to sarah, most just gave her pat on back, followed an over exaggerated wink in my direction. i maintain my act and respond with an awkward blank stair. The sort you give to a stranger who has just waved at you. Tomorrow is my resting day and so i will be relaxing at home. 

Day 8

Carrying Sarah around with me, everywhere i go, for the past eight days has taught me a few valuable lessons which i hope to keep with me for life. Wayne Dyer once said “Never judge a man’s actions until you know his motives”. This is so relevant to my intervention, and probably all of my peers’ interventions also. You see a boy walking down a street with a clothed blow up doll and you’re assumptions automatically kick in, and in your mind he could be anyone from a sexual predator to a harmless jokester. What you don’t know is that the response that the blow up doll has triggered in you is being quietly observed by this boy, and that he is not some sexual creep, nor a idiotic jokester, but rather a researcher conducting primary infield research. I do however empathise with our society, for this predisposition to collect information based on the visual elements of our selected subject is encouraged (in my humble opinion) by the media and the way it critically judges society. I have had fun making people uncomfortable though, i have to say. A large portion of my intervention relied heavily on Facebook; people befriending Sarah, observing her online relationship with me and interacting with her online. But a large portion of my intervention also involved simply waking around with sarah in the streets and gauging the responses, those people would have no idea that her and i were in a relationship on facebook or that i claimed she was my partner, instead their viewpoint on her would start at her role in society, as a sex toy, and their thoughts and opinions would then continue from that point. In essence there are two groups from which i am collecting information during my intervention: the first group is those who do not engage with sarah and i (and subsequently will not receive in invite from her), the second are those who do engage with sarah (and subsequently receive an invite from sarah online, allowing a personal relationship to form). 

Right, now on to todays affairs.

Today i was approached by a group of african christians while on a walk to Vega. They were deeply offended by Sarah’s presence. They began preaching to me, informing me of my sin. i decided to play along. As the religious group of Africans slandered me with religious text i cleared my throat and announced as loudly as i could that there was no need to worry, because Sarah was not only baptised but also a Catholic! Having taken the bait, the group of saintly individuals quickly turned into an angry mob, oh how quickly religion went out the window. I tried to provoke them further but if you’ve ever been to an African wedding you will understand how loud a group of Africans can be. I thought about my russian friend Bogdan who had once accidently overshot a tennis ball over the court out onto the streets, hitting a group of passing domestic woman. To make a short story even shorter we made a quick escape when the ‘big mammas’ began trying to climb over the tennis courts meshed fence. When that small memory reached the end of its reel i focused back in on my now awkward situation, and immediately made a dash across the street towards a group of passing students. To my suprise the mob did not follow but instead remained on their side of the rode, where words that have no place in the church were fired at me. I turned around and had a little giggle before quickly rushing off to vega. another fun day 

Day 7

today i took Sarah to the butcher. No, not to prematurely end our ten day relationship, but rather to buy my weekly serving of meat. Did i expect to cause havoc walking into a butchery with a blow up doll? yes. Was i in the mood to provoke people today? yes. 

unfortunately, the butcher is a rather unfriendly russian bloke who strikes me as the kind of chap who developed an alcohol problem from a young age and subsequently failed all his grades and having to commit small time crimes in order to earn the daily wager. Ten years later he walks out of jail, buys a ticket to South Africa and tries to get as far away from Russia as possible. He picks up a small time job as a butcher, which is just enough to pay for his flat rent, cat food for cat named Bogdan, and relationship with Jack Daniels. Life is simple, just the way he wants it.

this is him when he is happy

this is him when he is angry 

this is him when he is surprised 

you get the picture. we did not talk about sarah. in fact i walked in and suddenly remembered how scary he was and felt myself deflating, before relising it was actually sarah, who’s valve had opened up somehow.

alas. later on when i went into school my friends all greeted sarah and i, which was nice. im finding the social pressure slightly relieved off my shoulders, people arnt comenting on what im wearing or what mood i seem to be in. its a relief. Also, the security guard at my appartments now greets myself and Sarah.

an awkward “Good evening Sir”, is followed by a resentfull  ”Good evening Madam”. Poor guy. His culture as a xhosa is already so different to mine, this one has definitely thrown him out the ball park. 

Day 6

Helping me address Societies idealism’s concerning traditional relationships between a man and woman, A man who lives in Tokyo by the name Sal9000  (refuses to release his birth name) married a videogame character Nene Anegasaki  in the Nintendo DS game called “Love Plus.”

At the wedding Sal wore a white tux, while a real priest performed the ceremony  in front of some friends and thousands of Web users watching online.

when asked about whether he can love an electronic device Sal replied ”I love this character, not a machine. I understand 100 percent that this is a game. I understand very well that I cannot marry her physically or legally.” 

From my understanding this is a perfect example of how divers human society is becoming. I do think that people will disagree with the marriage of a human and a virtual character, but that doesn’t prevent Sal from his human rights, and in the end he is able to marry the person he loves. 

Another extreme case involved a man named Chadil Deffy, also known as Deff Yingyuen, who held a wedding ceremony with his dead girlfriend Sarinya “Anne” Kamsook at her funeral service.  The couple had been together for 10 years and had apparently been speaking of marriage increasingly up until Sarinya was involved in a major car accident which took her life

I Read at http://www.inquisitr.com/185642/thai-man-marries-his-dead-girlfriend-at-her-funeral/#gYpQFuOrdzLwYBli.99

What interested me about this case was that, firstly, it was a case where a man was technically marrying someone who was no longer alive. And as harsh as this question sounds, what is the difference between a non - living person and a non - living object?

In both of the cases above marriage, an extremely traditional ceremony, unionised a couple where one of the partners was technically lifeless. How do people look at these men? and is their role is society affected by their actions? 

on the article about the chap marrying his dead lover, these were some of the replies 

• “dat is love…n nothink creepy about it…caz most men only commit 2 a woman because of sex…but tiz man really love his girlfriend n commit 2 her even thought she’s gone…n I really 2 admire him keeping his word…my condolences <tears>”
• “I think its sad and weird/creepy at the sametime just my opinion”
• “Really romantic….”

Day 5

As each day passes i feel my ‘creepo meter’ increasing by the thousands. By that i mean that the people i walk past every day ie the newspaper sellers, the builders, the people that work in the same building as vega and so on have all kinda stopped chuckling at the funny guy carrying around the sex toy and instead reach for their pepper sprays or even so much as cross the road as i walk past. OK. so it’s not that bad. but i want you to imagen a face, with two eyes, and a mouth. Imagen that face extremely entertained, shining with delight, a face that would build a house made out of rainbows, and give it away, for free. That is the faces that i saw reacting to Sarah and i on previous days. and now? now this is what i get 

Never the less i will persist. I imagine people are now simply genuinely concerned. The sort of concerned that ones parents get when their child comes home with a nose ring. or a tattoo, with their partners name of two weeks tattooed on their forearm. 

I imagen this is what some people are thinking:

• shame that poor boy, he must be so lonely 
• haha. wait. why is he still carrying her around. is he actually serious. i wonder what’s for dinner. 
• What a sad little boy. Did his parents neglect him as a child? He’s lucky he gets to have sex with her when ever he wants though … wait. stop thinking such dirty thoughts. 
• that bloody little shit is trying to be clever again (police) 

oh yes, i’ve also had to change the route i walk to school to avoid police. I now take the back roads, along with illegal immigrants and fairy tale creatures. 

Day 4

Carrying Sarah around is starting to become routine, initially there were times when leaving a space i had just been in and would then have to sprint back to get her in complete paranoia that someone had penetrated her with a sharp object (excuse the pun).

I’ve observed a personal change over the past four days; i’ve been having a great deal of fun, interacting with people and watching the world watch me. Given a normal day in my life i am constantly rushing to meet my schedule, and that leaves little time to observe the world around me. I mentioned earlier that Cape Town has definitely got some very interesting characters, and over the past couple of days the term ‘local is lekker’ has contextualized itself to me very clearly. Ironic, how an lifeless object can make you live life a little more on the edge. 

Today i found a nice little intervention that i believed to be relevant to Sarah Baker And I. ‘Just Watch Me’ was a piece of street theater performed on the streets of Toronto in an attempt to highlight the inaffectiveness of CCTV, especially when compared to live, on the ground police officers. More specifically, ‘Just Watch Me’ was performed in a response to two separate cases in which the shooting and killing of two individuals during the year of 2007 was recorded on CCTV with no subsequent charge or even arrest. 

The first thought that came to mind when i saw these images was how utterly out of place the blow up doll seemed in that environment. The use of the blow up doll in this circumstance is actually ironic, because she is playing the role of a living person who has just been murdered, but in reality she, as a blow up doll, never actually lived in the first place. Because of the irony, we are automatically reminded by our frame of reference that the blow up doll is simply a representation of a woman. From a theatrical point of view i think the piece is flawed, but there are elements about this piece that interest me. The first is how the blow up doll has been clothed. Did the people who arranged the street performance feel that in clothing the blow up doll, the previous and original connotation that the doll possessed as a sex toy would be changed in some way? And if they felt that in order for people to identify her as a murder victim all they simply had to do was cloth and throw a blood red liquid over her, then why can’t i dress a blow up doll in some nice clothes, Name her Sarah, Make her a facebook profile and call her my girlfriend? The answer? The answer is i can. In fact i already have. And this is why i found ‘Just Watch Me’ so interesting, because it made me realise that i can’t change the way people think or feel, what i can do is i can influence it, and if i influence them enough then, and only then, perhaps will they change. I read a quote the other day that said “Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others”. The point is not to change them, the point is show them that i, as an individual, have the power and capability to question what has been laid out in front of me by my predecessors. And if, by some miracle, a witness of my actions goes home, eats dinner, has a shower, lies in bed, and just before they fall asleep, remembers sarah and myself. Then i am happy, because for a moment in somebody’s life, what i am fighting for, at this very moment, was actually considered. 

Day3

Last night was unbelievably fun. The bouncers didn’t need much convincing, and once we were inside Sarah attracted dozens of people. I knew that Sarah would be welcomed into an environment where alcohol is being consumed and the people are having a good time. I hardly paid for liquor because everyone was buying me shots. Something that i found very strange was that out of the 6 people that bought me a drink, 4 of them bought me 2, one for me and one for sarah. Subconsciously they were identifying Sarah as a real person, but weather this was because they were drunk or sober is debatable.

Today i decided to take Sarah grocery shopping with me. It wasn’t until we entered the Pick N pay at the waterfront that i remembered just how busy that particular Pick n Pay gets on the weekends. Walking in with sarah under my arm, i stirred the sort of reaction that i believe Brad and Angelina would get when walking in to an african orphanages. At one point, in the dairy isle, a woman in an overly sized, badly knitted jersey, became so fixed on us that she crashed her trolley into an elderly man. when i reached the pharmecy   section of the PnP i made my way over to the womans skin care products and proceeded to ask one of the assistants which facewash would suit Sarah’s dry sensitive skin. This is how he looked at me 

And then this conversation unfolded:

Me: (taps short sales assistant on shoulder. Sales assistant turns around and immediately freezes. at this point i feel as if i have an imaginary gun pointed at him while he has his life flashing before his eyes) erm …. sorry, i was just wondering which product would best suit my girlfriends skin, you see she has a very sensitive skin and i dont want to use the wrong product

Sales assistant: …………………………………………………..

me: (proceeding to hold up the bottle of Nivia facial wash in one hand and Johnsons and Johsons in the other) which one is better for her skin)

Sales assistant: I would …. i would say that the …. Nivia … is …the Nivia is the best option for her … Sir

Me: Thanks a mil. (The assistant remains completely motionless, and i notice a bead of sweat drip from his forehead onto his blue jersey.As i walk away he releases a large sign, the type that one releases after the hypothetical socially awkward gun that has been pointing at you for no less then a minute is receded back into its holster once more)

I pay for the groceries and resentfully leave the VNA, what a pitty … i was having such fun. 

I spent the rest of the day by the pool. I live in a block of flats so the pool is communal. I lay Sarah out a towel next to me and we both sun bathed for a couple of hours. During our stay a family of five came down to have a swim. Two Parents and three kids. The kids asked if they could ride Sarah in the pool. I assumed, given their young age, that their parents hadn’t yet given them the ‘birds and the bees speech’, and subsequently the children weren’t even slightly aware of how the toy was used in other circumstances. I told them they could take her for a swim and they had a great deal of fun, their parents didn’t look bothered at all. I found the situation very interesting because what sarah normally signifies in society was not at all what she signified at that particular moment. The children related her to some sort of a decorative lylo. That sort of innocence is always refreshing

Day 2

04:00 am

Sometimes it feels awkward when im doing something and i look up to see sarah staring at me- its a personal space thing. For this reason she is now ban from the bathroom during shower times and daily ablutions. Introduced Sarah to neighbors late last night and they loved her, they even invited us over for a braai? They’ve never invited me over for a braai before…. am i the onlt one that finds this strange? does the fact that i carry sarah around play on my image to the extent that it changes people’s perception on me? enough to invite me into their home after ignoring me for the better half of the year. 

Possible reasons they want to have us over for a braai:

1. They have some sort of weird fetish for blow up dolls and want to use sarah in some bizarre ritual
2. They think that i am an extremely sad person and want to spend an evening laughing at me
3. They think i’m a funny guy and want to socialize with me
4. They felt awkward inviting me over while i was single  

Anyway. Im off to bed again. 

11:00am 

Went to Wynberg to get a new earring, took sarah with me.  Policemen stop me in the street, question me before putting me against a wall and searching me for drugs. They also deflated sarah and warned me not to walk with her in the street. This time the encounter with the police was not humorous, in fact they handled me in a way that was meant to embarrass me - not impressed. I then arrive at school and someone tries to validate the police’s actions - it highly annoyed me, just because the police handled the situation indecently and their actions were inexcusable. I’m starting to feel angry towards people who judge my intervention without any knowledge of my concept - but then again, are we as a society programed to judge based on what we see? Can we be blamed for it? I put the clothes sarah was wearing in my bag when the police deflated her, when i got to school and blew her up i found it necessary to cloth her straight away. Something i thought about was, if Sarah is merely a representation of a female, then why do i feel the need to cloth her when she is naked? Because i don’t feel that way about a sculpture of a naked woman. So perhaps the connotation of Sarah changes in my mind when i put clothes on her, perhaps she demonstrates higher value when she has clothes on. So clothes definitely play a part in terms of how we as people perceive value. If the front of the box that i bought sarah in displayed a classy woman in a turtle neck and stripped pants instead of a half naked woman in kinky underwear, would that change the connotation of Sarah. I want to try an experiment where i cover sarah up in as much clothes as possible, will this change people’s reaction in any way? lets wait and see… 

tonight I’m taking sarah out with us to go clubbing, i’m interested to gauge the reaction of the bouncers, not only to Sarah’s presence but also my justification if they decline our attempt to enter the club.

Here’s a picture of me buying Sarah in adult World, notice how sexual the image is

along with the text. Later in the week i may do a mock up with a more innocent looking female package ;)

Day 1 

09:00am

I wake up to my domestic worker standing at the edge of my bed staring horrifically at the space to my immediate left, naturally, i quickly look over my shoulder and almost scream with horror as i lay eyes on Sarah, resting casually under the blanket next to me. Freezing with utter embarrassment the room began to descend into a deathly silence (the type reserved for moments like this, where ones domestic walks in on you and your favorite sex toy). The domestic worker discretely savors the moment before resentfully breaking the ice…

Ishmail (the domestic worker): Good morning sir, sorry to disturb you and your friend, can i please make the bed?

Me: Oh yes Ish thats perfect, please do. Oh and this is my girlfriend Sarah, she’s visiting me for ten days, please make sure you clean the house nicely for us today. 

(Ishmail smiles awkwardly, and being half asleep i am not sure if he thinks i am completely mad or if he finds the situation so strange that he’s just kinda, going with it. 

I make my way over to my computer to review the image i uploaded last night of sarah and myself

Right, so no one showed up at my front door with pitch forks and burning torches, and the general response to this upload had a humorous tone. I would however like to address a few factual elements: 

• Out of the 12 likes received up to this point, only 3 were made by females
• Out of the 8 comments received up to this point, only 3 were made by females
• A quick mathematical equation tells me that within the first 12 hours only 30% of the interaction were from females as opposed to a whopping 70% males. 

I think its important to question why there was such a contrast between the amount of females that responded compared to the amount of males that responded. Did they feel offended? And if so why? this is something i will bookmark and refer to when gauging the responses i get from females during real time interaction.

After gauging the publics response, i feel confident enough to launch my relationship with Sarah publicly, online. Im interested to see the responses as the days commence

That reminds me, here is a screenshot of Sarah’s Facebook page 

11:00am

i decided to take sarah for a walk to the garage, i needed to buy some milk and felt guilty leaving her at home. Along the way a police car drove past me, i tensed up and relaxed as it turned the corner, only to find that they were doing a U-turn. The police car pulled up next to me and a conversation between the police officer and myself developed as follows:

Police Officer (around five foot, gold earing, front gold teeth. Well spoken with well positioned clean looking blue hat): Are you trying to be funny?

Me: (searching around me for an individual attempting to be funny) 

Police Officer: Yes, You! You’re not allowed to carry that thing around!

Me: What thing? Me and my girlfriend are just taking a walk

(The police officer turns off the engine and attempts what i believe is called a bluff in poker terms, by opening his door half way and then gauging my face for a reaction. I do not give him one. He then holds his position with one foot on the ground and the door half open - a sort of half squat which leaves him an an awkward looking position)

Police Officer: Look here, Don’t try act clever! Do you want me to arrest you for public indecency!?

Me: why? I’m not behaving indecently in any way?

Police Officer: That thing is! (pointing to Sarah)

Me: but if she is just a ‘thing’ then she has no human rights, and if she has no human rights she can’t be charged with public incessancy. Now if i’m not doing anything wrong and neither is she, do you mind if we continue our walk?

(I am utterly convinced at this point that i will be arrested, and while i break out in a cold sweat and i feel the tingle of adrenaline rush through my body a small argument proceeds to commence between the police officer i was talking to and the police officer in the passenger seat of the patrol car. the police officer then tells me i can go, i cross the road and a minute later the squadron vehicle drives past me, and as it does so the police officer in the passenger seat, a middle aged chubby colored male, gives me an enthusiastic wink before muttering out what i believe was a chuckle ). 

before i left to get the milk I was worried about the cashiers reaction, but after that today was a walk in the park

14:00-16:00

Went into university to hand in a project, lots of questions from the younger students. I did not reply to those who referred to Sarah as an object, and introduced Sarah to the students who were accommodating. Sarah now has six new friends. 

Final thoughts and feelings about day one

I feel extremely uncomfortable walking in Cape Town city center. Capetonians are loud and proud, and there isn’t a moment where someone isn’t voicing their opinion. Of all the opinions i heard on the street today, these were the ones i found most compelling

• Is that your son? i mean … urm … girlfriend?
• Can i give her a kiss 
• Why don’t you buy the lady a nice pretty dress (a salesman from a small road side stall)

What i imagine will happen is that as the days develop people will either become more comfortable with Sarah’s presence or they will become more uncomfortable, and question my intentions with her over the sustained period. Over all people were very accepting and even offered to hold her while i was busy. Im ready to hit the sack, too bad sarah takes up so much space in the bed!

Introduction

Welcome to ‘Sarah Baker And I’. 

Foreword

 Modern day societies are governed by laws which place an extensive amount of emphasis on the rights that individuals have as human beings, subsequently allowing people a much greater amount of freedom to express themselves as an individual then ever before. But just how diverse is our society? Who decides where to draw the line between what is considered socially acceptable and what is not, and more importantly, who has the right to make such decisions?

This blog has been created in an attempt to follow a ten-day intervention in which I, Morgan Mulvaney, confront what society defines as a traditional relationship between a male and a female.

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” 

(Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

What My intervention Entails


Essentially I will be entering into a ten day relationship with a blow up doll. The relationship will be advertised publicly on Facebook and to anyone whom i personally encounter. In an attempt to create an identity beyond being simply an object, I have named the blow up doll Sarah Baker. I have also created a Facebook page for her that includes her likes and dislikes, interests and activities as well as her religious and political views.

To further personalise Sarah Bakers identity, anyone who personally interacts with Sarah and I during our ten days will receive a Facebook invite From Sarah. This will create the illusion of a personal relationship between the individual and Sarah. 

My personal relationship entails Sarah and I acting as any other normal couple would; we will live together, sleep in the same bed together, attend Vega together, visit my friends together and even socially mingle together. 

There are boundaries to our relationship, I will not be taking Sarah with me to the gym, as I would not traditionally take a girlfriend to the gym, and I will not be participating in any sexual act with her. With that being said, for the next ten days I will act completely serious about my relationship with Sarah, disregarding her role in society as a sex toy and instead treating her not only as a human being but also as a potential life partner.

Inspiration

Lars and the Real Girl.

Here’s a nice review written by Derek Armstrong:

“Lars (Ryan Gosling) and Gus (Paul Schneider) are the grown children of a father who died recently and a mother who died giving birth to Lars. But as brothers, they couldn’t be more different. While Gus lives in the family home and has a loving wife (Emily Mortimer) and a child on the way, Lars leads a more reclusive existence in the family’s garage, hiding in plain sight of his small, wintry hometown. Painfully shy and eccentric, Lars fails to recognize that his co-worker Margo (Kelli Garner) has a major crush on him, and he picks up on a casual reference made by his cubicle mate, who mentions a website where you can order life-sized, anatomically correct sex dolls. But instead of seeing a sex object, Lars sees in this doll a potential life partner and the only kind of social “peer” he can relate to. So Lars orders a doll, whom he names Bianca, and begins treating her with utmost gentlemanly respect — and as though she’s his real-life, flesh-and-blood girlfriend. As he begins bringing Bianca with him everywhere he goes, the townspeople have to find just the right balance between supporting Lars’ unusual romance and trying to introduce him to a more conventional partner. Lars and the Real Girl was written by Six Feet Under scribe Nancy Oliver and directed by Mr. Woodcock’s Craig Gillespie.”

What i enjoyed most about the movie was a very subtle undertone that I picked up as the plot developed: The fact that the townsfolk assumed the role of guiding Lars into a conventional relationship suggests that they found the relationship between Lars and his artificial girlfriend to be flawed or wrong in some way. The irony was that when the film gave the viewer information about the personal lives of the townsfolk, troubled relationships and lack of togetherness were reviled. In essence the townsfolk were compensating for their own inadequate relationships. 

Final thoughts and feelings going into the intervention

I am extremely interested to gauge the reactions of my friends and family. Informing these people that Sarah is simply an intervention would defeat the interventions purpose and therefore I have not told them about this project. Instead I will introduce them to Sarah as I intend to introduce her to any other person i encounter for the next ten days “This is Sarah Baker, and she is my new girlfriend”