LOOSEN UP: THE SHORT, 8min., USA
Directed by Maddy Murphy, Evan Macedo
18 year old Charlie is eager to get to college where she can finally escape her overbearing parents and put her obsession with self-pleasure to rest using a more socially accepted pleasure. Unfortunately, it’s there that she discovers sex isn’t quite as easy as it looks. Feeling more like a freak than ever before, Charlie must come to terms with an unexpected diagnosis: vaginismus.
https://instagram.com/loosenupofficial?igshid=NTdIMDg3MTY=
Get to know filmmaker Maddy Murphy:
Honestly, my own experience. I have vaginismus and it’s something I’ve struggled with privately for some time. It was a major insecurity of mine, because I didn’t know anyone else who had it as it’s not something people openly talk about. In that insecurity and anxiety, however, I developed a sense of humor, realizing some of my anxious thoughts regarding my vaginismus to be the kind of scenarios that might happen in a sitcom. From there, my ideas developed and we created the “Loosen Up” pilot, later developed into our proof-of-concept short, “Loosen Up: The Short.” Since then, I haven’t had much insecurity about my vaginismus and have found other people I’ve known have started to reach out sharing their own unspoken experiences. It’s an important topic and I’d love to continue raising awareness through the accessible medium of comedy.
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