I'm not sure that cow horns qualify as 'fantasy' fancy dress but maybe when worn with this expression whilst looking at a toy plane.... Incidentally, it was the Chinese New Year of the Bull. Not just a random night out. In case you're wondering.
Now whilst it's true that I am a HUGE Terry Pratchett fan (Tom found this out after we were married. It was fine: his vow to love me 'for better or worse' kicked in and we worked through it), I have no plans to watch Games of Thrones anytime soon.
When pressed by both people as to why I wasn't going to I replied:
'So as I understand it Game of Thrones has lots fighting and then lots of sex. And then more fighting. And then more sex. So basically it's soft porn. Would that be a fair summary of it?'
Both paused then nodded. 'Yep, that about sums it up. And it's brilliant!'
And clearly they're not the only ones to think so. Games of Thrones has been credited with taking the fantasy genre mainstream and making it cool and, well, sexy.
I've always been a sucker for a good new TV series - particularly since my children arrived and I now rarely see the outside world after 7pm.
So why my hesitation?
Well, put simply, I'm not sure that I need to see that much sex.
I'm not the prude I once was (when my mother advised against a career in midwifery because I couldn't even cope with the word 'naked' let alone the reality of it).
I think sex is great and a very, VERY good thing.
But I don't need to see other people engaging in it, even if they're just actors.
Why? Fake sex is just that: it's fake.
It aint real people. And just like how spending too much time comparing yourself to Hello! magazine beauties can make you feel a bit rubbish about your own body/life/house (see my blog post here for more), so too can spending too much time watching fake sex scenes.
Real life sex is much messier, funnier and complicated than TV script writers make out. AND THAT'S OKAY! But it can be hard to remember that when you see actors writhing around in ecstasy apparently unconcerned about their wobbly bits or whether the children are going to wake up next door...
And for those who argue, 'Bekah, lighten up. It's just a bit of harmless escapism', can I suggest that maybe sex is an area that we shouldn't try to mentally escape from?
Great sex requires work and commitment. It requires us to give of ourselves. To become vulnerable with each other. To be present in all senses of the word.
The costs of 'real' sex are great. But then, so are the rewards.
