Review: Austin Powers & Swinging Culture (Patreon)

Let's travel back in time today, and look at the representation of swinging culture in 1997’s hit film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

I'll caution my trans cuties and AAPI babes to maybe skip it on rewatch, because it's really transphobic and racist throughout, especially toward Asian characters. I won't dive into that too much more here, but wanted to give a heads up about it. 

Spoilers ahead for the first Austin Powers film.

Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is a parody of a James-Bond-esque spy from the 1960s. When his nemesis, Dr. Evil (also Myers), cryogenically freezes himself, the government freezes Powers, too.

Thirty years later, Dr. Evil reemerges and Austin gets defrosted. He's now a fish out of water, confronted with all the changes in people's attitudes toward casual sex and open relationships. He must overcome his desire for a swinging lifestyle, if he wants to win the heart of Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley).

In general, there’s a lot of predictable Mike Myers humor, full of goofy faces, stereotypes and dick jokes that take forever to end. 

Western Baby Boomers refer to the “swinging '60s” much like straight couples refer to that one time in college they had a queer experience. It was a lapse in judgment, an immature romp before they settled in to heteronormative, mononormative adulthood. They aren't persecuted as deviants, because they “got it out of their system” and didn't commit to that way of life.

Vanessa: “A lot's changed since the 1960s.”

Austin: “No doubt, love. But as long as people are still having lots of promiscuous sex with many anonymous partners without protection, while at the same time experimenting with mind-expanding drugs in a consequence-free environment, I’ll be sound as a pound.”

I didn't live through the '60s, obviously. My understanding is that a lot of Boomer swinging spaces were pretty irresponsible. But moderation is possible in non-monogamy. We can know our casual partners, respect them, use protection, communicate about boundaries, and find pleasure without unnecessary risk.

So how is Powers, this self-styled Swinging mascot, portrayed?

Well, he harasses every woman he meets, for one. Undresses in front of them, “falls” on top of them, discusses sex every chance he gets. He is relentless and gross, yet they're still charmed and want to sleep with him. Harassment isn't cute, and it's definitely not foreplay. 

It did some real damage, too. I’m aging myself now, but Powers' catchphrase, “Do I make you horny, baby?” was absolutely everywhere in my middle school. Boys would come up to me and smack my ass or expose themselves, and quote Austin Powers while doing it.

Media doesn’t invent creeps, but it sure as hell can normalize creepy behavior, especially in an internationally beloved franchise like this one. Austin Powers’ way of talking to women impacted a lot of real young people’s attitudes toward sex, in a culture deprived of sex education.

Ah, the Fembots. I almost forgot. They're deadly sex robots designed to seduce and destroy men. Go figure, the only sexually liberated women in modern times are evil. 

After committing to monogamy with Vanessa, the Fembots tempt Austin with group sex. To try to avoid arousal, he thinks about a naked elderly woman. Cool.

It's so tired, y'all. This film is a master class in cringey stereotypes that confuse punching down with comedy.

So where does it all lead? Well, monogamy is equated with "growing up."

Vanessa: "If you want us to have a relationship then you have to get it through your head that times have changed. You can’t just go around shagging anybody anymore."

There's constant "times have changed" rhetoric, but the movie ignores the fact that swinging never really stopped. A lot of people who swung back in the '60s are still at it today. Visit any elderly community, and you’ll see a thriving non-monogamy scene.

A lot of Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Z folks swing, too. Individuals can, of course, experience non-monogamy as a phase. But open sexual relationships as a concept weren’t just a phase for one generation. They're alive and well, and have a sustainable place in modern life.

You might notice that I’m not commenting much on the Dr. Evil storyline. 

Basically, it's the only occasionally funny thing in the film. But it's not really relevant to the swinging topic. At one point, Dr. Evil tries a "we're not so different, you and I" speech about how swinging is actually evil now. But Austin replies, "now, we've got freedom and responsibility. It's groovy."

Sigh.

The film (by which I mean writer/actor Mike Myers) seems conflicted. He frames this sex-obsessed creep as a good-natured hero. The sound design and art direction are love letters to the '60s. But at the same time, he defines the era as wholly hedonistic and reckless. He considers monogamy and "responsibility" to be synonyms, and the only true markers of maturity.

It's all quite tortured, cringey, and dated. I hadn't seen this since it came out, and it did not age well.

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TLDR: It's an unfortunately iconic film that's unapologetically ignorant. It's fine to watch if you want to turn your brain off, I guess. But, definitely miss it if your day would be ruined by casual sexism, racism, homophobia or transphobia. And please don't internalize any of its messages about swinging culture.