To be accurate, I haven't seen this film per se. What I saw was a videotape that Sheree brought to show friends right after Bob died. I'm assuming it was edited into a final version for sale. From the reviews I've read, it has all of what I remember except I don't remember seeing anything about Bob's mother.
I knew Bob and Sheree from 1983 until his death. As things developed in the underground sex community Bob and I were on opposite sides. (Everything has political factions. Some groups want to join together, some want to split up. We ended up "leading" opposite sides.) Which puts me in the rare position to tell about Bob's petty side. But that's not important. What's important is being willing to be radically different sexually in order to be mentally healthier and live a longer happier life.
That's a position I share with Bob. I had occasion to discuss the subject with him shortly before his death. His perspective was a bit different from mine. No one seems to mention the terrible wracking pain of CF. It's interesting the degree to which major illnesses turn out to conceal symptoms from the public. And if I was to discuss some of Bob's symptoms and coping methods this review wouldn't see the light of day. "Hammer of Love" is a trivial little entry point to give the public something it can deal with. (I'm suddenly hearing Tom Cruise shouting at Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men.")
Sorry about drifting into what weaklings you "healthy" people are. Back to Bob's viewpoint. He said that the "recreational" pain was, for him, a way of showing that he, not his illness was in control. (Bob, I hope I got that right.) I asked him if he was the oldest person with CF. He said there were maybe three or so older than him. But in considering that you need to know that CF can attack the lungs or the dozens of feet of the GI tract. Bob had it in both and as bad as you can have in both. And he still almost made it longer than any of the other people with CF.
My explanation goes deeper. It's that if you have to do something reviled by society to stay alive, e.g. be beaten every day of your life, you have two choices. One, take your beating from a health care professional hired for the job and endure the pain. Or, two, the smarter more heroic choice. Find another person to share the experience with and revel in the sensations. Frankly, if it's that intense it's going to be unavoidable that it takes on a sexual aspect. (Now you're really on society's s**t list.)
If you are as lucky as Bob and myself you may find someone who can be more than a partner of the moment. Someone brave enough to be your partner in this life and beyond. With that combination of luck...and a lot of hard work, what would be trauma to both the body and soul can be turned into a celebration of life. An act of love. So it not only keeps you alive another day, but serves to strengthen you..and your partner. And that's why some of the sexual underground is about people trying to survive. Some don't even know that what they think of as sexual urges, what society condemns as perversions, is actually their body and spirit trying to tell them what they need to live a longer happier life.
Hopefully that message, even though not how Bob described his own view, will come through the film. Some of you might wonder what's killing me. My personal research strongly indicates it's a gaseous neurotransmitter disorder. But they've only just been discovered in the last generation. So I'm hoping to interest a researcher, a top hematologist in taking my case. If I told you what it took for me to last as long as I have, you would suddenly consider Bob and Sheree Rose's film a Walt Disney production.
Just please remember, the next time you're thinking of condemning a pervert or stopping a kid from doing something sexual (maybe even your own kid), it is some part of them trying to survive. Even if it looks wrong to you. Try to not think about "social" wrong or "unhealthy," but strictly what is really healthy. And that mostly has to do with cleanliness. Fecal matter is always a bad idea. (Unless the person has been eating a lot of yogurt.)
Love to all you good people out there, and especially to Karen, the reason I'm still alive.
P.S.
To any old timers that remember me (set Donnie up in the Violet Wand business, etc.). In the words of the Monty Python skit, "I'm not dead yet!" But I'm mostly bedridden and have been doing a distressing amount of screaming from the pain lately. I do have good medical care. I'm just maxing out what can be done. Luckily, one way or another, I won't have to keep doing this. But if a researcher does come up with counter to my neurotoxin, having all those "dead" nerves come back to "life" will be quite a ride.
I knew Bob and Sheree from 1983 until his death. As things developed in the underground sex community Bob and I were on opposite sides. (Everything has political factions. Some groups want to join together, some want to split up. We ended up "leading" opposite sides.) Which puts me in the rare position to tell about Bob's petty side. But that's not important. What's important is being willing to be radically different sexually in order to be mentally healthier and live a longer happier life.
That's a position I share with Bob. I had occasion to discuss the subject with him shortly before his death. His perspective was a bit different from mine. No one seems to mention the terrible wracking pain of CF. It's interesting the degree to which major illnesses turn out to conceal symptoms from the public. And if I was to discuss some of Bob's symptoms and coping methods this review wouldn't see the light of day. "Hammer of Love" is a trivial little entry point to give the public something it can deal with. (I'm suddenly hearing Tom Cruise shouting at Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men.")
Sorry about drifting into what weaklings you "healthy" people are. Back to Bob's viewpoint. He said that the "recreational" pain was, for him, a way of showing that he, not his illness was in control. (Bob, I hope I got that right.) I asked him if he was the oldest person with CF. He said there were maybe three or so older than him. But in considering that you need to know that CF can attack the lungs or the dozens of feet of the GI tract. Bob had it in both and as bad as you can have in both. And he still almost made it longer than any of the other people with CF.
My explanation goes deeper. It's that if you have to do something reviled by society to stay alive, e.g. be beaten every day of your life, you have two choices. One, take your beating from a health care professional hired for the job and endure the pain. Or, two, the smarter more heroic choice. Find another person to share the experience with and revel in the sensations. Frankly, if it's that intense it's going to be unavoidable that it takes on a sexual aspect. (Now you're really on society's s**t list.)
If you are as lucky as Bob and myself you may find someone who can be more than a partner of the moment. Someone brave enough to be your partner in this life and beyond. With that combination of luck...and a lot of hard work, what would be trauma to both the body and soul can be turned into a celebration of life. An act of love. So it not only keeps you alive another day, but serves to strengthen you..and your partner. And that's why some of the sexual underground is about people trying to survive. Some don't even know that what they think of as sexual urges, what society condemns as perversions, is actually their body and spirit trying to tell them what they need to live a longer happier life.
Hopefully that message, even though not how Bob described his own view, will come through the film. Some of you might wonder what's killing me. My personal research strongly indicates it's a gaseous neurotransmitter disorder. But they've only just been discovered in the last generation. So I'm hoping to interest a researcher, a top hematologist in taking my case. If I told you what it took for me to last as long as I have, you would suddenly consider Bob and Sheree Rose's film a Walt Disney production.
Just please remember, the next time you're thinking of condemning a pervert or stopping a kid from doing something sexual (maybe even your own kid), it is some part of them trying to survive. Even if it looks wrong to you. Try to not think about "social" wrong or "unhealthy," but strictly what is really healthy. And that mostly has to do with cleanliness. Fecal matter is always a bad idea. (Unless the person has been eating a lot of yogurt.)
Love to all you good people out there, and especially to Karen, the reason I'm still alive.
P.S.
To any old timers that remember me (set Donnie up in the Violet Wand business, etc.). In the words of the Monty Python skit, "I'm not dead yet!" But I'm mostly bedridden and have been doing a distressing amount of screaming from the pain lately. I do have good medical care. I'm just maxing out what can be done. Luckily, one way or another, I won't have to keep doing this. But if a researcher does come up with counter to my neurotoxin, having all those "dead" nerves come back to "life" will be quite a ride.