ABSTRACT
The last decade’s uptick in screen narratives exploring assorted practices of polyamory suggests its renewed consideration as an ethical, sustainable alternative to the still prevailing paradigm of compulsory monogamy. As elongated lifespans up the likelihood of long-term monogamy ebbing into monotony, and with long-distance relationships, internet romances and cybersex on the rise, the sense that sexual exclusivity is stultifying has regained cultural force unseen since the sexual revolution. Focusing on how recent representations of open marriage specifically parse the struggle to reconcile desire with committed intimacy and sexual ethics within the confines of ostensibly outmoded wedlock, this chapter explores consensual nonmonogamy’s negotiation across four modes of screen narrative: indie feature (The Freebie), serial television (Insecure), anthology series (Easy) and limited series (Wanderlust). Compared with film’s narrative containment, television’s seriality affords more expansive terrain for exploring consensual nonmonogamy, evidenced by these series’ treatment of open marriages among characters in their 20s, 30s and 40s, respectively. In showing wanderlusting couples renegotiating emotional attachments as a means to renew libidinal energies and marital vows, these narratives offer a critical (if not radical) representation of monogamy that grapples with dilemmas of long-term intimacy and commitment, so as to question – and ultimately, perhaps, defend – the values of sanctioned coupling.
