I understand why Shortbus is a hard movie for people to swallow and the incredibly graphic (and unsimulated) sex scenes are way over the top, but the heart of the movie is amazing. John Cameron Mitchell points out correctly that America's only real exposure to sex on film is pornography and he wanted to change that. The issue is that it comes at the expense of the film. It certainly helps everything to seem uncomfortably real (because it is real-life sex) and every actor gives an amazingly real performance, but the almost gross level of sexual activity overshadows everything and makes the movie feel dirty. It's a shame, because the story is beautiful, the cinematography is good and, (again) the acting is wonderful. The symbolism and themes are up for debate and I think everyone is going to read this movie a little different and I'm sure that as a straight guy, there are things that I'm not picking up on and just can't relate to, but there are universal messages about belonging, acceptance, and understanding that everyone can appreciate. On some level, the sex is symbolic but it the movie would be better without it. I get that it's kind of a gimmick designed to create controversy and we all love controversy, but It's like if I opened a restaurant and before you order you need to give a karaoke performance for all the other diners. Sure, I have great, 5-Star food, but how many potential customers am I going to lose right away because they have stage fright? How many people will refuse to embarrass themselves and get turned away? I get what JCM is trying to do, but you isolate far too many people from the rest of your movie when you open with a naked guy urinating in a bathtub. Shortbus is equally hilarious and heartbreaking and it has a lot of messages and themes that we could really use in 2020, but how many people are really going to be willing to have to sit through some of the over-the-top graphic sex scenes that happen later in the movie in order to get them? 80% of this movie is amazing and the other 20% is actively trying to stop you from seeing it.