Creator Ellen Rappaport and actress Lennon Parham break down Shelly and Len’s swinging adjustment to their marriage.
“It’s a wild ride and I’m having a lot of sex.
“The swinger thing, it makes sense.
Shelly (Lennon Parham) and Len (Rich Sommer) on ‘Minx’.John Johnson/Starz
We’ve all seenThe Ice Storm, right?”
quips Parham, referencing the 1997 Ang Lee drama about swinging couples in 1973.
“It was a thing that happened a lot in the ’70s.
It makes total sense that this would happen in this community.”
Parham notes that the entire endeavor is very straight, given Shelly’s previous moments of sexual exploration.
“Even though we’re switching partners, it’s still so heteronormative,” she reflects.
“It’s not at all touching that part of Shelly that she feels afraid of.
For her husband, it’s keeping him happy as a clam.
So, she didn’t have to even talk about the emptiness that she feels inside.”
For Rapoport, the choice was about showing how desperately Shelly is searching for answers within her marriage.
“It’s a positive thing for her to experience something new sexually.
“It’s going to be good ultimately for the both of them,” she reflects.
They’re in their forties, but they never really had twenties.
They didn’t have time to sew their wild oats.”
So, is he really that into swinging?
Or is he just humoring her in an effort to save their relationship?
“He’s genuinely enthusiastic about wanting to make Shelly happy,” says Rapoport.
“We’ve seen in episode 2 that he does have some fascination with light deviance, seeingDeep Throat.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.'
They’re all tied together for him.
He genuinely loves Shelly and wants her to be happy.
And at the same time, it is exciting.
He is in this whole new world, and it’s nothing like he knows.”
