Sex in a Porsche

I've never done it. I mean, in a Porsche. But Wilhelm Oehl has. In fact, he thinks everyone should do it in a Porsche.

He's one of the Silicon Valley tycoons interviewed in Sylvie Blocher's "Living Pictures/Men in Gold" now at the SF Museum of Modern Art.

This guy may connect money with sex, but some of his buddies confuse the two altogether. One middle-ager says, "Money certainly is erotic. It makes you feel big, powerful and safe." And another: "Money can be a sexual experience without an orgasm." One of them tells how, just out of college, he landed a gig for $100,000 in cash. Then he and his girlfriend, fully clothed, spread the money on a bed and took pictures of themselves rolling around in it.

Is it just me, or does this seem kinda strange?

But despite this occasional confusion, these men have "an unbelievable wish to do something," Blocher says, "even if they can't say what." True, that desire can get derailed into trivialities--like simply making more money for its own sake, for example. Still, this deeper restlessness is a good thing, this genuine longing for more love, more life. One of them laments his inability to find a woman who values him for himself and not just for his money. Another hopes his legacy will be appreciated years after he's gone. Hints of deeper desires.

For a few of these men, the film shows a vulnerability rarely seen by Silicon Valley drones like myself. They're not the one-dimensional, driven, moral underachievers I thought. I like Jean-Louis Gassee's self-reflection: "I had a reputation for being flamboyant and abrasive, and now that I'm at peace, I call myself a recovering ass-aholic."

Having seen this film, I can only wish them well. I hope each of them finds someone to love, and the sparkle in their kids' eyes better than that of gold. Oh, and that money really isn't a substitute for good old, delicious, sweaty, passionate sex. I hope they discover that most people in this world have barely enough to eat, much less a Porsche to have sex in. And that they can make things better.