INTERSEXIONS EPISODE 8: WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?

INTERSEXIONS EPISODE 8: WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?

9 September 2011,SABC 1,20H30

Even the most careful people do reckless things when they’ve been drinking – and they could end up with something much worse than a hangover.
We follow Charlie, the chef from episode 7 of the acclaimed SABC1 drama Intersexions, as he enters this dilemma. When Charlie and Amy wake up after a drunken one-night stand, they cannot remember what happened, and whether or not they used a condom.
Intersexions is co-produced by Curious Pictures and Ants Multimedia, in partnership with Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA) and SABC Education, with funding from USAID and PEPFAR.
Charlie, spurned in the previous episode by Tsholofelo, a teenager in whom he is interested, goes drinking in Pretoria with friends – and wakes up in a hotel the next morning next to Amy, a young woman on the rebound from a messy break-up.
The problem is, they were so drunk that they cannot remember the previous evening’s events at all, and they panic about whether or not they practised safe sex. Awkwardly piecing together their time together, they recall one bad decision after another, but they do remember buying condoms. Unfortunately, there is no trace of them.
“Charlie and Amy’s situation is all too familiar, in more ways than one,” says Richard Delate, country programme manager for JHHESA.
“Firstly, many South Africans admit sleeping with strangers after drinking alcohol. In fact, in the 2009 National Communication Survey on HIV/AIDS – the definitive study of the effectiveness of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS communication programmes – no fewer 7% of respondents said that the last time they went to a nightclub, bar or shebeen, they had sex with someone they had never met before. And that relates only to their most recent visit to such an establishment.
“Secondly, the same survey showed that men and women of all ages in this country believe that if they are drunk, neither they nor their partners will care about HIV. And 68% of men and 56% of women said they believe that it is easier to have sex with people who frequent nightclubs, bars or shebeens,” says Delate.
“And then there is the issue of consistent and correct condom usage. Charlie and Amy are correct to be worried about whether or not they used a condom during their inebriated liaison. It is imperative that people use condoms properly when they have sex, particularly with strangers, every time they have sex. Charlie and Amy were so drunk that they cannot remember using a condom – and cannot even find the condoms they had bought – so the question must be asked: were they in a position to ensure that they were having safe sex?”
Intersexions producer Karima Effendi, of Curious Pictures, notes that this episode has relevance for anyone who has had a one-night stand, and can’t remember what happened – and serves as a caveat to anyone else who hasn’t yet found themselves in such a situation.
“This episode of Intersexions is true-to-life for anyone who has gone out to a nightclub and overindulged. The glitz and glamour of the clubbing scene is very seductive to people out for a good time, or who want to forget their worries. But underneath the strobe lights, the sexy people and flowing booze, lurks a world that is fraught with danger for the unwary or naive.
“With powerful drama, art imitates life, giving viewers a realistic portrayal of the situations they could find themselves in. Epsiode 8 gives viewers such a mirror. They will relate to the story, the characters and be able to take lessons from them, in this case it is not to put themselves at risk by making impulsive decisions about sex when inebriated,” says Effendi.

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