LOVE . AND/OR . MARRIAGE
"You think because you understand 'one' you must also understand 'two', because one and one make two. But you must also understand 'and'.”
- RUMI
LOVE . AND/OR . MARRIAGE
"You think because you understand 'one' you must also understand 'two', because one and one make two. But you must also understand 'and'.”
- RUMI
Love and/or Marriage searches for a deeper understanding of all the different possibilities the “and” can embody. Our film will focus on one main voice, our narrator and interviewer, on a personal journey to unwrap the meaning and significance of marriage. Is marriage for everyone? Why do more than half end in divorce in the US? Are we meant to love just one partner for life? Why is loving more than one person so stigmatized? Can one love without possessing? Is the nuclear family the only way to build a home?
Love and/or Marriage answers these questions by exploring how different cultures approach marriage and by unraveling its many alternatives. Along the way the project will trace the origin and evolution of marriage, seek counseling from different spiritual and faith leaders, and talk to experts.
Has it always been like this? The evolution of how humans organize relationships is at the core of our film.
We will travel the globe to find out how marriage varies across different cultures.
Our project will explore economic motives for marriage, from dowry systems, Victorian motives, to the tax bias in favor of married couples.
A central question is how religion shapes the concept and structure of marriage. We will interview religious and spiritual leaders to get their perspectives on love, family and sex.
We will hear from people who push for greater respect for unconventional relationships and provide examples of polyamory, polyandry, polygyny, and more.
We will investigate the common assumption that monogamy is an overarching norm in nature. How are we similar or different from the animal kingdom?
“Contradictions between what we are told we should feel and what we do feel generates huge amounts of unnecessary suffering.”
- Christopher Ryan
