In a year marked by explorations of desire and moral boundaries, Anna Pazos’s piece in a Fragmenta Editorial volume revisits a classic tension between body and soul. The narrative unfolds on a bus trip to Athens, where locals attempt to recreate ancient polytheistic rituals during a spiritual retreat. The core moment arrives when a child seated beside the protagonist places a hand on his thigh and whispers, “We are all half-animal, half-god.”
This unsettling event propels the protagonist into an inner crossfire between being observed and being the observer, between transgression and restraint. He confronts a suite of questions: Will he interpret the moment through the lens of personal accountability or as a target for objectification? Will he lean into the impulse that nudges his body closer, or retreat to a safer stance? How will he judge the boy’s audacity and, perhaps, seek solidarity among peers who share a future horizon?
The text suggests that desire operates under its own rules, frequently stirring in feminist discourses as a disruptive force. It unsettles conventional ethics by challenging linear moral paths. Elena Martín probes similar anxieties about sexual impulses and their contradictions in the film Creatura, noting in her reflections that desire consistently asserts itself. She recalls how, from youth, many are taught to view desire as something dangerous or shameful, something to suppress. This suppression, she argues, creates odd, mixed feelings because sexual longing is a vital impulse.
Across a generation of creators, there is a push to recognize women as beings who experience desire in nuanced ways. The theme has become prominent in contemporary literature and cinema. Isabel Coixet, for example, grapples with the ambiguity of impulses in her adaptation of Sara Mesa’s Un amor. In recent conversations, she and others admit that understanding desire can be elusive. Martín echoes this sentiment, stressing the incomprehensibility of desire even to those who study it closely.
The dialogue about desire is not new. Hanif Kureishi’s 1999 work Intimacy sparked controversy by portraying infidelity and the unsettling pull of desire. Readers and viewers are invited to confront desire as a potent, visceral force that can disrupt established ideals. As such, desire is depicted as a shadowy current within the psyche, a gray zone where unconscious thoughts may surface unbidden. Its presence can be jarring, exposing hidden tensions and contradictions that people would rather keep quiet.
Another voice in this discussion is Annie Ernaux, who has explored the fissures between morality and instinct. She argues that writing should grapple with the unsettling impact of sexual encounters, the mixture of pain, astonishment, and moral ambiguity they provoke. In contemporary cinema, Yorgos Lantimos has pushed this discussion further with a provocative film that twists traditional expectations around desire and power, inviting audiences to question how much control any character can truly have.
A scene from the evolving portrayal of desire in cinema features a character contemplating the limits of commitment and the temptations that threaten to redraw a relationship’s boundaries. The tension between exerting control and yielding to instinct remains a central theme in contemporary storytelling, challenging audiences to examine their own conclusions about fidelity, autonomy, and the cost of compromised loyalties.
As Eva Baltasar observes, desire is an energy that can be shaped but not coerced. The author of Boulder, a work that forms a thematic trilogy with Permafrost and Mammoth, argues that female longing is a force that can be perceived as both liberating and provocative. Baltasar’s approach uses a direct, almost elemental register to express impulses that often traverse gendered expectations. Her writing elevates the discussion by highlighting how desire can defy simple categorization and invite a broader, more nuanced conversation about sexuality and power. Some readers view this approach as a rebellion against rigid norms, while others worry it reinforces gendered stereotypes. Yet the dialogue itself expands the scope of the debate, inviting deeper inquiry into how instincts shape human connections and how society responds to those impulses.
Confusion, evolving relationships, and cinema’s provocative edges
Desire acts as a double agent, sparking initial attractions while complicating established certainties and keeping mystery alive. Begoña Méndez explores the challenge of rising above raw instinct in Anarchist Marriage, a study of couple dynamics that emphasizes deliberate reflection on how desire surfaces and what should be done when it does. Rather than offering neat solutions, words become tools for acknowledging internal conflict and negotiating a sense of coherence amid competing impulses.
In the realm of film, a famous scene from Eyes Wide Shut has been observed for its unsettling impact on relationships. A character’s admission under the influence of a shared moment challenges the boundaries of loyalty and parenthood. The exchange shakes the moral framework that governs most marriages, illustrating how desire can threaten even the most secure domestic structures. The ongoing tension between the wish for control and the pull of instinct continually shapes viewers’ understanding of love, responsibility, and risk.
Eva Baltasar highlights an enduring truth: desire is kinetic and resistant to simple transformation or export. The discussion surrounding her work, including Boulder and its companion titles, challenges readers to confront the energy behind female longing. Baltasar’s choices—risky, intimate, and unflinching—invite a broader examination of how women and men experience longing within cultural scripts that often polarize their voices. The conversation remains open, with no definitive answers, as instinct and emotion continue to unfold in unpredictable ways.