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The Movie that Created the Sexy Stereotype of Sweden

Where: Sweden
October 10, 2009 at 9:22 PM | by | Comment (1)

Much has been made of the idea that Sweden is filled with hot, sex-starved women, but where did that tantalizing myth originate? A video making the rounds right now might offer a clue. The 1968 mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell presents itself as a straightforward documentary about the sex lives of Swedes, but its staged footage of gorgeous Scandinavians finding any excuse to get naked and randy places it squarely in the realm of reality-based fantasy fiction.

A serious-voiced narrator intones: "Sweden. Land of enchantment. Land of freedom. Where you are about to see things you just don't see at home." Cut to a bevy of babes wearing towels, warming up in a Swedish sauna and then plunging into a frozen pond. It's true, I've never seen such things at home.

The cheese factor is through the roof, with meter maids wearing "uniforms by day and nothing at night," and "topless bands beating out the rhythm of a turned-on generation." How beatific! Still, I'm sure plenty of people took it as gospel truth, simply because they wanted to.

Most famously, the film introduced the world to Piero Umilian's perky song "Mah Nà Mah Nà," which was immortalized by the Muppets in a classic skit several years later. It's funny to think that some Muppet Show producer was watching this crazy Swedish softcore movie in the first place, and funnier still that he thought to use the song in a sketch. I guess you never known when inspiration will strike.

[Photo: geekologie.com]

Related Stories:
· Svezia: inferno e paradiso [IMDB]
· Original Use of Mah Na Mah Na, from "Sweden, Heaven and Hell" [YouTube]
· Sweden: Heaven and Hell [The Local]
· Sex [Jaunted]

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I am curious (Swede)

What about I am Curious (Yellow), from 1967? That prob. has as much to do with the stereotype as this movie. Perhaps you have a blog series on this in your future. Wiki entry on the thing, with bonus photo of Swedish peen . . .
johnrambow on October 11, 2009 at 10:16 AM #Permalink

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