The movie "Hysteria"

Hysteria - the vibrator movie

A few weeks ago, I watched the movie "Hysteria". And to tell you the truth, it was hysterical! It was made in 2011, but based in 1880's, about doctors "treating" women for Hysteria.

Wiki says it best:
"Set at the end of 1880, the film depicts the invention of the vibrator. Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is a young physician who has difficulty with his occupation due to constant arguments over modern medicine. He gets a job assisting Dr. Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce), whose practice specializes in the treatment of "hysteria", a popular diagnosis for women of that time. Medical practitioners like Dr. Dalrymple tried to manage hysteria by massaging the genital area, decently covered under a curtain, to elicit "paroxysmal convulsions", without recognizing that they were inducing orgasms."

So this was the time when there were no vibrators available at the local tack and feed store; and the "www-internet-thing" didn't exist yet. Masturbation of course, wasn't accepted, yet the inability to have pleasure was causing the women to go crazy (ie: psychologically hysterical).

I remember watching so many shows that featured "traveling medicine men" who were going all over the area by carraige promoting their latest formula, which was always a con. Imagine how stupid they feel once they realized they could stay home and masturbate women and get paid.

The vibrator, by the way, was created by "Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville who filed the first patent for an electro-mechanical vibrator termed Granville's Hammer in about 1883"

He created the mechanical because his hands and fingers were tired and in pain from masturbating women all day. I kid you not. He developed "carpal tunnel syndrome" -- although they didn't know about that term back then! Carpal Tunnel is when you experience continued "pain, numbness and tingling, in the the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and the thumb side of the ring fingers." Yeah, the same feeling you get from masturbating women for 8 hours a day.

Hysteria was removed from the list of "medical conditions" in 1952.

It was a very fun movie to watch. The costumes were excellent; the sets appeared authentic and honest, and the story lines were humorous.

I'd give it a two thumbs up -- but my hands hurt.