The rationale (if there is one)
Larsson writes quite boring sex-scenes, doesn’t he? But tasteful in their own way, nevertheless.
Take this example – the infamous ’first time’ between Mikael and Lisbeth:
Blomkvist was reading a novel by Sara Paretsky when he heard the door handle turn and looked up to see Salander. She had a sheet wrapped round her body and stood in the doorway for a moment.
“You OK?” he said.
She shook her head.
“What is it?”
She went over to his bed, took the book, and put it on the bedside table. Then she bent down and kissed him on the mouth. She quickly got into his bed and sat looking at him, searching him. She put her hand on the sheet over his stomach. When he did not protest she leaned over and bit him on the nipple.
Blomkvist was flabbergasted. He took her shoulders and pushed her away a little so that he could see her face.
“Lisbeth…I don’t know if this is such a good idea. We have to work together.”
“I want to have sex with you. And I won’t have any problem working with you, but I will have a hell of a problem with you if you kick me out.”
“But we hardly know each other.”
She laughed, an abrupt laugh that sounded almost like a cough.
“You’ve never let anything like that stand in your way before. In fact, as I didn’t say in my background report, you’re one of these guys who can’t keep his hands off women. So what’s wrong? Aren’t I sexy enough for you?”
Blomkvist shook his head and tried to think of something clever to say. When he couldn’t she pulled the sheet off him and sat astride him.
“I don’t have any condoms,” he said.
“Screw it.”
*
When he woke up, he heard her in the kitchen. It was not yet 7:00. He may only have slept for two hours, and he stayed in bed, dozing.
This woman baffled him. At absolutely no point had she even with a glance indicated that she was the least bit interested in him.
(Excerpt from Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, translated by Reg Keeland, available pretty much everywhere if you want a 5th copy or so … )
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So … even though they (the sex-scenes) may be sprinted quite liberally across the pages of the Millennium tril, especially of book 1 and 2 a tad too often, they seem to emphasise Larsson’s message quite well, I think.
I have read some rather loony (IMHO) – and allegdedly feminist – analyses of how Larsson ‘just wants to write about violence to women as a sexual turn-on’, covering it up as a serious novel. Blahblahblah. I won’t even begin to sprout links here to said articles. I really don’t have time for it.
If some people want to believe that, more power to them. We are 27 million readers (and counting) at the time of writing who – probably – have a somewhat different experience of what Larsson wanted to say with his list of sex-scenes in the books.
Here’s what I think he wanted to say:
1) Sex between all sexes is okay
Obviously – we have Christer who is gay (and one of the good guys), Miriam – a through-and-through lesbian, Mikael who is ’absolutely hetero’, Erika who experiments a little and so on. All of them major characters. Homosexuality is independent of moral qualities, witness Martin Vanger as the gruesomest example.
2) (Consensual) sex can be a lot of different things, not just what you thought was normal
Again we have Miriam Wu as a good example: She’s into BDSM aside from having sex with her own sex. Salander is, like Erika, experimenting but not really aware that she is. Annika uses the ’what the hell is actually normal except as defined by the powers-that-be’ argument during the trial, when she hammers Teleborian for labeling Lisbeth as a nutcase, just because she presumably had sex with some older men in her teens. (And a bit more, I know, but that particular bit plays a major part in Teleborian’s attack on Salander.)
3) Sex is a natural part of life
What I like best about Larsson is that everyone (well, almost) has sex all the time, as the most natural thing in the world. He doesn’t write it particularly voyeuristic, or pornographic, or even over-romanticised – just as something normal, like having lunch. But still with that slight balance that makes it clear that this is a special situation for the characters and not lunch. 
4) Sex is a major good – that can be used for evil
Of course – Zalanchenko’s prostitutes, Martin Vanger’s victims, all of the women who are hated by men. The list is quite long, but by no means implying that sex per se is evil. That is probably a stand point a thousand miles away from Larsson’s outlook on the world (literally: I think you’d just about end up in the Vatican if you went 1K miles in a straight line from Stockholm!)
5) Sex is not necessarily normal between only two persons
Erika and her menage-a-trois = most prominent example. Wisely, though, Larsson only hints at this and thereby avoids making the Erika-Mikael-Erika’s husband ’triangle’ even more lurid than it could be perceived. For example, he writes that Erika has tried a real menage-a-trois with her (almost unbelievably tolerant) husband, but not one involving Mikael. And it’s probably best that Larsson just let things stay that way!
6) Sex and power are often inextricable … but don’t need to be
Blomkvist has sex with dozens of women but ’never asks anything from them’, and exactly therefore so many women seem to be crazy about him. Lisbeth uses sex as some kind of distraction from her personal problems, and can’t really put her heart into it (too well guarded one supposes). But in a way Mikael seems to have the same problem, just with a more positive twist.
The evil-doers use sex to terrorise and fullfil their power-fantasies. It is, for example, pretty obvious that Martin Vanger doesn’t really care as much about raping women as using rape as a tool to break down women, and assert his own power, before he murders them (the ultimate assertion of power – and the ultimate turn on for this creepy man).
Less extreme, but cast from the same mould, is – of course – lawyer Bjurman. It seems, though, that he is more interested in the sex-act itself, although he can’t really ’feel for it’ without mixing it with domination.
7) Sex and love could go together … but don’t have to
By far Larsson’s weakest point. As I recall it none of the main characters really have ’old-fashioned’ romantic relationsships and sex at the same time. Dag and Mia are obviously a happy couple, and obviously they explore the sexual side of their love behind the scenes, but the characters who are actively having sex in the books are not really the characters who get actively involved with each other, romantically speaking.
Mikael and Monica may be an exception but their relationship is in its early beginnings at the end of book 3 and we don’t really get more than a hint that this time could be steady-time for Blomkvist. Or maybe not. Maybe Monica will be ’just another woman’ he can’t get attached to.
*
And that’s about it. I suspect there’ll be a part two of this blog post sometime in the near future. The topic is definitely not exhausted, I feel! For now, I’m just holding my breath and waiting for some of your comments.
What do you think about the way Larsson portrays sex and love in Millennium? Do you think it adds to or substracts from the drama, action and the political and social themes that there is a lot of sex? Or do you think it’s nothing really worth noting because a lot of other books are far, far more explicit?
Let me know! I’m sure you didn’t just skip the sex-scenes, when ploughing through the three books 
*
(Slightly) related stuff:
Best movie photos from Millennium
Millennium movie rants and reviews
Noomi Rapace shrine (come on – let’s be honest: She IS sexy!)
it s off the sex topic, but thanks for the language hint, i just have to dive in the linguistic pool deeper, more interestingly as i saw Michael on Aloha!, studied in Malmo, Denmark is just across the water, and likewise Noomi lived in Iceland, so … the finnish was my blind shot (ugrofinsk branch), but as i saw few scandinavien movies lately, there are film cooperation btwn norsk-dansk-svenska film Productions/institutes, maybe also the icelandic. What s interesting for me is trying to follow the local/geographical development and changes of languages, e.g. starting with german, which helps a lot, together with english, to understand (very roughly, but with some rules and other, it s fun trying), dutch, then north dannish, and when arriving to truly North, written language is more accesible than fast speaking, so at least i can try to learn to discern the northern languages as are written or spoken. Yes, it can be said that Stieg Larsson awoke my present focus on the countries, cultures, histories, languages, and so on…
As for the extended versions, now is released the full-lenght Tv version, and as you wrote maybe money will give it another, international releases, extended, or director s cuts, or sometnihg, as are the films spread worldwide. In these cases, bonuses and other stuff will be most welcomed on the discs, because in the cases of only plain films, many people will do a little “Lisbeth hacking/sharing/dwnldng”, instead of purchasing a valuable piece of something. Well, curious what the futute will bring
But for now, folks, To life! Skål! (yes, troubles with the upper symbols, time to learn more
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As far as I can gather from the various sales websites the Danish DVD-version of the TV-series hasn’t got any extra-material, so the only reason I’m buying it – at some point – is bc I haven’t seen it and I would like to review it for the site. However… I haven’t bought the original cinema-versions on DVD, for, as you hint – no extra material. Well, except the trailers of course, which were billed on the cover as “exclusive”. Right… you can laugh all the way to the bank, guys, but it won’t be with my money. At least not for the original versions.
Interestingly enough I haven’t really been in a hurry to buy the TV-series versions, not bc I don’t want to see them – I would really love to. (Hey, I’m the webmaster of sallysfriends.net!) But I can just feel already that I’m not particularly motivated to pay for something that’s obviously part of “Larsson Inc.” and only set in this world to rip me off. Okay, so there’s no law stating that there should be extras on a DVD, but this is one of the hugest books/movies of the decade, so not to bother with it – for the sake of a few measley bucks out of all the millions they rake in… well, that really, really should earn them the wrath of Hacker Republic!
Ah, I’m gonna butt out of this thread. Every time I get to talk about “Larsson Inc.” it pushes too many buttons and I don’t want to sound so bitchy. There has to be better things I can use my time for….
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Yeah, so don´t be bitchy… make yrself comfortable, ease mind.. no way of real world money fights vs. justice…and a fair ending
“There are no innocents, only different levels of responsibility”
Maybe it´s the hour, the warm summer breeze and the whirling possibility of storm, or just listening to poems of Blake put in songs.. Tyger tyger… and Nolan´s Inception (in progress
I know y r the guy behind this site, and as you openly put it, hacker republic prevails, as V for Vendetta, don´t know how traceable ip or digital steps are, but to be sincere, as in case of Larsson, and almost anything other, can be digged up, at some level of time and effort, on the net, so e. i. i gained all books in readable format for pc, the audiobook trilogy unabridged , and the movies, they´re everywrehe, at he beginning the trouble were good subtitles, and now, the longer versions, which are from the dates of their screening in sverige tv also availabl (but as i understand in most cases as p2p than dwnld files, but one can manage). So, it´s a way of choices person is making in the commercial society. And as to the Millenium, i prefer the ideas to the material.
“Open to everything happy and sad
Seeing the good when it’s all going bad” … trying, trying, through the living
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Hi, just want to say, thanks for this site, analytical approach or dont label it, just throughout the phenomenon…
Sex and love… maybe for the interesting characters, or just the way of life, or as Nyqvist said “unrealistic sex people dream about”, even though, personally, as we are attached to Lisbeth, or “ships”
The books have their own way, but from the womanly point of view, in the films, Blomkvist is almost always like innocent boy just to be seduced by women. Lisbeth, Berger, or maybe its his way to let them do with him what they please. Just a thought, coz myabe i need a little spet aside from it, see a wider perspective.
Just trying to watch the 6 parts of the Millennium tv serie, even though it s now available on discs, i have no subtitles, and almost none knowledge of swedish, i try, knowing the plot, enjoying the atmosphere…
Personally, women at top, i like M+L “first time”, his professional attitude and his suprise at the girl, yes, the first movie is about the main characters, as you mentioned in the reviews, the 2nd and 3rd is missing the subtle link, just a hint, as in the books, at least the written contact or sometnig. They are out of focus because the scenario is reduced, not everyone is pleased, as in life, but at least the ending could be.. well, not crappy happy, but show that Lisbeth accepted him and opened a little, or is changed, or whatever…
Yes, i m hopeless, i know..
One shallow comment (because as i discovered Nyqvist, i try to discover scandinavian films more than i knew) the sex is maybe similar to the urge you get that sometimes you have to get yourself drunk, just to wipe a strong cimcumstances, or whatever you went through, so the sex can function as well…
Other cases are lust and attraction (Blomkvist+Berger sex scene in the 1st part of the TV series, which i personally like, as laughter is heard, so it tries to have the lightnessand the music background, something like Chris Rea jamming 8-)), and on the other side, the way Blomkvist begins to be attached to Lisbeth, the way she says its just sex, he favours frendship and is pushed away when she dont let people close. So for women the strong moments are his amazement looks as he is looking on the ambivalent creature lying beside him, and all the chaos that goes in one s head.
Sorry, it s not a love story of the classical, kind, but the modern distant kind, that is so addictive.
and yes, i should shut up.
Be well friends!!
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The TV-series is out on DVD? Where to get it, man – where?!
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http://www.discshop.se/shop/ds_produkt.php?id=81440&ref=dvdforum
from 14.7.2010 od discs, normal or blu-ray, or whatever…
lenght as was in sverige TV (http://svt.se/millennium)
so all in all 6 parts approx. 88 min each, some story lines added,
1st got 33 min added, 2nd 57 min, 3rd 39 min
for the scandinaviens, who understand dansk-sverige-norsk-finnish or i dont know how close or distant the languages are, please, one think and i would be completely happy – are there somewhere on the internet english subtitles for the Tv-serien, extended version of the films?
Cheers
I hope they pop up somewhere, hope it would be sooner than later, anyway, if you know where, please, drop a link, or sometning, would be very grateful
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in Denmark
http://cdon.dk/film/m%C3%A6nd_der_hader_kvinder:_tv-version_(2_disc)-10499339
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Don’t worry, for Larsson Inc. to miss an opportunity to make more money by re-releasing the movies as the extended versions is just plain unrealistic. They’ll come – have patience. Probably in late ’10, early ’11.
As for the languages, Norwegian and Danish are quite similar – Swedish has more different words that are not immediately recognisable to either Norwegians or Danes but generally we can understand each other if we speak slowly. Finnish is an ENTIRELY different family of languages – absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to Danish/Norwegian/Swedish, although there might be some borrowed words here and there. Oh, well, that wasn’t really what you asked but here’s the info anyway
And thanks for sharing the good news. I’m going to put up a link once I get the time to review properly the extended versions…
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