[sebbie]

The Internet photos showing Christopher Atkins wearing a royal blue Speedo® swim brief pose a whole series of interesting questions. The first of these issues relates to the fact that what you are seeing are stills from a network television show, albeit when TV was not being broadcast in HD. Still, that Atkins’ male anatomy under the shiny blue swimsuit was readily visible could not have been lost on the show’s producers.

Network television is highly regulated not only with respect to foul language, but also barring anything that would be considered a bit pornographic. Maybe the censors simply assumed that any detail here would be on the screen for just a second or two quickly gone (this is TV, for goodness sakes), or would be completely lost in the low definition of broadcast TV then.

At the time the Dallas show aired, Christopher Atkins already had quite a reputation for his sexual escapades in the movie, “the Blue Lagoon”, and that movie had been very successful at the box office, largely on the looks and bodies of the two stars, Brook Shields and Christopher Atkins, marooned and cavorting in and out of their clothes on a deserted tropical island. That movie was released in 1980, and Atkins probably had just turned 18 when it was filmed (although he looked somewhat younger than that).

The Dallas episodes featuring Atkins (Played as a character named Peter Richards, a fine name choice given the Speedo photos. Also, the Atkins character in the Blue Lagoon had a first name of Richard, so somehow the name “Peter Richards” seemed completely logical and fitting) aired in 1984. Atkins (Peter Richards) was probably 22 years old when the Dallas episodes were filmed.

One would not have expected Dallas to hire Atkins with the idea that he would now be fully clothed in all the episodes, and the story line making Peter Richards a camp counselor who taught the young campers how to swim was perfect. Besides, Network TV is all about getting the ratings, and presumably seeing Peter Richards, clad only in a blue Speedo and a semi hard-on, would send the (mainly female) viewers into a frenzy. That had to be good for the show’s ratings. And, six years into its run, a lot of the Dallas plot lines had already been explored. J.R. Ewing, had already had affairs with most of the rest of the female cast, usually a different cast member in each episode, but the idea of Sue Ellen, JR’s wife and Linda Gray’s character, having an affair with the young and semi-erect and Speedo-clad Peter Richards was just too good to pass up.

The stills of the episodes showing Peter Richards in his semi-enlarged condition on the Internet have all been captured and preserved for posterity. I have no idea whether or not females still find these photos to be sexually arousing. I would think so, but I do not know that for a fact.

The other question is what do the guys think of these photos, and, in particular, do guys find them in any way interesting and perhaps even arousing? I suppose that many of my readers think that the answer to that question would depend on whether the guy seeing the photos is straight or gay, with gay guys finding them arousing but straight guys not.

That would be a simple analysis, but I think that oversimplifies to the point of being inaccurate. If you have been reading my stories this far, you no doubt realize that I am very aware of the fact that the underside of a guy’s penis is almost invariably more sensitive to touch than the other sides, and as a guy gets erect this effect only increases. Second, the slick fabric of the royal blue swim brief touching the penis underside should only increase the sensations, but especially so if the guy is semi-erect, as Peter is in the photos.

Finally, there is something really interesting seeing another guy in this condition and position wearing a swim brief. One might think that this would clearly be a “gay thing”. In other words, gay guys might think this is arousing but straight guys, being perfectly straight, would not This is some of the same stuff Josh and Dylan have been trying to cope with in the story. A particular item of clothing such as a bright blue swim brief, semi-hard, penis pointed up, might be sexually arousing for me, but if I know you, my buddy, in a similar condition, similarly clad, is also experiencing something similar that must be equally arousing for him, the fun for both of us is doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.

Is this just a gay male thing, or does this somehow also apply to most guys who claim to be straight? That is a fascinating question to pose. I hold the view that this is all nearly universal among all guys, but I cannot prove it. If my view is right, this is not just a gay thing at all. There is a lot more going on here than that. If I could figure this all out, I would be able to find the answer to the basic question as to why guys are often attracted to the idea of wearing a swim brief and yet very fearful. Does a guy worry that he will somehow look like Peter Richards and then what? Does this fear turn into repulsion? Women who object to men wearing swim briefs seem to really have a core objection to seeing the covered male anatomy under the brief. But are they being turned on at the same time, and is the turn-on that they find at once fun and exciting but somehow repulsive?

Complicated questions, all.

To be continued…