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In an odd way society is locked in an ancient dialectic. Western civilization would not have had the energy to develop as it did, wrote Denis de Rougemont, "without the sexual discipline which the so-called puritanical tendencies have imposed upon us since Europe first existed. On the other hand, without eroticism and the freedom it supposes, would our culture be worth more than that which a Stalin, a Mao have attempted to impose by decree?"
Western eroticism, unlike the Oriental variety, has not been a relatively uncomplicated, simply hedonistic matter; it began in defiance of Christian law and has remained strangely and often unconsciously tied to what it sought to oppose. The real Western myth of rebellion against God and society is probably not Prometheus but Don Juan. Thus sex as revolution is not so novel as some of its practitioners think—nor is it necessarily so anarchic as some of its opponents fear. Even in their eroticism, many of the young rebels are peculiarly puritanical and earnest. They are not unlike Hugh Hefner, who feels compelled to sanctify his hedonism in thousands of words of "philosophy."
Perhaps the best hope in dealing with the erotic explosion is that the crassest, most commercial panderers will be curbed by law; beyond this, in legitimate arts and entertainment, a public sense of taste—and humor—will act as the best censor and restore some balance. Gresham's law does not necessarily apply to literature, theater or cinema. The bad drives out the good only temporarily. The point has been made briefly: anything can be shown. Now perhaps the time has come to remember that not everything has to be shown.
*The couple shown on TIME'S cover this week are members of the show's cast.