Many of us who had an Internet connection in the 90's were privy to the unforgettably classy forward depicting a luscious, nude female performing fellatio on a mammoth (and apparently willing) stallion. We flocked around computers in clusters to gape and wonder—could it be real? Are these proportions feasible? Or, is this a digital manipulation created by the suspiciously new "Internet" to taunt the hormone-ravaged youth?

However, one irrefutable instance of bestiality, what the media has delightfully referred to as "The Enumclaw Horse Sex Incident," resulted in the death of an adult male due to "acute peritonitis consequent to to the proliferation of his colon." Is there a difference between the lovely dame who skillfully displayed the unimaginable extension of throat muscles to pleasure her "stallion" and "Mr. Hands?" At first glance, yes. After all, how was the beast to know the difference between a human mouth and a mare's vaginal canal? On the other hand, the injuries sustained by "Mr. Hands" suggest that the horse was coerced into taking the so-called reigns in the relationship. Death and sex just don't mix. Surely, from time in memoriam, poets have pondered the metaphorical death that is the orgasm, but these are poets—they aren't speaking literally and no one would take them seriously if they were.

Perhaps you are asking yourself, how do these incidents relate to in art in any way? There is a point to the story.

Leave it to artists to find beauty in the darkest of places. Director Robinson Devor created a film "Zoo," depicting the community of men in Enumclaw, WA that filled the void in their lives through animal love. The film premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival and opened at theaters internationally in June.

The director, who believes his film explores "the last taboo," strayed from graphic depictions of the practice in exchange for a psychological examination of the human beings who sexually desire animals. The lyrical quality of the film undulates along a backdrop of the scenic Pacific Northwest, ensuring a cutting visual paradox between content and environment. During an interview prior to the film's release, Devor asserted that he "aestheticized the sleaze right out of it." A bold claim, but one that appears to be true. Rather than allowing viewers to judge and discriminate with holier-than-thou horror, the film delves into sexuality at its core to suggest that as human beings our urges are as mysterious as they are uncontrollable.

This interpretation of sexual deviancy implies that no act is inherently depraved. After all, if we truly cannot control ourselves, how can one rightfully deem another's actions sinful? Amy Taubin of Art Forum writes, "Zoo is nothing if not a mood piece suggesting the intense focus and irrational longings of sexual obsession." The very intensity and irrationality of sexual longing situates humans in a scary space. Although the majority of individuals engage in socially-accepted, mundane sexual practices, the notion that we fall victim to our desires ought to force a reevaluation of right and wrong.

Certainly, this renegotiation of values has come to pass in many cultures with respect to homosexuality. In most educated settings it is considered boorish to demean same-sex love. The logical explanation for society's growing acceptance of homosexuality? There is nothing scandalous about sex between two consenting adults. At the same time, our values culminate in the universal consensus that the pedophiliac, no matter how desperately he attempts to control his urges, is a pariah whose lust preys on those too young to understand their own sexuality. Then there is the case of necrophilia—society has yet to defend the needs of this individual, who granted, is unable to generate consent from his partner. But in reality, who does he harm?