Pop Culture Is Taking the Bottle for Another Spin

Further evidence that time is circular, not linear: Spin the Bottle is back.

After decades of cultural hibernation, the innocent youthful game of sexual exploration ironically emerged as the title of an obscenity-laced rap song by the musical groups Twiztid and the Insane Clown Posse. About the only printable lyrics are the title, but that was apparently enough.

The bottle then turned in commercials for the e-business Web Street Inc. and Polaroid cameras. (Advertisers said they like the game because they believe it symbolizes a first major step toward independence.) Later, the bottle worked its way into the story line of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode, but with an appropriate ghoulish twist. At a frat party, the bottle twirls ever higher in the air, then explodes.

And finally, in what may be the game’s crowning revival moment, Sarah Jessica Parker pressed lips with singer Alanis Morissette in an episode exploring gender roles in the hip HBO hit “Sex and the City.” At this rate, the remaining souls on “Survivor” may be next.

As far as people in their 20s and 30s are concerned, Spin the Bottle’s reappearance shouldn’t be surprising, given the retro winds that have blown everything back into the mainstream at one time or another recently. But, unlike most retro reruns, the game draws deep from the well of once bottled-up sexual emotions.

“There is nothing quite so exciting as doing it for the first time,” said Armond Aserinsky, a clinical psychologist who tracks pop culture trends. “The sexual charge during adolescence can be enormous.”

Like all great games, Spin the Bottle is quite simple. You need a bottle. You need at least four people.

A player spins the bottle and, when it stops, kisses the person it is pointing toward. (Questions such as how long do you kiss, do you kiss in front of everyone else and how long the game lasts are left to the players’ discretion.)

“It’s pure sexual experimentation,” said Aserinsky, whose practice is in Philadelphia. “The bottle is like the conch shell in ‘Lord of the Flies.’ The kids place this magical power on this spinning bottle. It gives them an excuse to overcome their reluctance and fear [about kissing.]”

For single adults, the game can recall a simpler time.

“It’s really the desire to recapture lost innocence,” Aserinsky added.

Of course, the game isn’t really for adults. It’s primarily for kids of middle-school age and, because they’re reluctant to play anything without a computer, there is an electronic version available at Areyougame.com. The Bay Area-based game retailer says it has sold hundreds since introducing the game last summer.

Their game, which sells for $29.98, combines Spin the Bottle with another teen favorite, Truth or Dare.

“We get a lot of moms buying the game for the kids or buying them for adult party games,” said Vince Kurr, company president.

Should parents be worried if their children middle-schoolers are playing Spin the Bottle?

“If the kids are only doing this,” said Aserinsky, “parents should rejoice.”

The time to become concerned is if kids younger than 11 are playing. Many psychologists believe that the childhood years between 6 and 10 are a crucial time for kids to develop their imaginations rather than their sexuality.

“The worry is not that their children will become perverts,” Aserinsky said, “but that it might deprive them of a rich inner life. I’d much rather see kids [between 6 and 10] playing Superman.”

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Martin Miller can be reached at martin.miller@latimes.com.