Hollywood sex scenes decline by 40%

[Conditional-Pancakes]

Because it's super healthy to only see sex through the lens of porn

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This is what scares me the most from this thread.

Each year proper sex education for young people is getting rarer everywhere, and in so many places it's now just completely nonexistent.

Teenagers and young adults receiving sex education nearly 100% through porn is so damaging. It's creating generations of people just completely unequipped to navigate real-life intimacy.

In an environment barren of proper sex education, at least with popular art forms like movies, TV shows, etc., young people can somewhat see more diverse, realistic, and often much healthier depictions of sex and intimacy. It's so important.

Just to springboard off your post here, because my concern isn't that your point here is invalid, it absolutely is. But, in my experience (and you can even see it in this thread), the follow-up to this idea is almost always "and so if you want to see this kind of content, you should just watch porn" which tends to be beside the point. Not only because I'd argue that porn and sex/intimacy as portrayed in theatric art serve different functions, the people making this point tend to not acknowledge (in the moment, at least) that the porn industry can grapple with the same problems of exploitation. And so what comes of as a solution doesn't feel like a solution at all, but more like we're shuffling the problem off to a "lesser" class of worker that society won't feel so prone to protect.

I think the solution is multifaceted. We need more intimacy coordinators, and we need more transparent negotiations regarding roles and contracts, so actors desperate to make it and keep their rent paid for the year aren't, as you have pointed out, essentially cornered into filming environments that they might not otherwise be comfortable with if they had real bargaining power.

But also, we really need to evaluate the ways we subtly shame sex. Because just as we should protect actors who might be pressured into sex scenes, we should also empower actors who would willingly and enthusiastically create sexual and sex positive portrayals in film without feeling like their images would be irrevocably "tainted" for doing so. I think we all should evaluate the socially ingrained sense of cringe we experience at idea of portrayed sexuality that feels "awkward" or "overproduced" or "too sexy." We rob ourselves of healthy examinations of sex, what it can look like, and the role it can and does play in many of our lives; we also place the burden on porn to do something it was never really meant to do.

Removing the taboo from sex also removes a lot of the power to exploit it. But that's a larger social problem.

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All of this!!

smh we are never getting the era of the erotic thriller back at this rate

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And it's such a shame...

 

[JABEE]

My guy was married, had kids and was in the middle of building an atomic bomb and still left the state to go see her. What are different ways you can sell their dependency on each other?

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Also, it shows how he was vulnerable with her. Sitting naked with each other versus the dynamic of his relationship with his wife.

The imagery of her riding him while the panel sits in judgement of him. His wife forced to relive her pain and do so in a public embarrassing way that could have been avoided if Oppenheimer didn't subject himself and his wife to public humiliation; self-flagellation for what he did to the world.

 

[lostsupper]

Reading through this discussion it's hard to sympathize with most of the reactions here. How can sex be such a disagreeable topic to so many young people? How is the prevailing opinion among this group that the portrayal of sex is icky but hundreds of hours of braindead sexless superhero dogshit is entertaining enough to build their personalities around?

 

[Complicated]

It's funny that the examples of recent sex scenes they give are the weakest parts of otherwise good movies. Though I'm not even sure I'd say Saltburn has any sex scenes. I haven't seen All of Us Strangers, but Saltburn is the freakiest movie mentioned here of the others and it has once scene of fully clothed finger blasting which just goes to show you traditional sex scenes ain't shit.

Poor Things at least justifies the existence of them by having something to say about sex and sexuality. Compared to the rest of the movie they're tedious and the banter about sex between the characters does all the actual work. They're superfluous.

And then you have Oppenheimer where the one sex scene is so far below the rest of the movie's quality it's laughable. And then later in the movie the same characters have sex off screen and you see exactly how much better it can be handled that way.

 

[est1992]

Implied sex is almost always better than an actual sex scene. It leaves the audience to wonder and think which is so much better for a story.

Unless something pivotal to the story happens during the sex, it's just not needed.

 

[Dice]

Y'all calling prudes but like I doubt most people want to see these scenes gone from movies that could use them. Just too many films do nothing but show the hot female costars ass.

If forty percent less means we're getting less scenes pointlessly throwing it in there just to "get points" with audiences for showing ass, then cool. But tons of movies (ranging from erotic thrillers, sex comedies, or even more preverse shit like American Psycho) have done well to incorporate them more "naturally" or to some purpose.

I actually admire the heck out of intimacy coordinators roles and what's involved to making even actors feel more comfortable for this on-screen awkwardness.

 

[Kongroo]

It's also worth pointing out that this is a very American thing.

Americans love violence and fear sex. It's depressing.

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

It's like doing a fade out and just implying "the titans won" in a movie about football.

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How is it anything like this? This analogy only works if the movie in question is "about sex" in the same way that one is "about football". Which clearly isn't the type of movie most people here are discussing.

 

[Dice]

Americans love violence and fear sex. It's depressing.

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I feel it's easy for men to say this. It's depressing.

Just to springboard off your post here, because my concern isn't that your point here is invalid, it absolutely is. But, in my experience (and you can even see it in this thread), the follow-up to this idea is almost always "and so if you want to see this kind of content, you should just watch porn" which tends to be beside the point. Not only because I'd argue that porn and sex/intimacy as portrayed in theatric art serve different functions, the people making this point tend to not acknowledge (in the moment, at least) that the porn industry can grapple with the same problems of exploitation. And so what comes of as a solution doesn't feel like a solution at all, but more like we're shuffling the problem off to a "lesser" class of worker that society won't feel so prone to protect.

I think the solution is multifaceted. We need more intimacy coordinators, and we need more transparent negotiations regarding roles and contracts, so actors desperate to make it and keep their rent paid for the year aren't, as you have pointed out, essentially cornered into filming environments that they might not otherwise be comfortable with if they had real bargaining power.

But also, we really need to evaluate the ways we subtly shame sex. Because just as we should protect actors who might be pressured into sex scenes, we should also empower actors who would willingly and enthusiastically create sexual and sex positive portrayals in film without feeling like their images would be irrevocably "tainted" for doing so. I think we all should evaluate the socially ingrained sense of cringe we experience at idea of portrayed sexuality that feels "awkward" or "overproduced" or "too sexy." We rob ourselves of healthy examinations of sex, what it can look like, and the role it can and does play in many of our lives; we also place the burden on porn to do something it was never really meant to do.

Removing the taboo from sex also removes a lot of the power to exploit it. But that's a larger social problem.

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All agreed here too.

 

[Royalan]

It's also worth pointing out that this is a very American thing.

Americans love violence and fear sex. It's depressing.

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It's also something funny that I notice in this threads sometimes.

Because sex depicted in film must always justify itself and can never be frivolous. Why not just fade to black?

But if you make the same critique of the wonton violence depicted in our media, many of the same people will argue you down about how you NEED to see the violence in order to FEEL it. In order for it to be REAL and impactful.

 

[Kinthey]

An tbh, modern Disney couldn't make a good sex scene anyway. They can't even make good couples

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Disney/Marvel can barely manage romance. Sam Raimis Spider-man 1 somehow still the most exciting depiction of falling in love with a superhero

 

[higemaru]

Sure is odd that Hollywood's rejection of sex scenes also dovetailed with hesitant acceptance of same sex relationships onscreen. Weird! Can't think of why studios would be scared to extend intimacy and sensuality to same sex relationships like they did hetero relationships for decades! Well, thankfully audiences have signed off on this assuredly unconscious decision because sex is icky and is only implemented for the director's pleasure.

Like, I get that people don't want Roger Corman or Adrian Lyne style sex in films because that style is exploitative, shallow and cartoonish but this sex negative approach to onscreen intimacy is ridiculous. That said, I swear that TV sex scenes have become pretty saucy so idk, maybe the issue isn't the thematic richness of the sex scene. Maybe folks want sauciness in the comfort of their own home so they can feel flush in private without feeling shame. Cowardly behavior imo

 

[Gaia Lanzer]

Just because this article claims "hollywood" tackles sex less (and claims the demand is declining for content including it) I am not sure I am buying what they are selling

We live in an environment with more factors than just Hollywood entertainment when it comes to personal engagement with content about sex.

It's a very short article and it is kind of hard to have anything but a speculative conversation about its premise and what its claiming.

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That's what I've been thinking. I mean, there's still going to be sex in indie and foreign movies, and I'd reckon to say, that's where "sex adding to the artform" regarding movies might benefit from it the MOST. If we are talking "Hollywood", we are also talking mainstream lowest-common-denomanator stuff. Bloated budget stuff that rides and dies on trends. Just because sex, as a trend in mainstream movies, is dying down doesn't mean it's not going to pick up again years from now.

Also, a lot of people here pretty much feel "Hollywood" (AKA, mainstream big movies) have dropped the ball in depicting sex in a meaningful way to progress the story and as a contribution to art in general. Maybe it is good that you don't have numbnuts who can't make the most out of sex scenes not attempting to do anything with them at all. Sex CAN be a great way of adding to the story, but I feel sometimes it can also be abused as a trend or afterthought just because, well, it was on the checklist of making, either a "horror movie" or "mature movie" (aka R-rated movie). And in those cases, I feel sex isn't handled in the way that adds beneficial to those movies rather than it feels like scenes where mouth-breathers are jerkin' it off off camera to enact their high school fantasies. Sex SHOULD be used in a meaningful or well-thought out way, not just as a trend. It's kinda like who John Carpenter included the sex-scene in Halloween, there was meaning behind it that seems to be overlooked by not only other horror directors, horror fans in general. Teens have sex, yes, but the reason they got killed was NOT because they had sex. It was no "moral-related" bullshit that people post-Scream tried to push. Carpenter said it bes when he said, (paraphrasing), "When you have sex, you are naked and your mind is on the act and your partner. If there's danger, you are so caught up in the moment it leaves you vulnerable. You are naked and exposed". I know someone mentioned Robocop and Terminator... Verhoeven and Cameron, two directors who think out their movies CAREFULLY. They know what sex represents in their movie and how to craft an scene that works for the movie. Joe Schmoe frat douche that's behind the camera with his tongue hangin' out as he beats his meat.... likely knows jackshit about how do make an effective sex scene. I'd rather see fewer Joe Schmoe sex scenes in movies, to be quite honest.

And that said, like that Sharon Stone article, a lot of women have been mistreated while filming sex/nude scenes throughout the years. In the end, I can live with LESS sex scenes if it means less exploitation of women in Hollywood, to a lesser point, less unthought-out sex scenes "just for the sake" that don't add to the movie.

 

[Dice]

Disney/Marvel can barely manage romance. Sam Raimis Spider-man 1 somehow still the most exciting depiction of falling in love with a superhero

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It's honestly a talent how (figuratively) "sexless" most Marvel movies felt... even Eternals lol.
Comics usually had quite a bit of 'heat' in them. o_O

 

[BlackManLovesKUF]

Not really surprised and like others have mentioned I feel like I see more nudity or portrayals of sex in TV shows versus films these days but that could be bias in terms of the type of shows I watch. As a heavy reader I'd be curious if this trend also apply to books or written erotica or if it's only an issue in visual mediums.

 

[Royalan]

Not really surprised and like others have mentioned I feel like I see more nudity or portrayals of sex in TV shows versus films these days but that could be bias in terms of the type of shows I watch. As a heavy reader I'd be curious if this trend also apply to books or written erotica or if it's only an issue in visual mediums.

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I think books right now are having the opposite problem. Haha

 

[Complicated]

Because sex depicted in film must always justify itself and can never be frivolous. Why not just fade to black?

But if you make the same critique of the wonton violence depicted in our media, many of the same people will argue you down about how you NEED to see the violence in order to FEEL it. In order for it to be REAL and impactful.

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The violence comparison doesn't hold up at all to me. The internet is where you see most violent media these days and wouldn't you know it the same is true for sex. Hollywood has been on a dramatic realism kick for a while now to the point it even affects scifi and fantasy productions. Hell, even horror movies went away from gore and violence in favor of terror, dread, and the supernatural.

 

[Kinthey]

It's honestly a talent how (figuratively) "sexless" most Marvel movies felt... even Eternals lol.
Comics usually had quite a bit of 'heat' in them. o_O

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And they even have real life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya. You'd think there'd be more spark and spice

 

[Common Knowledge]

I feel it's easy for men to say this. It's depressing.


All agreed here too.

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I always find it amusing that it's almost exclusively male members who say blanket statements like that, or the "prude" drive by's. I know this forum is majority male, but still.

 

[Dice]

And they even have real life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya. You'd think there'd be more spark and spice

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Garfield and Stone really nailed that aspect if little else.

Zendaya I'll even say was a great humanizing element in Dune, where everyone sounds like they're talking partly in poetry and partly in instruction manual speak lol

 

[DrScruffleton]

I will actively avoid watching movies or shows with sex scenes with my family. I'll check the content warnings first. Not much more awkward situations I can think of in life than watching sex scenes with them

 

[Kongroo]

I always find it amusing that it's almost exclusively male members who say blanket statements like that, or the "prude" drive by's. I know this forum is majority male, but still.

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I promise you that women enjoy sex scenes lmao

Thinking that women don't like sex is such a Resetera moment.

 

[Dice]

I promise you that women enjoy sex scenes lmao

Thinking that women don't like sex is such a Resetera moment.

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Get over yourself, Resetera member.
Cuz now that's two weird generalizations you've had.

Of course plenty of women like sex, but they like it a lot less when they're being manipulated or told to do it for fame.
It's possible to have more than one mind about the issue.

 

[nachum00]

Do people really equate sex scenes in Hollywood movies to pornography? That's just so fucking bizarre to me.

 

[Common Knowledge]

I promise you that women enjoy sex scenes lmao

Thinking that women don't like sex is such a Resetera moment.

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Male member, another generalization completely missing the point. Yup, checks out.

 

[Gentlemen]

Bond sneaking in on Severine showring in Skyfall was so fucking weird...

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We called this maneuver the 'tyler malka' for a minute

 

[Kongroo]

Male member, another generalization missing the point. Yup, checks out.

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Lol the generalization i keep seeing here is how women are the ones against sex scenes. Which is misogynistic as hell.

If anything most women i know would love more sex scenes, especially with how the industry is showing more male nudity these days.

 

[RUFF BEEST]

I always find it amusing that it's almost exclusively male members who say blanket statements like that, or the "prude" drive by's. I know this forum is majority male, but still.

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lmao the take that it's only men who want sex in fiction. I read very boring non-fiction tomes and my wife is up to her neck in Romantasy novels and complains when they aren't steamy enough, but go off

 

[KingK]

I'm not inherently opposed to sex scenes, but I personally do not like them. I generally find them very awkward/cringe/embarrassing and (for me) they don't add anything positive to the experience 90% of the time.

I'm not asexual, but I have realized that I think about sex/have sexual impulses significantly less frequently than "normal" people, I guess. I often go several days without feeling any sexual desire at all, whereas it seems like everyone else is constantly thinking about sex 24/7. I also just find sex to be kind of overrated? It's nice and enjoyable, but it's not such a hugely important/integral/mindblowing part of life for me that it seems to be for many others.

Not everything has to be made for my tastes, of course, but I'd welcome the trend of less sex scenes in media. Probably creates a healthier environment for the actors in many cases too. You can have a well portrayed romance without explicitly showing the sex. Again, nothing against those who enjoy it and value that more, and I don't have an inherent issue with them existing. It's just not really for me.

Millennials and younger are all stuck living with their parents due to cost of living and don't want to watch awkward scenes with them. I cracked the code.

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Honestly, I don't think you're far off.

Most people engage with movies/shows as a social thing, they don't watch stuff alone in a room. And I think more and more people just do not have a desire to experience titillating/arousing sex scenes in a public/group setting with family/friends. I know I don't.

It is weird because we wouldn't get these reactions if Bioware said the next Mass Effect wouldn't have sex scenes.

Baldurs Gate was praised for its sex positivity.

So the reactions are kind of jarring here unless the difference is just real people.

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Again, just speaking personally, I would gladly welcome the next Mass Effect to not have those sex scenes lol. I mean, they are kind of hilarious in how awful they are, but the whole romance simulator leading to a "reward" of a sex scene is not at all one of the things I value from that series.

And speaking of BG3, the fact that so much of the discourse about that game online has been about how horny it is actively put me off of even trying it lol. I mean, I already doubt I'd like it, since I don't really like D&D and didn't like what I tried if Divinity: OS2, but the amount of emphasis placed on shipping and sex in the discourse around it just further pushed me away.

Similarly with Hades - I love that game (I've been a SuperGiant fan for years). Didn't read much discussion online until after I'd played it a lot. And then I see that so much of the discussion revolves around shipping and how horny people are for the characters, and it's just kind of off-putting lol (again, just to me personally. Nothing against those who value those aspects).

 

[Dice]

We called this maneuver the 'tyler malka' for a minute

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oh no lol
aaaaa

lmao the take that it's only men who want sex in fiction. I read very boring non-fiction tomes and my wife is up to her neck in Romantasy novels, but go off

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Lol the generalization i keep seeing here is how women are the ones against sex scenes. Which is misogynistic as hell.

If anything most women i know would love more sex scenes, especially with how the industry is showing more male nudity these days.

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Kangaroo keeps ignoring me! But I'll keep quoting

Again, the problem is when women are pressured into these roles for fame. Few actors actually enjoy filming these scenes, and the need for intimacy coordinators are very important. It also doesn't exist in a vacuum where women are frequently sexually harassed both on and off screen, and now we live with deepfake porn that 99% targets women.

Yes women like sex, but with how heteronormative a LOT of on-screen sex tends to be, it's not as often women or other minorities getting pleasure from it but straight men.

Women like sex, but the playing field is FAR from fair of how men and women's sexuality is treated.

 

[Tfritz]

Not really surprised and like others have mentioned I feel like I see more nudity or portrayals of sex in TV shows versus films these days but that could be bias in terms of the type of shows I watch. As a heavy reader I'd be curious if this trend also apply to books or written erotica or if it's only an issue in visual mediums.

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No, it's true., there's A Lot of sex on tv now! Even basic network TV. It makes all the disc horse very funny, tbh.

(It's also very true for books, the entire "New Adult" genre is "YA novels with graphic sex scenes")

 

[Sensei]

Lol the generalization i keep seeing here is how women are the ones against sex scenes. Which is misogynistic as hell.

If anything most women i know would love more sex scenes, especially with how the industry is showing more male nudity these days.

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We are losing the plot here. The actresses (the women who were on screen) were being pressured to make the sex/nude scenes in bad conditions.

Wanting to watch them and wanting to make them are two completely different things.

 

[KingK]

oh no lol
aaaaa





Kangaroo keeps ignoring me! But I'll keep quoting

Again, the problem is when women are pressured into these roles for fame. Few actors actually enjoy filming these scenes, and the need for intimacy coordinators are very important. It also doesn't exist in a vacuum where women are frequently sexually harassed both on and off screen, and now we live with deepfake porn that 99% targets women.

Yes women like sex, but with how heteronormative a LOT of on-screen sex tends to be, it's not as often women or other minorities getting pleasure from it but straight men.

Women like sex, but the playing field is FAR from fair of how men and women's sexuality is treated.

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Not to mention, as I said above; you can like sex without wanting to to see it/experience arousal and titillation while out in public or chilling with family and friends (which is how most people watch movies and tv, it's usually a social thing).

 

[CloudWolf]

Bond sneaking in on Severine showring in Skyfall was so fucking weird... (and context matters, she's was a former sex worker 'rescued' by a criminal, so surely the best idea would be to sneak in on her shower)

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And then he lets the villain shoot her to death knowing fully well rescue is on the way.

Skyfall Bond is a fucking scumbag.

 

[RUFF BEEST]

Again, the problem is when women are pressured into these roles for fame. Few actors actually enjoy filming these scenes, and the need for intimacy coordinators are very important. It also doesn't exist in a vacuum where women are frequently sexually harassed both on and off screen, and now we live with deepfake porn that 99% targets women.

Yes women like sex, but with how heteronormative a LOT of on-screen sex tends to be, it's not as often women or other minorities getting pleasure from it but straight men.

Women like sex, but the playing field is FAR from fair of how men and women's sexuality is treated.

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Hey I agree with you that's a problem, but I don't really see that as what many in this thread see as the problem.
In this thread we're basically dealing with people wanting it completely removed, which is not a sentiment I thought I'd see outside Christian camps that teach abstinence-only "sex education." Yes, if you want to completely de-normalize sexual content from contexts other than porn, that's a prude-ish sentiment, and what's more, porn -- which, let me tell you, has far worse problems when it comes to "pressuring" (or, more accurately, trafficking) women, nevermind the fact that the sexual acts depicted are completely non-instructive and toxic for teenagers to be consuming on the regular -- is not any kind of solution to this at all.

 

[HStallion]

My own personal issue is most sex scenes add little to nothing to the movie at large except literal sex. Its not even a "they don't add anything to the plot" argument but in general its rare that I find sex scenes add to the general vibe or showcase some other aspect of the movie well such as an actors talents or some interesting cinematography. Its not a great example but the sex scene in the movie Shoot'em up at least felt like it belonged in the movie added another crazy dumb action scene where two people are fucking while killing a bunch of hit men at the same time. Most movies can't even go that far to justify a sex scene.

 

[Aly]

As a woman the best sex scenes I "see" are usually in books & fanfiction tbh.

 

[Dice]

As a woman the best sex scenes I "see" are usually in books & fanfiction tbh.

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....*thinking* ...gosh yeah I think you're right.

 

[KingK]

Hey I agree with you that's a problem, but I don't really see that as what many in this thread see as the problem. In this thread basically dealing with people wanting it completely removed, which is not a sentiment I thought I'd see outside Christian camps that teach abstinence-only "sex education." Yes, if you want to completely de-normalize sexual content from contexts other than porn, that's a prude-ish sentiment, and what's worse, viewing porn -- which, let me tell you, has far worse problems when it comes to "pressuring" (or, more accurately, trafficking) women, nevermind the fact that the sexual acts depicted are completely non-instructive and toxic for teenagers to be consuming on the regular -- as any kind of solution to this at all.

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I have not read every post in this thread or anything, but I don't think anyone is really advocating for a ban on sex scenes/nudity in movies or anything. Just that they personally do not like them, and therefore this trend is welcome for their tastes. With some people also bringing up the problematic elements of how these scenes often came to be, and if the decrease in their frequency is a result of a decrease in those problematic practices, then that is good.

I don't think having a personal aversion to sex scenes in movies automatically makes one a prude or supporter of abstinence-only sex Ed, that's fucking ridiculous lol. Some people just find it awkward and off-putting to view scenes meant to arouse/titilate while in a social setting (hanging with family or friends).

 

[excelsiorlef]

Hilariously I just saw Eyes Wide Shut the other day and that's a stone cold classic

 

[Jobiensis]

Hey I agree with you that's a problem, but I don't really see that as what many in this thread see as the problem.
In this thread we're basically dealing with people wanting it completely removed, which is not a sentiment I thought I'd see outside Christian camps that teach abstinence-only "sex education." Yes, if you want to completely de-normalize sexual content from contexts other than porn, that's a prude-ish sentiment, and what's more, porn -- which, let me tell you, has far worse problems when it comes to "pressuring" (or, more accurately, trafficking) women, nevermind the fact that the sexual acts depicted are completely non-instructive and toxic for teenagers to be consuming on the regular -- is not any kind of solution to this at all.

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I think you are raising a straw man. I don't see anyone saying there shouldn't be any sex in movies.

 

[Aly]

....*thinking* ...gosh yeah I think you're right.

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Right!? Like yeah there's a lot of badly written ones but I legit think something about the pacing makes written sex scenes better or something. Less cringe? I dunno how to describe the difference. Maybe it's knowing that it's fully fictional so I'm not worried about actor consent or the awkwardness form it being fake?

 

[RUFF BEEST]

I have not read every post in this thread or anything, but I don't think anyone is really advocating for a ban on sex scenes/nudity in movies or anything. Just that they personally do not like them, and therefore this trend is welcome for their tastes. With some people also bringing up the problematic elements of how these scenes often came to be, and if the decrease in their frequency is a result of a decrease in those problematic practices, then that is good.

I don't think having a personal aversion to sex scenes in movies automatically makes one a prude or supporter of abstinence-only sex Ed, that's fucking ridiculous lol. Some people just find it awkward and off-putting to view scenes meant to arouse/titilate while in a social setting (hanging with family or friends).

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I think you are raising a straw man. I don't see anyone saying there shouldn't be any sex in movies.

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Read the first page of the thread. I'm not raising shit; we've literally had people say that directors should just fade out and the audience "assumes they fucked" in this thread. It's ridiculous. I don't care if you think this level of aversion doesn't make you a prude, because it does, and it's not up to me to describe it any other way. It's not healthy to impose solutions like that on an artistic medium. Even Marge Simpson goes harder than that.

I understand the mixed social setting dilemma, but perhaps that's a good moment to examine your own internalized sex shaming, as well. I refer to Royalan's excellent post here: https://www.resetera.com/threads/ho...0.861222/page-8?post=122437287#post-122437287

 

[evilromero]

just compare toy story 1 to toy story 4, which has almost no sex scenes between the toys

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I was gonna say. It's the reason I boycotted Inside Out.

 

[Dice]

just compare toy story 1 to toy story 4, which has almost no sex scenes between the toys

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Woody rescues Bo Peep from dangerous and exhilarating runaway train, but Bo Beep only had eyes for Barbie....

 

[Pau]

Like yeah movies should be able to titillate but you're delusional if you think it's an equal opportunity game.

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And again, blander-than-vanilla dudes out here calling other people prudes for wanting sex scenes to actually be sexy. Or at least not boring.

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I feel it's easy for men to say this. It's depressing.

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Thank you!!!

Lol the generalization i keep seeing here is how women are the ones against sex scenes. Which is misogynistic as hell.

If anything most women i know would love more sex scenes, especially with how the industry is showing more male nudity these days.

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It's not misogynistic to point out that women are tired of seeing our gender be hypersexualized as viewers and of being sexually exploited as artists. Like what an I even reading here.

lmao the take that it's only men who want sex in fiction. I read very boring non-fiction tomes and my wife is up to her neck in Romantasy novels and complains when they aren't steamy enough, but go off

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And lmao at the idea that Hollywood's focus on female over male nudity/sexualization and heteronormative sex scenes are anywhere close to what women get in Romantasy novels that are actually written by and for them. A lot of books written by male authors have terrible sex scenes that we make fun of and hate too. Just because we like the inclusion of sex when it's well done doesn't mean we have to like it in every form, especially when it's harmful to us.

It would be a completely different discussion if sex in film had a history of being conceived by and for women but that's not the case. Considering how gender skewed positions of power like directors and producers still are, why would I assume that having sex scenes at the same rate as before wouldn't lead to the same problem?

If the choice is between sexist hypersexualization of female bodies / exploitation of female actors and more sex scenes, that's an easy choice.

I'm glad intimacy coordinators are now more normalized. But ultimately the only way we'll actually get away from sex scenes that aren't primarily for a straight male audience is by getting more women and LGBT folks writing, directing, producing, shooting, etc.

 

[Pau]

As a woman the best sex scenes I "see" are usually in books & fanfiction tbh.

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Adapting these types of stories well would make someone very, very rich. I get the difficulty with fanfiction because of copyright, but I'm curious if there will be an onslaught of New Adult/Romantasy adaptations soon. I wasn't interested in Shades of Grey but I imagine most fans were rather disappointed with the adaptation so no one has really quite gotten it yet.

Although I agree with you about the difference in medium. Good sex scenes in film require a lot more from more people while written ones are really just relying on a single author (and sometimes editor.)

 

[SchrodingerC]

But there is an interesting correlation between the timing of this and the #MeToo movement. Whether it's because some actors are setting stricter boundaries on scenes they aren't comfortable with, or because filmmakers are simply more wary about what they think they can get away with, it is an interesting thing.

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I really do wonder how much of this affects the percentage. Honestly it's probably higher than people realize, and that's with the stories we know about. The inclusion of intimacy coordinators is great and I hope they continue help avoiding future film set incidents. I just want these scenes to be filmed safely and consensually.

Again, the problem is when women are pressured into these roles for fame. Few actors actually enjoy filming these scenes, and the need for intimacy coordinators are very important. It also doesn't exist in a vacuum where women are frequently sexually harassed both on and off screen, and now we live with deepfake porn that 99% targets women.

Yes women like sex, but with how heteronormative a LOT of on-screen sex tends to be, it's not as often women or other minorities getting pleasure from it but straight men.

Women like sex, but the playing field is FAR from fair of how men and women's sexuality is treated.

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And lmao at the idea that Hollywood's focus on female over male nudity/sexualization and heteronormative sex scenes are anywhere close to what women get in Romantasy novels that are actually written by and for them. A lot of books written by male authors have terrible sex scenes that we make fun of and hate too. Just because we like the inclusion of sex when it's well done doesn't mean we have to like it in every form, especially when it's harmful to us.

It would be a completely different discussion if sex in film had a history of being conceived by and for women but that's not the case. Considering how gender skewed positions of power like directors and producers still are, why would I assume that having sex scenes at the same rate as before wouldn't lead to the same problem?

If the choice is between sexist hypersexualization of female bodies / exploitation of female actors and more sex scenes, that's an easy choice.

I'm glad intimacy coordinators are now more normalized. But ultimately the only way we'll actually get away from sex scenes that aren't primarily for a straight male audience is by getting more women and LGBT folks writing, directing, producing, shooting, etc.

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Also this.

 

[Jobiensis]

Read the first page of the thread. I'm not raising shit; we've literally had people say that directors should just fade out and the audience "assumes they fucked" in this thread. It's ridiculous. I don't care if you think this level of aversion doesn't make you a prude, because it does, and it's not up to me to describe it any other way. It's not healthy to impose solutions like that on an artistic medium. Even Marge Simpson goes harder than that.

I understand the mixed social setting dilemma, but perhaps that's a good moment to examine your own internalized sex shaming, as well. I refer to Royalan's excellent post here: https://www.resetera.com/threads/ho...0.861222/page-8?post=122437287#post-122437287

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I did read the first page of the thread. A lot of people are happy that there are less scenes in general, that isn't saying they shouldn't exist. Personally could do without token graphic sex scenes in every single movie.

I'm not sure where you are going off on me sex shaming, but you do you I guess.

 

[RUFF BEEST]

I did read the first page of the thread. A lot of people are happy that there are less scenes in general, that isn't saying they shouldn't exist.

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It kinda is, bro. Connect it with, again, the solutions like "just fade out and imply sex" and the multiple people who just "don't want to see it" -- like, really, it's not some kind of wild misinterpretation I'm having. Sorry.

Personally could do without token graphic sex scenes in every single movie.

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Which was totally a thing! I'll never forget or forgive what they did to Paddington Bear. :(

I'm not sure where you are going off on me sex shaming, but you do you I guess.

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No, I'll let you do you, actually, since you aren't even properly mirroring what I'm saying.