• LazyBane@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    57
    ·
    1 year ago

    Doesn’t help that sex keeps being written into shows where it doesn’t belong.

    It’s trying to make a show “more adult” in literally the most childish way possible.

    That Halo show is a good example of completely needless sex scenes.

    • loobkoob@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’d completely forgotten about the Halo show in general, and now you’ve just reminded me of Master Cheeks all over again :(

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      All I know about the Halo show is that it ignores the entirety of the Halo lore in order to basically try to be a note for note rip off of the Mandalorian. But the fact that it has sex scenes bothers me, I mean isn’t it cannon that the Spartan project killed Master Chiefs libido and therefore he is effectively asexual?

      • LazyBane@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        The rate at which the Spartan II augmentations killed people’s sex drive is overstated quite a bit, but yeah Chief doesn’t really show to have much of a libido (from what I’ve read, only at Ghosts of Onyx so far), and having this alternate version of Chief be so unhinged as to bang a POW really goes against canon Chief’s single minded dedication to his missions.

  • nednobbins@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    49
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Is it just Gen Z?

    Most movie sex scenes are terrible. They fail as both pornography and as literary devices.

    When you put a sex scene, or any other scene in a movie it has to serve some purpose. It can move the plot along, it can show the characters emotions or it can just be there for titillation. If it’s just there because someone thinks that the main characters are supposed to smash, it’s dumb.

    I remember that when we rented “Basic Instinct” you knew how often people re-watched the interrogation scene because the old VHS tapes would get worn at that spot and you could see the screen artifacts.

    Two things made that worth watching. The whole movie was about sex so it made sense, both in the movie and for the character. The way to get porn at the time was to walk into a store and buy a magazine. And Sharon Stone was hot, OK 3 reasons.

    There absolutely are movies where the sex scenes make sense and are important. David Kronenberg’s “Crash” and Kimberly Peirce’s “Boys Don’t Cry”, would have been weird if they didn’t include the sex scenes or just left them implied.
    The sex scene in, “Team America: World Police”, worked because it was a satire of sex scenes in movies.
    Pornhub works because their scenes are very explicit.

    When you have a boring, unironic, semi-artistic sex scene in a movie that’s not otherwise about sex, it’s just a distraction.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      When you have a boring, unironic, semi-artistic sex scene in a movie that’s not otherwise about sex, it’s just a distraction.

      I don’t disagree. But I do see room to expand the definition.

      Recently, I’ve been introducing my partner to The Sopranos for the first time (we’re in s3). I think there are legitimate depictions of sex in the series. They only appear briefly to help illustrate what types of people the characters are. They’re quick and out of the way. Like, oh, that guy’s fucking her, now let’s move on to the dialog that happens after. It’s when we see that these are characters who have sex as opposed to seeing the sex that makes the difference, imo.

    • qyron@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You just described the average 80’s movie with your last paragraph.

      • nednobbins@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Some, but remember that the only way that get real porn was to go to a store and buy a physical thing. Aside from the convenience there was a stigma to buying porn and it’s illegal for kids to buy. For a horny kid in the 80’s, light on-screen T&A and a Victoria’s Secret Catalog was a pretty good substitute.

  • Ozymati@lemmy.nz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    51
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I want romance in my romance and rom-coms. I do not want it in my action, thriller, history, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, or biographical movies. Unless, and this is key, unless it legitimately adds to the movie.

  • Franklin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I don’t mind sex scenes but I’m so over forced, low stakes, softcore sex scenes between characters that have nonexistent chemistry.

    I still think it’s best when it’s artfully implied and brief between characters with chemistry.

    • FlumPHP@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      1 year ago

      Most of them are just dumb. Like a guy finds out his mom just died in a bear attack, so he and his coworker have passionate sex for the first time.

    • Sagrotan@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      That’s right. If I wanna see that, there’s pornhub etc. In any other movie: skip button. One exception: “The Room”. Makes the cringe complete. Oh, never watch it sober. Of course.

      • Fungah@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s oddly the perfect Hollywood sex scene.

        I mean, they try for verisimilitude. When I have sex I of course spend hours under flowing white bed sheets running my hand along my partners body and kind of grinding at them, I mean who doesn’t? But it’s always unrealistic. You never even see the dude you’re paying $5.00 an hour to undulate the sheets, not the dude holding the sheets up so you can stare lovingly into your partners eyes.

  • PissinSelfNdriveway@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    40
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Well no shit. Nobody wants to watch sex scenes with their parents, and when rent costs 3 used cars per month they don’t have a ton of choice.

    • PowerGloveSoBad@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think you are exaggerating a bit here. Rent levels are skyrocketing past wage growth, sure, but have you considered that used cars are also getting prohibitively expensive relative to the average income? Three of them would be roughly a zillion dollars if my math is correct

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Ya can get a used early 2000s/late 90s saburban in my city for about $2000. Mind ya folks trade around cars here like a 1700s brothel traded the clap but still.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Actually I think they have the same problem with it we Millennials do, and that we don’t find it Charming when a guy acts like a total creep and is rewarded for it because the movie was written by total creeps. Or if our lead is a woman, I’m tired of hearing about how successful and fulfilled she is with her brilliant career that no one takes seriously, because she hasn’t found the right man yet, but then she does and discovers that all of her problems are solved by his penis. Because those movies are also made by creeps

    • Syringe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      I was thinking this too. Also, not EVERYTHING needs to have a love story jammed into it. There are so many situations that you can tell they shoehorned one in in order to pull a specific demo and it’s totally not necessary for the story

  • ThatFembyWho@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    37
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    First of all. Are there any stories without sex/romance? I personally would love the occasional platonic story. About people who aren’t all trying to get in eachothers pants.

    I’m not Gen Z (Millenial) but I do get tired of being bombarded with sex, making out, etc. If it’s done well and integral to the plot, then it’s fine. But honestly less is more. Do I really need a camera to closeup pan the full length of someone’s naked body to realize what’s going on? After a while it just gets weird, like I am legit waching porn here, am I supposed to be aroused?

    The other problem is how flawless they look. I wouldn’t mind seeing some real, average looking people for a change. Hold hands or awkwardly kiss after knowing eachother a few months or years, not like “oh hi we just met and it’s the two of us alone how convenient hehe guess there’s nothing left to do but use our perfect bodies for totally fake sex”.

    Has anyone ever had sex and thought afterwards, wow that was just like TV/movies/whatever? In my experience it’s both more awkward and way hotter. They’re not going to script all the little things we enjoy in reality…

    • evranch@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      33
      ·
      1 year ago

      Are there any stories without sex/romance?

      Dredd 2012. Judge Dredd takes on a female apprentice Anderson for a training day. They mop the floor with gangsters and crooked cops. It’s a non-stop action thrill ride.

      No romance. No sexual tension. They do their jobs.

      • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        Dredd 2012. Judge Dredd takes on a female apprentice Anderson for a training day. They mop the floor with gangsters and crooked cops. It’s a non-stop action thrill ride.

        I absolutely love the part when Dredd is extremely injured and basically walking wounded, Anderson saves him from being executed, and it’s the perfect time for the Hollywood ‘Anderson nurses Dredd back from near death.’

        But what happens? Dredd just field dresses himself, and it’s not romantic, at all. She literally covers him while he does it, and then they move on.

    • pelerinli@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      Are there* any stories without sex/romance?

      There can be. But what if that made you to look other problems of the life? Like poverty and misguided education to help capitalism or like health problems caused by environmental changes or war for drug money? That is why they stick to the emotional side of humans, love of a partner or care of a parent.

    • IHaveTwoCows@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      For some reason Hollywood thinks we need sex scenes even though some of the greatest films of all time have none, especially in the sci-fi/horror genre… Alien, The Thing, Event Horizon, E.T., Predator, all of the MCU, etc

    • Peddlephile@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Doom, Event Horizon, Hereditary, Silence of the Lambs, The Big Short, Frank… There’s heaps of movies out there for us people who steer well clear of romance. They’re just not mainstream and I’m fine with that.

      The only romance movies I really like are The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates and the 1995 Pride and Prejudice series. I think it’s because the characters actually have depth and are fun to watch.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Recycling scripts and dragging 80 year old actors out of retirement makes for cheaper SEO and a higher gross from millennials/boomers.

      New shit is risky, which means lower yield into the next quarter.

      Also, copywriter/contract laws require media to use it or lose it. So you’re going to get an X-Men movie every five years whether you like it or not.

      • Natanael@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        Copyright is NOT use it or lose it. Franchising licensing contracts might occasionally have such terms but that’s not the primary reason, these companies just don’t like risk

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Franchising licensing contracts might occasionally have such terms

          X-Men and Spiderman both revert to Marvel if they aren’t used… I want to say every five years.

          Fantastic Four was acquired by Disney in '19, so that one is a moot point.

    • nomecks@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I think Team America: World Police proved that boring Hollywood sex isn’t what the people want.

    • Mamertine@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      It makes the studio money so it’s what gets green lit. Trying something new is risk. If could tank. Status quo FTL.

  • randon31415@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    41
    arrow-down
    14
    ·
    1 year ago

    Oppenheimer: A man intertwined with US nuclear policy, both when creating the first nuke, and during the cold war. Political intrigue mixed with science!

    Execs: “What if it had a sex scene?”

    • Mchugho@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      31
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      That scene was to show just how uncomfortable and vulnerable Robert Oppenheimer was having his intimate life pursued. It was supposed to be jarring.

      It’s not the fault of studio execs that you are literally incapable of interpreting the subtext of that scene.

    • Wolf_359@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Execs (apparently): What if we chose to explore his flaws by showing that he had an extramarital affair?"

      Puritans: This biopic should really only show his other flaws. And political intrigue. Sex wouldn’t make sense in an R rated film.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      What if we had a sex scene in the middle of a board meeting?

      Every member of the executive board high fiving and wolf whistling

    • LucyLastic@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yup, especially as a gay, sex scenes in movies have always been “I’m fine with straight people existing, but I don’t want them rubbing my face in it” at best … and it’s rarely at best, with all the chemistry of a jar of nitrogen.

  • DunkelLicht@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    It never bothered me as a kid, but now for some reason I get triggered by the way Hollywood portrays romance. Why is everyone such a HUGE slut? It’s such a huge turn off. It is actually really hard to find a film that portrays a healthy loving monogamous relationship.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      1 year ago

      Turns out, the people who have private sex islands have a terrible view on relationships.

      It’s not even just about the sex scenes. How many loving sitcom couples/families routinely lie to each other?

      • starcat@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s not the only way to interpret it. I read it as “healthy AND loving AND monogamous”, meaning monogamous relationships do get tons of recognition, but they’re often very unhealthy relationships.

  • renrenPDX@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m gen x and find that this transition started happening earlier. Once online smut was accessible in early 90’s, what little sex shown on the silver screen became less sought after and just became something we had to sit through awkwardly with family.

    • Mchugho@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      We’re going to go back to silent films with placards explaining the context aren’t we?

    • themoken@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      The Hayes code sucked, but the way directors needed to be creative to get around it was great. Modern directors could learn a lot about making romantic relationships smolder and using innuendo instead of adding cheap sex.

  • wavebeam@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    34
    arrow-down
    15
    ·
    1 year ago

    Lots of people in here talking about how sex scenes suck, and they’re right. But I think we should also consider this: decades of focus on abstinence education and evolving parental and institutional surveillance has been successful at making young people have less sex. And now the olds, having achieved their mission, are confused about why the kids are having less sex and making less babies and the media they are creating and consuming is reflecting that.

    • Fungah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I dont think the abstinence stuff is having sn effect, or is as prevalent as you think. Maybe in America, but the rest of the western world don’t really fuck with it I think>nk?

      • wavebeam@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        This is a good point! And in fairness, I didn’t actually read the article so I don’t know for sure it’s talking about the whole of western societies. It is the la times though, so that would lead me to believe it’s US-centric.

        Regardless, I think you’re totally right. In America we’re continually getting hammered with the idea that having sex before marriage is abhorrent and anyone who does it should be punished for it with STDs or babies.

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          Germany keeps good statistics on it, the tl;dr is early loss of virginity peaked around the turn of the millennium, and has been steadily going down since then. The sexual revolution never got questioned in Germany once it was through (sadly, you can’t annoy reverends by kissing in front of their church, any more), no “abstinence only” sex “education” to be found anywhere. The by far overwhelming reason kids cited is “didn’t yet find the right one”, only exception being girls with immigrant background, there it’s “am still too young”, though that number is falling towards “didn’t yet find the right one”.

          Not on that page but when being given a couple of choices saying “which of these things would be a calamity for you right now, and how bad” something like 99% of girls respond with “pregnancy would be the worst”. Teen abortion rates are still very low (at least for a country not caught up in Catholic morals) but that’s due to low pregnancy rates in the first place combined with extensive support thrown at teen couples.

      • wavebeam@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I certainly think that’s true! But things can also be complex and be both as well as other factors.

    • GladiusB@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      That has nothing to do with less children. It’s a known thing in biology that animals are fully aware of critical mass and adjust their mating for the conditions.

      Every single industrialized country has reduced birth rates because of child mortality, financial stability, and many other reasons that go with it.

      There is no one that didn’t have a kid because of a movie. That’s just ludicrous.