I saw an article a few months ago discussing how Gen Zs are actually looking for less sex and fewer sex scenes in movies and tv shows. This resurfaced in my mind recently while watching the third season of Bridgeton.
When Olivia Rodrigo saw the Barbie movie, she tweeted after that she couldn’t remember another female lead movie that didn’t incorporate a sex scene or even an overly romantic story line. After shows like Euphoria or the controversial season of The Idol, it seems that sex scenes might finally be over played. I actually happen to agree.
I have seen movies and TV shows where sex scenes are seamlessly incorporated to show the connection or intimacy of two people but I have also seen many sex scenes that I felt were simply unnecessary. They were there just to show sex which I didn’t fully understand. It didn’t do anything to heighten the plot line or show that two people were more or less in love with each other. Sometimes it just feels random and forced.
It wasn’t until the late 1960s that sex scenes even became mainstream and even then it was a touchy subject. They slowly gained popularity with directors and writers expressing true human connection and love through the “art” of the sex scenes. And, again, as I said, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it feels real and organic.
However, most of the time it feels like it’s trying to satisfy a societal need. Like we finally made sex scenes a regular thing, less taboo, and then we just ran wild with it. It’s like when a musician comes out with a really great, catchy pop song and then it is played ad nauseam everywhere you go until you become sick of it and never want to hear it again (Ed Sheeran, I love you, but unfortunately a lot of your hits are victim to this treatment).
Even some films or tv shows that claim to be about the female narrative, have a sex scene thrown in there that doesn’t feel like it aligns with the overall message or theme. It feels like the production team is saying, “Yes this movie is about a strong, powerful, independent woman but we also want men to see it so we need to throw in some boobs.
Also, strong, powerful, independent women have sex and the world needs to know.” I mean…we know. And for a while, it was edgy and and different to show women having and enjoying sex and I do believe the movement itself was important. Whether we like it or not, Hollywood and the media have a huge influence on the trends in society and I think introducing casual sex scenes was key in normalizing the conversation around it, especially for women. Education is crucial. It’s crucial to so many things, to our survival!
So while I think the existence of sex scenes is important, maybe we can shift a bit. Maybe we can show a couple who are deeply in love and deeply connected without having to show them taking their clothes off. Is it possible that maybe a strong, powerful, independent women do more than just boss people around and have sex?
I mean, it’s hot, I get it, but there has to be more depth. But is that what people want to watch? Is that what people want to see if they go to the movies? Or does the sex entice people? Is that what makes money? Because the unfortunate reality is, if we want female film makers and writers to keep having opportunities to show their craft, we need people to keep going out to see their movies. We need them to support it. So if sex draws people in, is that so bad? It’s hard to say.
P.S. To the creators of Bridgerton, I absolutely love your show, including the sex. This is more of a pensive idea than a complaint.
