i ALSO just referenced RS Benedict’s excellent essay in a little movie write up about Love Lies Bleeding, which i am still clinging to sooooo tightly as the best recent movie sex scene and general eroticism since…Bound, maybe???
twisters DEFINITELY was missing out by pretending that chemistry wasn’t there, or wasn’t important, or wasn’t worth diving a little deeper into.
also, as a zoomer, i would not be opposed to movie studios and whoever ignoring me and my peer’s puritanical tendencies or whatever because i think they are borne from lifestyles designed by over-anxious parents, oversocialization online, leading to us rejecting “real life” and all its implications like sexual exploration and eroticism. let john waters set my age group straight….or queer….you know what i mean lol
Coming from asexuality studies, I find the juxtaposition of 'queer' and 'sexless' deeply problematic. Yes, queer erotic feelings/attractions should be no means be banned from screens, but calling sexlessness and a lacking kiss scene (that undermines genre expectations in a queer, ace, way) inherently and always harmful and anti-queer is intellectually lazy and does equal damage
That's fair! I'll admit that the title of this piece is probably hyperbolic and I see your point about the danger of equating lack of sex to damage – "hurt" was definitely an unnecessarily cheeky term to use in this context. I definitely need to brush up on my asexuality studies, there is no doubt a gap there when it comes to my knowledge of queer and gender studies and the like.
Only thinking of BookTok's side of TikTok, there seems to be an increase of interest in sex scene in books. Do you think one area (fiction) is effecting another area of art (movies, tv)? Or is it more coincidental that books are sexier now?
It's clear that movie studios are paying attention to BookTok so I could definitely see that affecting things, though mainstream movies tend to water down the more salacious elements of books I find. Even in The Idea of You, which I enjoyed, there wasn't actually much sex (more like allusions to sex). I do wonder if some of the people who don't like sex scenes in movies enjoy reading them in books?
I’m honestly tired of millennials constant bickering over this sex in movies topic. Last year we literally had poor things come and many other ‘sexy’ films to throb your clit so what is it with this pretense that we are slowly turning puritanical? It’s almost has boring as the sex scenes in a lot of American media which lacks the sensuality to back up it’s supposed scandal. Not all movies need blatant romance in it and I honestly feel we would do with a bit more teasing in American films.
Would be really intrigued to hear what you think about Kinds of Kindness - I'm not a Lanthimos defender, and I'm also not usually a fan of...shock sex scenes in movies. I think I usually tend to fall into the mindset of "sex doesn't belong in movies" but I'm a big believer that our backgrounds shape the lens through which we enjoy media (culturally Muslim upbringing). Nevertheless, I also don't disagree with anything you say here - just chiming in!
Interesting. I don't disagree with anything that you are saying, and I agree that queer representation is important. However, I have always felt troubled by the fact that so many mainstream movies (and TV shows) include a romantic/sexual sub-plot, even if the main story is about something else, as though no story can exist without this. As someone who has never had any interest in sex, I find sex scenes boring. Maybe that's not typical, although there are many asexual people). I like that sex does not always have to be part of a movie. I also like that romance does not have to be part of a movie, and even if it is, romance does not have to include sex. At the same time, I don't think that any shame should be attached to sex, and especially queer sex, and that's why I get what you are saying. (By the way, I'm not a Gen Z-er. I'm 40, an older millennial. Also, I didn't see the movie.)
I see your point about some of these subplots feeling quite unnecessary, and I do think it would be great if we had more examples of deep platonic connection in film and television.
i ALSO just referenced RS Benedict’s excellent essay in a little movie write up about Love Lies Bleeding, which i am still clinging to sooooo tightly as the best recent movie sex scene and general eroticism since…Bound, maybe???
twisters DEFINITELY was missing out by pretending that chemistry wasn’t there, or wasn’t important, or wasn’t worth diving a little deeper into.
also, as a zoomer, i would not be opposed to movie studios and whoever ignoring me and my peer’s puritanical tendencies or whatever because i think they are borne from lifestyles designed by over-anxious parents, oversocialization online, leading to us rejecting “real life” and all its implications like sexual exploration and eroticism. let john waters set my age group straight….or queer….you know what i mean lol
Coming from asexuality studies, I find the juxtaposition of 'queer' and 'sexless' deeply problematic. Yes, queer erotic feelings/attractions should be no means be banned from screens, but calling sexlessness and a lacking kiss scene (that undermines genre expectations in a queer, ace, way) inherently and always harmful and anti-queer is intellectually lazy and does equal damage
That's fair! I'll admit that the title of this piece is probably hyperbolic and I see your point about the danger of equating lack of sex to damage – "hurt" was definitely an unnecessarily cheeky term to use in this context. I definitely need to brush up on my asexuality studies, there is no doubt a gap there when it comes to my knowledge of queer and gender studies and the like.
Only thinking of BookTok's side of TikTok, there seems to be an increase of interest in sex scene in books. Do you think one area (fiction) is effecting another area of art (movies, tv)? Or is it more coincidental that books are sexier now?
It's clear that movie studios are paying attention to BookTok so I could definitely see that affecting things, though mainstream movies tend to water down the more salacious elements of books I find. Even in The Idea of You, which I enjoyed, there wasn't actually much sex (more like allusions to sex). I do wonder if some of the people who don't like sex scenes in movies enjoy reading them in books?
Oh brother.
I’m honestly tired of millennials constant bickering over this sex in movies topic. Last year we literally had poor things come and many other ‘sexy’ films to throb your clit so what is it with this pretense that we are slowly turning puritanical? It’s almost has boring as the sex scenes in a lot of American media which lacks the sensuality to back up it’s supposed scandal. Not all movies need blatant romance in it and I honestly feel we would do with a bit more teasing in American films.
Would be really intrigued to hear what you think about Kinds of Kindness - I'm not a Lanthimos defender, and I'm also not usually a fan of...shock sex scenes in movies. I think I usually tend to fall into the mindset of "sex doesn't belong in movies" but I'm a big believer that our backgrounds shape the lens through which we enjoy media (culturally Muslim upbringing). Nevertheless, I also don't disagree with anything you say here - just chiming in!
I haven’t seen it yet! Loved The Favourite and liked Poor Things, don’t like his earlier work as much.
Interesting. I don't disagree with anything that you are saying, and I agree that queer representation is important. However, I have always felt troubled by the fact that so many mainstream movies (and TV shows) include a romantic/sexual sub-plot, even if the main story is about something else, as though no story can exist without this. As someone who has never had any interest in sex, I find sex scenes boring. Maybe that's not typical, although there are many asexual people). I like that sex does not always have to be part of a movie. I also like that romance does not have to be part of a movie, and even if it is, romance does not have to include sex. At the same time, I don't think that any shame should be attached to sex, and especially queer sex, and that's why I get what you are saying. (By the way, I'm not a Gen Z-er. I'm 40, an older millennial. Also, I didn't see the movie.)
I see your point about some of these subplots feeling quite unnecessary, and I do think it would be great if we had more examples of deep platonic connection in film and television.