Sex in film  

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The use of sex in film has been controversial since the earliest use of cinematography and the first portrayals of love scenes and nude scenes. Ever since the silent era of film there have been actors and actresses who have shown parts of their bodies or undergarments, or dressed and behaved in ways considered sexually provocative by contemporary standards. Some films have been criticized and/or banned by various religious groups and governments because of this. The difference with pornographic films is that erotic films are simulated. For further distinctions, see the erotica/pornography pages.

Contents

Mainstream films about pornographic films

See also: List of porn stars who appeared in mainstream films, List of mainstream films with unsimulated sex

Titles

Romance (1999 film)

Attitudes by region

Asia

India

Sex in mainstream Indian movies was rare until the end of nineties, and often kisses, sex, and rape were depicted symbolically. For example, kissing was shown as the meeting of two flowers, rape as the breaking of glass bottle etc. In recent years, the attitude of the Indian movie industry, especially Bollywood, has changed, and some bold movies dealing with sexual themes have been made, though not without controversy.

Philippines

Many erotically charged films have been produced in the Philippines, much to the chagrin of feminists in that country.

Europe

European movies are famous for their erotic scenes, particularly those from Italy, France and Germany. Pedro Almodovar of Spain is a prolific director who includes eroticism as a central part of many of his movies. Tinto Brass, a controversial filmmaker from Italy, has dedicated his entire career of converting explicit sex into mainstream content. His films are also notable for their feminist friendly eroticism.

North America

Mexico

In Mexico, many comedy movies are based around sex, typically portraying men as unstoppable sex-seeking creatures and women as willing targets. Although the numbers of such Mexican film comedies somewhat waned during the 1990s, domestic servants, bar workers, dancers and neighbors' wives continue to be depicted as potentially willing sexual partners, usually pursued by drunken men.

United States

The Hollywood industry has adhered for decades to the saying that sex (in this case nudity or partial nudity) sells. Sex is the perfect thing to put on television. Major Hollywood studios have persuaded both men and women to appear in erotically and/or sexually charged scenes. Many times, a body double is used in place of the star supposed to be naked in a scene: stars sometimes ask for extra money to show their intimate parts, or request for them not to be shown in the particular scene. Hollywood movies, because they are the ones that enjoy the most exposure worldwide, are more often targeted by religious or conservative groups than those produced by other cinematographic industries.

As social standards of acceptable public exposure have changed, cinema has changed as well, often pushing at the boundaries. For example, the famous scene in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, in which Marilyn Monroe stands over a sidewalk ventilation grate and her skirt is blown upward, although it showed no "private parts" or even her underpants, was clearly intended to be erotic, and was considered overly suggestive by some.

Movies with sexual content can be of any rating (G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17). Some manufacturers of DVD players have implemented a subscription-based censor function into their players which allows users to cut out scenes of nudity, offensive language, or racism. Film directors such as Steven Spielberg are fighting this alteration of their work in court.

Religious views

Many Christian organizations have protested against theatrical films that they consider to be overly erotic or have an overly sexual scene. In many Muslim countries, movies have been banned for their sexual content.

See also





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Sex in film" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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