Because the world shifted to the right a bunch more regarding sexual content… fucking websites now want you to show your ID in some states to view porn.
I think acclaimed director Paul Verhoeven put it best when he called our country a land full of gleefully violent prudes when people freaked out about his use of sexuality, nudity and people being comfortable naked around members of the opposite sex.
i think it was prevalent before the interwebs because there was largely few places to get porn, and throwing it in a movie meant more eyeballs.
as porn became immediately available in other forms (mostly the internet), the unnecessary scenes could be eliminated as a waste of time and a detraction from plots. they ceased being a reason to draw eyeballs.
That sex is even considered a vice on the same level as drugs and violence is fucking bonkers.
This graph alone gives legitimacy to this idea. Nudity and sex are completely normal (and necessary) things in life. That something that is needed for everyone reading this to exist being labeled as a vice like violence and drugs is actually disgusting IMHO.
Sex scenes in movies are a combination of this weird shameful "I want to show I'm having sex but I can't actually show it" and "It's almost like porn if you removed all the porn."
You're really stuck in a pointless awkward middle ground that satisfies nobody. And 95% of the time it isn't even plot relevant so you're just wasting time. The decline basically just coincides with internet access to the masses.
My brain just go ..... when random awkward 30 second sex scene happens out of nowhere or they just start making out, kissing and moaning loudly then suddenly we are in the next scene and everything is back to normal. Why?
Unless the film is sexual in nature random full frontal nudity, stray tits, stray ass, visible privates always makes me so confused.
as an asexual person i find other people's opinions on this interesting. the sex scenes do nothing for me and i'm usually just waiting for them to end but i understand my circumstances are not common. i can only assume that someone who is into sex gets something out of sex scenes, otherwise they wouldn't exist.
what i don't understand is the demonizing of sex scenes in movies. like does everyone only watch movies with their parents/kids? i don't like sex scenes due to my asexuality and i'm glad that there are few of them because this cultural shift benefits me specifically (who has never been in the target demographic) in a roundabout way. but i wouldn't say they are all gross/unnecessary/graphic/etc as a blanket statement like i see people in this thread and other places online say. art doesn't need to be for everyone.
Let's make a movie about the creator of the nuclear bomb! We can explore the moral implications, the political drama of communists in the USA during and after WW2, the creations of Los Alamos, the interesting science of...
Random corporate head: "Let's have a sex scene! That will make things interesting!"
It's kind of a bummer as it's nice to have a more artistic representation of sex outside of porn which is more of a commodity. Movies can connect the sexy scenes to the non-sexy scenes which potentially makes them more powerful. Also, movies can tie moral value to sex which is interesting to explore.
I am in favor of sex in movies making a comeback, as long as it doesn't create problems for the actors.
Ok I understand the comments here where people are saying they dislike sex scenes that don't advance the plot. However there are certain movies where sex scenes are essential to the plot such as Boogie Nights. I can also think of examples like The Name Of The Rose where a sex scene is thematically improving the film (in my opinion).
Sex scenes in film/tv are hard to get right but I'd prefer if directors worked harder to capture/deploy them properly rather than a large facet of human experience disappearing during script interventions by producers and studios.
It basically moved to TV instead. Wonder how that statistic compares if they're counted together.
I wonder how much of this correlates with the rise of intimacy coordinators. I’m sure there are productions that think it’s not worth the investment so they just scrap the scene and have it take place off camera etc.
And perhaps a rise in actors not wanting to have their stuff on the internet forever now (even more so with the rise of AI training)
I'm guessing it's because the highest grossing films are now just slop trying to appeal to the widest demographic possible, so if they include sex, the are excluding families from seeing the film.
https://bloodknife.com/everyone-beautiful-no-one-horny/
Not just sex but the sexual tension/chemistry or whatever you wanna call it.
One example is Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in Spider-man trilogy vs Tom Holland and Zendaya in MCU movies. The former couple dated briefly but broke up before the production of second movie. Second one's are dating for almost 5 years (officially). Yet the Raimi movies have this chemistry that MCU movies lack. The relationship feels like checklist.
Another is Eva Green vs Lea Seydoux in Bond movies.
Is the spike in the early 2000's from the cinematic masterpiece The Room? Three sex scenes in the span of like 15 minutes, ooh la la.
Seriously though, as much of a horndog I can be, I like the decline of random sex scenes in movies. Very rarely added anything to the story for me. I'm not a fan of violence, but fortunately it's not too hard to avoid.
Go drugs! You got this!
The kids who watched Titanic with their parents are growing up and making movies now
I wanna see this extended back to at least 1980, which was around the peak for nudity and sex scenes in film; after porn was legalized but before internet porn.
My question would be how much of this is actors no longer being completely subjected to the gross wims of the director. How many scenes had little to do with a story and felt more like the director using the opportunity to make pretty people obey them.
We have intimacy directors now and what may also be happening is individuals having more say in production and in their bodily autonomy and I don't see that as an issue particularly.
Did random sex scenes really hit the level of art for you folks? Is pornography art the same way? 🤔 You know both are made for mass sale and consumption usually, the same way, much more than trying to make content to say anything.
But um "it so bad we block the titties!" or whatever is popular to say. Even though i personally don't remember many that added anything story related. Show me them bonding in a real way, sex doesn't cement anything if you've ever had a cheating partner, but a real collection of moments spent together between them that shows understanding and sacrifice for each other can really have an impact.
Sex scenes are goofy af
Good! it always looks "bolted on", awkward, and doesn't advance the plot
Roughly correlates with the rate of decrease in people 18-30 having sex. I'm not sure of the order of influence there, or if there even is one, but it's possible the declining presence of sex in media is a result of it being less relatable for something like 30% more young people than previous generations.
Usually if it pass the 20 seconds I reach for the keyboard to skip ahead.
I mean, who cares about smushys , I get it you are in love, lets go ahead
And of course violence is way too high, damn puritans!
Should it say mainstream movies since they only compare the top250?
I'd like to see the chart go back a lot further tbh
Another thing ruined by Gen Z. ;)
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/sex-on-screen-ucla-study-gen-z-teens-young-adults-1235768046/
Funny how the peak of sex in movies was right around the time Tommy Wiseau blessed the world with 3 sex scenes the first 30 minutes of one movie.
That man has a glorious ass and anyone who got turned off to sex in movies because of it deserves shame
Gotta maximize the target market on everything to get the most clicks and all. It's why anything that comes out now is so good damn bland.
This person clearly hasn't found out about pornhub yet
It has no draw because we all have 24hr access to porn to the extent having it in a film is like having people take shits in film, like, yeah we all do this, but it's mostly gross so, no thanks.
I noticed this as well. I don't really care either way, just that it was noticeable. The other part I noticed is that if there is nudity, I feel like it's a way higher percentage that it's a male. I'm not going to lie if I had to choose I would rather see the other sex, but I understand we had way too long of a time with it being a one-way street.
Interesting, I thought I noticed this trend but never saw it quantified. I guess the public sentiment changed around '05 about sex in movies. Might be they just get it from pornhub now instead.
We need to go lower
Seems to match when more people had better access to smartphones and watching videos not just in the privacy of their home. Could be a lot of people aren't watching movies with sex as often because you don't want to be on a bus/plane where others can see your screen and suddenly it's a sex scene. (Amongst other reasons)
F in chat.
...because it's not in the movie.
Good
This chart makes me wonder about cigarette smoking specifically. It feels like if you looked back 40 years it would be a "U".
QED
