[ad_1]
We need to talk about sex. Actually, it wouldn’t even be that necessary: there are already a lot of people engaged in discussing the topic in depth. Yet if we don’t, sexuality risks being represented much less in cinema and television and, frankly, that would be a shame.
Let’s start with Penn Badgley. When recently the actor he has declared Of not wanting to shoot sex scenes anymore in the Netflix series You which sees him as the protagonist, his words have been around the web. At first glance, Badgley’s request seems reasonable: after all, every actor should be able to decide whether or not to do something in front of the camera. However, the statements of him also have rekindled L’age-old debate on the need for nudity and sex scenes within films or TV series, and on the comfort of the viewer: “Think of all the male protagonists you’ve ever loved. Have you seen them kiss anyone? Have you seen them do something more – has asked Badgley during the podcasts Podcrushed –? It’s not my desire to do that”.
Presumably Badgley’s request would not be granted in House of the Dragon. Despite their frequency, though. the sex scenes in the series don’t feel as intense as those in game of Thrones (which Daenerys Targaryen interpreter Emilia Clarke has defined terrifying to ride). In recent years, after the #MeToo, it has become a common practice to hire an “intimacy coordinator” on every set featuring sex scenes, whose job it is to make sure everyone is comfortable with what is being filmed and how it is being done . The presence of these coordinators has made productions safer places to shoot sex scenes (even House of the Dragon he has one), but also spawned discussions about the very necessity of on-screen sex.
Bans and self-censorship
The short answer is that sex scenes are actually necessary. Sometimes, at least. The long answer is that they have such a troubled history that it would take a lot of space to cover them all. However, cutting short and generalizing, we can say that from the 1930s to the 1960s Hollywood began to censor itself, in an attempt to rehabilitate its image and obtain authorization to distribute its films throughout the United States. The notorious Hays Code – which owes its name to the politician who elaborated it, Will Hays precisely – collected the thirty-six prohibitions that regulated censorship in American cinema. The guidelines, which didn’t just address gender and sexuality, severely limited the intimacy filmmakers could show on screen. No nudity, nothing”perversions” (i.e. homosexual content) and no “first nights” (alla Romeo and Juliet, so to speak). It was implied that if film productions followed these rules, the government would not intervene.
When compliance with the Hays Code began to wane, especially in the face of stiff competition from the emerging medium of television, the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the film rating system still in use today, allowing more explicit content to find its way into mainstream movies. While on the one hand this has allowed directors more leeway to show truthful representations of sex and sexuality, on the other hand it has led to uncomfortable situations for the actors (for example Last Tango in Paris).
.
[ad_2]
Source link
