Starting from actor Henry Cavill’s sharing about hating doing sex scenes, the entertainment industry once again erupted in debate about whether 18+ labeled scenes are necessary in movies or not.
Hot scenes overshadow the acting
In early February, when participating in the podcast Happy Sad Confused with director Matthew Vaughn, Henry Cavill declared that he was not a fan of the sex scene in the movie.
He admitted that there are cases where sex scenes actually benefit the film, not just to attract audiences. However, the actor born in 1983 believes that sensitive scenes seem to be overused in current filmmaking. That made him question whether it was really necessary or just people wearing less clothes?
Henry Cavill believes that today’s movies are overusing hot scenes. Photo: Allstar.
The 41-year-old superhero added that the scriptwriter and director may have added a hot scene for storytelling purposes, but fans may not have paid attention to that aspect, but only focused on the actor’s naked body.
In the current context of 18+ images flooding television and movies, Cavill is like a lone moral crusader fighting for his own ideals. However, another character proactively came to his side. She is a veteran performer who has gone through many changes on screen and has a deep understanding of the demands that require actors to undress in the name of art.
On Radio Times , Joanna Lumley said she wanted to completely cut out the sex scenes in the film.
“The minute you take off your clothes, the audience looks at you, the actress, and your features – what your breasts and genitals look like. You immediately lose the character you have built. There’s a playground element to it – pull down your pants and see what you’ve got. I will cut them completely. They slow everything down. They are so rude and terrible,” said the actress born in 1946.
The British female MC emphasized that nudity is considered something all female actors have to endure, including veteran stars like Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Christie…
According to Joanna Lumley, hot scenes only distract the audience, affecting the film’s flow. Photo: Getty Images.
A 2019 study found that films produced in the 2010s had fewer nude scenes than in other years since the 1960s. Specifically, only 1.21% of films produced in the 2010s had nude scenes. close. This may be because the context has changed. In the past, directors wouldn’t have thought of forcing a star to strip just for an innocuous moment of excitement, forcing them to face the reality of nude scenes that would live forever on the Internet in this era. current point.
In October 2023, a survey of 1,500 teenagers conducted by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) showed that the need to watch sex movies on screen is gradually decreasing. The majority of respondents said sex was not necessary in the film to serve the plot, while many expressed a desire to see more focus on platonic friendship.
Henry Cavill was wrong when he criticized the hot scene?
However, the above research seems to be outdated. 2023 witnessed the rise of works filled with bold and unusual hot scenes. Of course, not all of those hot scenes are necessary. Despite the long and fierce debate about the extent of misogyny, Poor Things is the story of a woman who uses sex to build her entire personality. Therefore, removing the 18+ image will take away the heart of the film. But if we remove the sex scene in Oppenheimer , including the part where Florence Pugh takes off her shirt, we are left with the full version of the “father” of the atomic bomb, just a little shorter.
Hot scenes are considered the heart of Poor Things.
The same is true of television. HBO’s disastrous series The Idol feels like it was created as little more than a vehicle for nudity, with the intention of capturing the audience’s attention like other shows before it. But the results were terrible, because what remained were countless meaningless nude scenes. The focus of the entire production is on the actors’ unclothed bodies. The price to pay is lackluster characters, plot, and acting skills. The film failed for the reason Ms Lumley gave in the Radio Times – which was “pull down your pants and see what you got”. If audiences really just want to see actors naked, they can easily find countless more realistic footage on the Internet. Why should they subscribe to an expensive streaming service to watch outdated TV shows when everyone has a cell phone and wifi?
In The Guardian, British writer Stuart Heritage has an essay analyzing why Henry Cavill was wrong to criticize sex scenes.
The author of Bedtime Stories for Worried Liberals says this perspective may stem from personal experience. The actor’s first film was Hotel Laguna which was filled with redundant, boring sex scenes. Similarly, the TV project The Tudors is also filled with ridiculous scenes.
“Maybe if you spent years of your life suffering unhappily in front of your coworkers knowing that your vulnerable moment would be captured forever on the Internet without any context, you also won’t be interested in the idea (of doing a sex scene),” Heritage wrote.
However, Heritage believes that thinking could change if Henry Cavill works with the right director. Proper encouragement, a good script and the chance to take home an Oscar may have helped him soften his attitude toward on-screen sex, even enjoy it.
Heritage points to Poor Things , All of Us Strangers and Saltburn as all typical works that show how essential sex scenes are to the plot and are so interesting.
The Idol represents movies that contain meaningless, bad sex scenes. Photo: HBO.
