Can probably extend that a bit. I’ve very rarely seen a sex scene in a movie and found it to actually be relevant.
Honestly, I kind of agree with the study. Not to say that any romance in a TV show or movie is a no-go, but that it feels tired and lazy.
As the article says, it feels like a shortcut writers take to prove a character’s growth or happiness; and it sets (what I feel is) an unhealthy goalpost for happiness. While being in a romantic relationship can be quite rewarding, I personally don’t care for the notion that it’s the only way to be truly happy or that it’s the most important type of relationship out there.
My favorite genre of TV/ movies is best friends just being buddies (Psych, Detroiters, South Side, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, etc). When friendships run deep enough they can be just as meaningful and stable as romantic relationships and I think their underrepresentation makes them stand out even more.
On again, this isn’t to say that I hate romance in TV/ movies, just that it’s usually unnecessary and overrepresented.
Seems kinda odd to me that sex should be segmented away from “normal” life. I am seeing several comments here along the lines of “If I want to see sex I’ll watch porn”. Isn’t it normal for sex to be part of life? Why must it be so separate from everything? Seems kinda unhealthy, tbh.
To be clear that I am not advocating doing it on the front lawn. But it is normal for sex to be part of one’s “regular” life.
Even though it’s not the reason given in the article; in my own personal experiences I dislike sex scenes in movies/ TV (even though sex is a natural thing) because it rarely actually adds much to the plot that you could only get by seeing the sex happen.
People like to joke that you never see TV show/ movie characters go to the bathroom or say goodbye before hanging up, but there’s a reason for it. Story telling is a time constrained medium and you need to trim the fat when it comes to unnecessary details.
With that in mind, sometimes it really feels like the only reason a sex scene is being shown is not to advance the plot, but for the audience’s titillation.
Of course, all this is just my personal opinion, and not an objective fact; but to me sex scenes are rarely important to the plot and just feel unnecessarily tacked on.
I like seeing two beautiful people going at it. Kinda disappointed in some cases where they blue ball the viewers.
If I want to watch porn I’ll just watch porn. I don’t need it in a movie personally.
Most of the time, unless it’s a film about love or sex, romance is just shoehorned in there for no reason. I think the only genre of film that should be allowed to do that is comedy. Otherwise it seems like lazy story telling, especially in action movies.
If we want porn, we have the Internet in our hands. So random sex scenes make no sense.
Why would we want barely formed romance sub plots?
Film should be used as a tool to gain insight into these experiences, of which some of the more profound might be seduction, companionship, and loss.
Sex scenes in movies and series are weird. People have sex like they really gotta pee afterwards. I can’t relate to the way these characters have sex.
Maybe I’m having sex wrong…