Nudity And Nude Scenes In Movies An
This group is for all those who love seeing nudity on film or TV, either seeing actors and actresses naked or group scenes of nudity. There is often a sexual component to much film nudity. This is about the nudity and body exposure or natural expression of nudity, rather than the sexual intent. It's for a discussion on how nudity in films might have influenced their own views on the naked...
- created by Nakedhiker1000
Pressure
Return to DiscussionsWhile I was watching the final episode of the tv show Spartacuz, a show whose content has already been discussed in this group, I couldnt help to think about the way society, not just through movies, but also through marketing, seems to have this very strange obsession with what is considered to be the perfectexemples of the human body: tall, athletic, sexy. It seems that very few movies and commercials decide to take the risk to feature people whose body type is just ... average. I mean, if we look at shows like Spartacuz, True Blood, Dexter, shows that feature a lot of sex, we get to the conclusion that we dont usually see people with a little bit of weight starring in some very steamy scenes, and since these shows are watched by teenagers, and some are actually quite young, I wonder if theyre not, while being completely unware of it, being led to believe that they can only be "accepted" unless they look like those on t.v.
What does everyone think about this ?
While I was watching the final episode of the tv show Spartacuz, a show whose content has already been discussed in this group, I couldnt help to think about the way society, not just through movies, but also through marketing, seems to have this very strange obsession with what is considered to be the perfectexemples of the human body: tall, athletic, sexy. It seems that very few movies and commercials decide to take the risk to feature people whose body type is just ... average. I mean, if we look at shows like Spartacuz, True Blood, Dexter, shows that feature a lot of sex, we get to the conclusion that we dont usually see people with a little bit of weight starring in some very steamy scenes, and since these shows are watched by teenagers, and some are actually quite young, I wonder if theyre not, while being completely unware of it, being led to believe that they can only be "accepted" unless they look like those on t.v. What does everyone think about this ?
I think you make a really important and valid point here. Media frames so much of our perspective on our sense of what we determine as "reality" and of our sense of place in the world. Beautiful supermodels cover the pages of our magazines. We even hold athletes up as perfect physical examples rather than just admiring them for their skill on the field. I don't think there is anything wrong with admiring people for their beauty but much of it is unattainable for many people. There are some people, the majority of people who, no matter how much they exercise or how much makeup they wear, will never look like a supermodel or a super jock. But they still are people and represent US as we mostly really are. I would love to see nudity in films and on television where the people are average. It would be nice to see love scenes between naked people who are not in perfect shape. Perhaps not explicit pornographic love scenes, but the kinds of nudity that you see in those shows you mention. I liked that we got to see the characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman naked in Breaking Bad. the nudity added to the storyline and although they are nice looking guys, they are not extraordinary men physically.I know that when I post naked photographs of myself or even when I walk around naked among other men, I am sometimes, & I think this is sad, self conscious about my body image. I'm sure this is framed somewhat from seeing a lifetime of beautiful people showcased in the nude. I think what I am trying to say is that we are all naked. It is something we all have in common as human beings our bodies. If those people who are chosen and promoted and showcased for our viewing pleasure are always these extraordinary specimens of human beings, what are we saying as a society about nudity? Not so much about people, but about our bodies? Are the beautiful bodies to be exploited? And the average bodies to be concealed? I think this is what you are getting at and that is certainly what I am thinking about.
It is exactly whatIm talking and as you stress out so rightfully: what sort of society are we creating, by pretty much molding our perception of the world around us ? I think that it is a very serious matter, since Ive come across people who are prepared to go to great lenghts in order to look like those who they think are perfect. I once stumbled upon this guy who felt so miserable, because he couldnt afford going to a gym and he really wanted to get in shape so that he could pretty much get the attention that he seeked so urgently. I told him that perhaps, instead of focusing on what he wants to be, he should be focusing his attention on what he already was. I know that it sounded like a bit of a new age guru type of speech, and that perhaps I somehow took myself too seriously, but, and being far from what people may perceive as an attractive man is concerned, I got to the conclusion that we must focus on what we like about ourselves. Sure, we will always be confronted with striking images of attractive men and women, but I feel like trying to be like someone else, means loosing our identity and that is something that, I think, when lost, theres is no turning back. Anywho, I came across that boy again, and ... he had changed, a lot, enjoying being on the spotlight and all. I guess that in a way sometimes I find myself having a sort of prejudice towards good looking people, as bitter as it may sound, it used to make me quite mad, but then I think to myself: anyone has the right to be what they want to be, but I really do feel is important for newer generations to see that theres more to the human body than Miranda Kerrs and Hugh Jackmans bodies. I agree with you when you say that even though Aaron Paul and Brian Cranston are good looking men, theyre not the sort of prototype of the " perfect male ", and that is actually something that I like about the show. There are other cases where average body types has been showcased, Im thinking about "Angels in America", for instance, in which the actors who played the gay couple are quite average, and good looking too. In "Weeds", for instance, and even though Mary Louise Parker is a very attractive woman, her character is an average looking woman, with a sparkling personality, who can be feisty, sexy and smart as well. I mentioned Spartacuz because the show really does take things into a very disturbing, since not a single character, not even the villains, werent attractive, and that made feel quite disturbed, to say the least. Lets hope that this discussion gets the attention that it deserves, otherwise Im afraid future generations will be brainwashed. P.s: since youve mentioned porn, there is no way I cant mention Ron Jeremy, the sort of "black sheep" of porn, miles away from the physical "perfection" of the likes of other male pornstars, but even he says that the porn industry has become obsessed with six packs and extremely well groomed men ... sadly, I guess :/
Another sad exemple of this of brainwash currently being put into practice by some television shows, namely the show called Da Vincis Demons: by portraying Da Vinci was a very athletic and attractive man, who got himself involved in all sorts of amazing experiences, and had lots of sex as well, however ludicruous it may be, and by the end of the day this is still fantasy, it somehow confirms this current trend of only seeing "perfect human beings" as lead characters, getting all the attention from their female and sometimes male counterparts, while others, who are not the epitomy of physical perfection are eitherportrayed as sidekicks and comic relief or are simply vilified.
Another sad exemple of this of brainwash currently being put into practice by some television shows, namely the show called Da Vincis Demons: by portraying Da Vinci was a very athletic and attractive man, who got himself involved in all sorts of amazing experiences, and had lots of sex as well, however ludicruous it may be, and by the end of the day this is still fantasy, it somehow confirms this current trend of only seeing "perfect human beings" as lead characters, getting all the attention from their female and sometimes male counterparts, while others, who are not the epitomy of physical perfection are eitherportrayed as sidekicks and comic relief or are simply vilified.
What you say here reminds me of the television show "The Tudors". While I am sureHenry VIII was not always as portly and over stuffed looking as he is in his portraits as king, even as a young man he was not the strikingly handsome and well built manthat the actor(Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is who portrayed him. And they had handsome well built Henry Cavill (who actually went on to play Superman!!...talk about an idealized image of masculinity!!) playing Henry's friend Charles Brandon. These actors were cast not only because of their acting ability, but because they wanted them to look a certain way because of the focus on the sexuality of the romantic relationships and they wanted them to look sexually alluring in their numerous nude scenes. It's interesting that even though Henry is a brutish thug of a monarch who can't relate to people, is out to conquer the countryside and puts his wives to death, the deliberate decision is made to cast him as a handsome fit man. It would have been interesting to see the nude scenes with people of average proportions, more realistically reflecting their historicalcounterparts. The repulsive nature oftheir sexual domination of women would have been even more believable if you weren't given attractive men and women engaging in the acts all the time. At least in the series "Rome" you were looking atRoman soldiers who would have been very fit, and in "Spartacus", even though they were so over the top muscular, they were portraying the most highly regarded male specimens' of their time. In "The Tudors" they were playing English gentry who were not likely so well built and fit.All of these series not only had many nude scenes, they also often were sexual nude scenes, thus more often that not using sexuality as a reason to show nudity.
"It would have been interesting to see the nude scenes with people of average proportions, more realistically reflecting their historicalcounterparts. The repulsive nature oftheir sexual domination of women would have been even more believable if you weren't given attractive men and women engaging in the acts all the time."Well, I haveto say that I have some conflicting thoughts about you wrote, especially the part that Ive stressed out above. I mean, do you think that if they had cast average looking actors, the scenes where theyre being mean and violent would have been more repulsive and belieavable ? Are we somehow led to think that because shows like Spartacuz or even Rome, who had very attractive actors acting out some pretty horrific and sometimes brutish sex scenes, displayed them in a not so repulsive way ? Even someof the villains in Spartacuz were attracting men and women who did horrible things, butdo you think thatthose scenes werent believable ?Do you think that if they had cast a fat actor to play Henry VIII, his misdeeds would have been more realistic ? Or is it the action itself, the one that should be condemned, and not the actor/character who stars in it ? What I think is that there seems to be an obsession with what society wants to think of the exemple of beauty. As conservative as I may sound, I think that seeing Leonardo DaVinci as this sort of action hero, that gets himself involved in some pretty steamy sex scenes, is not as interesting as seeing who, I think, was more of an outsider, and indeed, must have had sexual encounters, but was someone who believed that more important than the way one looks, is the way one thinks and acts. Now, I find the show hardly believable when it tries to showcase DaVinci as an outsider, when he his always showcasing his muscles, has an army of women running after him and who gets into some pretty stupid conclusions. Its this muscle over mind type of mentality, this "beautiful people are good, and ugly people are bad or laughed at" that is pretty much making me feel very uncomfortable, for at a time when we can access a lot of information through the media, more and more, we seem to be propelled to believe that the media and their view of "society" is very questionable.
I haven't seen da Vinci's demons so I can't really comment on any aspect of it. although now i am kind of interested to compare it with these other shows. But every conflicting thought you raise with regard to the quotes picked out of my comment I share with you. I had some of these conflicting thoughts as I wrote them. I should have been more articulate in what I was trying to express. I don't think, nor do I want to express that if average looking actors were cast to do nude scenes that the nude scenes would be more repulsive or more believable. it is the acts themselves that define the dramatic action and audience reaction. What I resent or question is why there is always this move to cast people with above average physiques and what the society would classify as "very attractive" bodies in these roles so that when we're watching something that should be seen as brutal and demeaning and harsh sometimes becomes dramatically slanted and sometimes diluted, substituting what could be a defining moment for a visually exciting spectacle. I remember seeing a movie that came out in the late 1970s I think called The Betsy with Tommy Lee Jones and Laurence Olivier. In the movie I remember Laurence Olivier pulls down his pants and I think forces hinself on a young woman. We see partial nudity during a sex act. His age, his prominence as an actor and the intrinsic power he wields as this automobile empire patriarch adds intensity without us thinking of his attractiveness. The movie wasn't that good but that scene stands out in my memory. But we don't often see men and women not classified as beautiful people in sex scenes. We do see them when the purpose of the scene is to show vulnerability such as in a film dealing with the Holocaust or in a brutal rape where the naked person is just a nameless victim or a character we will never get to know. There are exceptions of course such as in the movie Precious where there is some nudity to show vulnerability with a character we are deeply invested in.
Oh, I believe that now you have made a much clearer point for I did find myself thinking that perhaps, in a slightly far fetched way that somehow my thoughts like to go through sometimes, you were only interested in shows or movies with very attractive people, their heroic or gruesome deeds and their sexual experiences - for a moment I even found myself thinking that perhaps your view was that since we are talking about fiction, however based in historical facts as it may be, it makes more sense to show people who look so otherwordly, rather than showing average folks, that could somehow amplify the reality elements of it all. I know that perhaps this comments may come across as bitter or even resentful, bearing in mind what I wrote before, concerning that meeting I had with that guy who was desperate to change his looks, but I guess that as I feel more comfortable in my skin, I become more aware of how this world looks or works in certain levels. I have some ... I dont know if I can call them friends because we have never met, but I guess they are " Facebook friends" who are always posting pictures of them at the gym, swimming with barely anything on, always complementing or forcing others to compliment their looks, something that they do achieve, and then I see hundreds flocking to them, sort of worshipping them, I think to myself: "have we really evolved millions of years to achieve this stage in evolution where once again its more important to look rather than to be ? "There is this pressure, that is harshly being put upon a lot of people,I think, to fit in, to be like the guy or girl they see in some tv show or ad, when I guess that what should be being encouragedis individuality, with respect of course, but individuality nonetheless. But sadly, more and more, I feel like Im in a minority. Indeed, I do like to see shows like Game of Thrones, another one obsessed with beautiful physics, cant say I dont, but I cant help but thinking that what comes through is not very positive. Even in "places" such as this one, one can see that there is a certain preference for people with a certain look, by some users, who only seem to become aware of those more ... average, when approached by them ... but oh well, so is life ...
Wonderful to see such discussion here; all I can add is that the obsession with so-called beauty in representations of naked humanity - where it occurs in the media - displays a lack of respect for the beauty of ordinary humanity; here in Australia, we used to be very casual about nudity in our films, and those actors who participated in such scenes covered the full spectrum; films like The Odd Angry Shot and Flirting both included naked shower scenes, and the male actors involved were far from the gym crowd of the present day; the only recent film to include naked scenes of more ordinary bodies would be the tv series Underbelly, although some of these fellows are pretty buff!So the message increasingly seems to be that if you are to be seen naked on the screen you must be of model standards, in very staged situations; ordinary everyday nudity of ordinary bodies is seen as abhorrent, and reserved for some European cinema, and a few other exceptions - for example, the brilliant actor William H Macey in the HBO series of Shameless...good on him for his work as the ailing Frank Gallagher!
I couldn't agree more with what you wrote, since even in a country such as mine (Portugal) where supposedly every single one of us should be counting pennies because of the financial crisis, some people are spending hundreds of euros on gyms, following the "wise" advices of some tv presenters who sometimes end up making a mock out of us, ordinary people who just happen to feel comfortable in our own skins, despite all the pressure from the outside world. I think that the television world has to wake up and really smell the coffee because making diversified tv shows is not enough, they have to show mankind in all of its diversity :)