Hollywood cinema seems to be much more modest than before. In any case, this is what this recent study proves, which tends to tell us that sex scenes are much fewer in Hollywood films than before.
Fewer sex scenes?
Sex in cinema has always been an issue. a thorny subject. How to show it? Should we show it? Subject to censorship or not? Sex in the cinema is always a little tricky. For years, it was even forbidden to show sex to other people. the screen,under penalty of censorship, fines, or even prison. For more than thirty years, the Hays Code banned sex scenes in cinema until the end of the year. its complete disappearance in 1966.
The Hays Code was a production code established by the American film industry in the 1990s. >1930to regulate the films. This code regulated films so that they were socially acceptable to American audiences. This code restricted or prohibited the depiction of violence, sexuality, immorality, crime, religion and politics in a manner deemed offensive or inappropriate .
In 1968, he was replaced by the American film industry's current film rating system, the MPAA(Motion Picture Association of America) film rating system, which ranks films based on their content and recommends appropriate ages for viewers.
Since then, sex has obviously come into play. return to the screens. Sultry directors like Paul Verhoeven are not deprived of this. in their films (Showgirls, Basic Instinct, Elle). However, since the beginning of the 2000s, sex in the cinema seems to be less and less present at the cinema. the screen.
A fall of 40%
Recently, British analyst Stephen Follows led an investigation into this issue. He studied the 250 highest-grossing films in the United States since the start of the 21st century. By taking into account the different classifications of the MPAA, he found that: that sex in cinema had declined by 40%.A study that has been taken up and analyzed by the media The Economist:
Some people feel that Hollywood has entered the world. set in a puritanical era and blames the #MeToo movement, the omnipresence of celibacy in superhero films, as well as the need for social media. to please foreign markets. Others disagree and point to the highly explicit scenes in recent films like Fair Play and Poor Creatures, which include sex scenes in public toilets and brothels.
Still according to Stephen Follows, if these sex scenes are rarer, they are however more explicit. With series like Game of Thrones, Euphoria or even Spartacus,the sex scenes are cruder than in the 20th century, which gives the impression that they are still as present.
How can we explain this decline?
Several factors explain the decline in sex scenes in cinema. Already, the #MeToo movementput a brake on the exploitation of sex in cinema. Since the start of the #MeToo movement, the Hollywood industry has been more reluctant to take action. show sex scenes. She is in any case more vigilant in her expression of sexuality. at the cinema. In addition, according to another recent study, young people are less inclined to see sex in the cinema.
Indeed, last October, the University from California to Los Angeles led a survey of 1,500 young people from Generation Z (young people aged 13 to 24). The report then states that 51.5% of adolescents would like to see content that places more emphasis on friendly and platonic relationships rather than sexual relations. 44.3% of young people surveyed feel that there is an overuse of sex in the media, while 47.5 % of participating adolescents reported that sex was not necessary in the plot of most films and series. And you, what do you think about the presence of sex in cinema?