I see. That’s a good comment in general. But it does make a lot of assumptions and it misquotes me. Maybe I could’ve said it more subtly. I’m talking about the stuff that is essentially porn smuggled into shows for no clear narrative reason, which seems to be the bulk of it.
It’s not porn brain to not want gratuitous sex in media it doesn’t belong in, nor overly graphic depictions even where it has a narrative function, often involving characters who are supposed to be children.
I’ve not considered this in any depth but it seems necessary to also consider the dialectic between art and porn and between art and a society in which the porn that you describe is ubiquitous. I don’t see how we would get the TV sex scenes that we get if the porn industry did not exist. TV sex isn’t generally selling sex as a beautiful part of healthy relationships.
I think I completely agree with the need to change the way sex is dealt with/treated/spoken about in public. But that’s what I’m saying: so much of sex on TV is doing the opposite. I can’t see how we can resolve this without abolishing the commodity form. Until then, I’m going to complain about the symptom because the symptom is repackaging and normalising porn as art.
I can understand why gen z when polled, if it wants the healthy sex thing that you’re talking about (to the extent that a generation can want anything), would utterly reject depictions of sex in film, TV, etc. Sex on screen is often obscene; the option for the ‘healthy’ version isn’t offered under capitalism. Those depictions are so far from positively contributing to a public discussion that they are, in a way, simply porn or, Zizek voice, pure ideology.
I didn’t mean that as a quote of you, I should have used ‘paraphrase’ instead of “quote” as it’s a sentiment I’ve seen expressed on Hexbear quite often.
Don’t you see how attacking the existence of sex in public entertainment and art feeds into the puritanical sex freak spiral and doesn’t help us in any way? Sex scenes don’t all have to “forward the narrative” that’s plebeian Reddit tier art analysis I’m sorry, the narrative and plot aren’t even the most important part of a work. Sex scenes could be entirely gratuitous to the narrative and still add to the overall aesthetic and emotional impact of the piece, we use gratuitous slice-of-life and characterization footage all the time in our art and separating gratuitous sex out as “bad” is a double standard we don’t do with gratuitous eye candy scenes of other types like say, Wes Anderson’s gratuitous use of 2D dollhouse cutout type effects. That doesn’t “add to the narrative” either but is an essential part of what makes his work unique and his.
I see sex scenes like guitar solos in rock songs. You can have one or two, and some are a lot better than others, but if you spend the whole song doing a solo without a melody it’s just wankery and becomes obscene. Guitar solos are just gratuitous ear candy. The “melody” here is analogous to the “narrative” of a film or TV show.
Gratuitous sex is exactly the kind of thing that shouldn’t even make you blink, it’s the kind of thing we should be aiming to normalize. The fact you find it offensive and want it gone is proving my point, you find sexual gratification offputting inherently due to cultural conditioning. Sexual gratification and titillation is fine and healthy, there’s nothing wrong with being aroused. Tons of gratuitous sex in our media is perfectly fine and not a problem, and in my opinion American society is over correcting in the opposite way and needs to loosen up here not tighten the screws.
I don’t want to be pedantic but ‘narrative function’ is not the same as ‘forward the narrative’. Adding to a piece’s emotional impact, developing a character’s arc, ‘worldbuilding’, etc, count as having a narrative function.
The sex in Sky Rojo or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I’m thinking of the original movies) or in Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People (I’ve not seen the adaptation)? Fine. Great, even. I don’t even mind some of it in coming of age or slice of life if it’s done right and doesn’t sexualise children.
The sex in Elite or Seven Deadly Sins? There’s so much of it that there wouldn’t be a story to salvage if you took it out. The orgy scenes in White Lines? Purely gratuitous and lazy way of portraying the decadence of rich people.
I understand the quote thing. You’re still making assumptions, about me and others, I think. I’m not sure if I had it in mind or whether I count it in the same category, but I also don’t appreciate gratitous ‘eye candy’. Sometimes it works. Often it’s crass and feeds into problematic stereotypes, etc.
Don’t you see how attacking the existence of sex in public entertainment and art feeds into the puritanical sex freak spiral and doesn’t help us in any way?
Possibly, but I’m not sure that I am making that attack.
I see. That’s a good comment in general. But it does make a lot of assumptions and it misquotes me. Maybe I could’ve said it more subtly. I’m talking about the stuff that is essentially porn smuggled into shows for no clear narrative reason, which seems to be the bulk of it.
It’s not porn brain to not want gratuitous sex in media it doesn’t belong in, nor overly graphic depictions even where it has a narrative function, often involving characters who are supposed to be children.
I’ve not considered this in any depth but it seems necessary to also consider the dialectic between art and porn and between art and a society in which the porn that you describe is ubiquitous. I don’t see how we would get the TV sex scenes that we get if the porn industry did not exist. TV sex isn’t generally selling sex as a beautiful part of healthy relationships.
I think I completely agree with the need to change the way sex is dealt with/treated/spoken about in public. But that’s what I’m saying: so much of sex on TV is doing the opposite. I can’t see how we can resolve this without abolishing the commodity form. Until then, I’m going to complain about the symptom because the symptom is repackaging and normalising porn as art.
I can understand why gen z when polled, if it wants the healthy sex thing that you’re talking about (to the extent that a generation can want anything), would utterly reject depictions of sex in film, TV, etc. Sex on screen is often obscene; the option for the ‘healthy’ version isn’t offered under capitalism. Those depictions are so far from positively contributing to a public discussion that they are, in a way, simply porn or, Zizek voice, pure ideology.
I didn’t mean that as a quote of you, I should have used ‘paraphrase’ instead of “quote” as it’s a sentiment I’ve seen expressed on Hexbear quite often.
Don’t you see how attacking the existence of sex in public entertainment and art feeds into the puritanical sex freak spiral and doesn’t help us in any way? Sex scenes don’t all have to “forward the narrative” that’s plebeian Reddit tier art analysis I’m sorry, the narrative and plot aren’t even the most important part of a work. Sex scenes could be entirely gratuitous to the narrative and still add to the overall aesthetic and emotional impact of the piece, we use gratuitous slice-of-life and characterization footage all the time in our art and separating gratuitous sex out as “bad” is a double standard we don’t do with gratuitous eye candy scenes of other types like say, Wes Anderson’s gratuitous use of 2D dollhouse cutout type effects. That doesn’t “add to the narrative” either but is an essential part of what makes his work unique and his.
I see sex scenes like guitar solos in rock songs. You can have one or two, and some are a lot better than others, but if you spend the whole song doing a solo without a melody it’s just wankery and becomes obscene. Guitar solos are just gratuitous ear candy. The “melody” here is analogous to the “narrative” of a film or TV show.
Gratuitous sex is exactly the kind of thing that shouldn’t even make you blink, it’s the kind of thing we should be aiming to normalize. The fact you find it offensive and want it gone is proving my point, you find sexual gratification offputting inherently due to cultural conditioning. Sexual gratification and titillation is fine and healthy, there’s nothing wrong with being aroused. Tons of gratuitous sex in our media is perfectly fine and not a problem, and in my opinion American society is over correcting in the opposite way and needs to loosen up here not tighten the screws.
I don’t want to be pedantic but ‘narrative function’ is not the same as ‘forward the narrative’. Adding to a piece’s emotional impact, developing a character’s arc, ‘worldbuilding’, etc, count as having a narrative function.
The sex in Sky Rojo or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I’m thinking of the original movies) or in Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People (I’ve not seen the adaptation)? Fine. Great, even. I don’t even mind some of it in coming of age or slice of life if it’s done right and doesn’t sexualise children.
The sex in Elite or Seven Deadly Sins? There’s so much of it that there wouldn’t be a story to salvage if you took it out. The orgy scenes in White Lines? Purely gratuitous and lazy way of portraying the decadence of rich people.
I understand the quote thing. You’re still making assumptions, about me and others, I think. I’m not sure if I had it in mind or whether I count it in the same category, but I also don’t appreciate gratitous ‘eye candy’. Sometimes it works. Often it’s crass and feeds into problematic stereotypes, etc.
Possibly, but I’m not sure that I am making that attack.