sexual-advances
Sex scenes in movies are becoming rarer, and there’s quite a story behind why. A couple of years ago, an investigation into the prevalence of erotic thrillers sparked interest, leading to a broader look at sexual content in films. Recently, in collaboration with The Economist, a deep dive into this trend revealed a significant decline in sex scenes in movies over the past two decades.
The study focused on the top 250 grossing films annually since 2000, discovering nearly a 40% reduction in sexual content by 2023. Unlike other mature themes like violence or profanity, sex scenes are declining much more noticeably. The drop isn’t just in the intensity but in the frequency of sexual scenes overall. Today, more films completely avoid sexual content, particularly in genres like thrillers and action movies, though less so in romantic films.
Several factors might be influencing this trend: changing audience preferences, especially among younger viewers like Generation Z who favor subtlety over explicit content; shifting cultural norms around consent and representation; global market dynamics that discourage sex scenes due to varying cultural standards; and the influence of streaming services, which allow for niche targeting of content.
Moreover, the industry’s evolving stance on how sex scenes are handled on set, including the rise of intimacy coordinators, ensures that such scenes are approached with respect and relevance to the story, marking a departure from past practices. This research not only sheds light on the evolving narrative techniques in cinema but also reflects broader social changes influencing media production and consumption.
