It was a happy coincidence that we all agreed on the same idea of what makes a good sex scene.The episodes were released the same week Dear challengers, A movie about a tennis love triangle starring Josh O'Connor, Zendaya, and Mike Feist (not pictured).
Photo by Nico Tavanis/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Photo by Nico Tavanis/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
It was a happy coincidence that we all agreed on the same idea of what makes a good sex scene.The episodes were released the same week Dear challengers, A movie about a tennis love triangle starring Josh O'Connor, Zendaya, and Mike Feist (not pictured).
Photo by Nico Tavanis/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
What makes a good sex scene? It may be easy to spot bad sex, but Aisha Harris, Christina Tucker, Ronald Young Jr., and I tried to focus on good sex this week. Pop culture happy hour. You can listen to our full conversation here. (This episode was not originally scheduled to air in the same week as the next episode.) challengers, now in theaters, is getting a lot of attention — perhaps too much compared to its other strengths — because of the sex scenes between the three leads. It's really very good. )
Just as sex scenes in books are terrible, when a sex scene is terrible, it's often very obvious. It can become very uncomfortable to watch and you may have to leave the room (in a way that is not true to the story). His one of my personal pieces of advice for bad sex scenes is when all I think about is how hard the actors are trying to convince me that the characters are having a good time. For example, in recent years there have been some good discussions about: showgirl It was a more interesting and competent project than I initially gave it credit for, but in that pool scene (you know who you are), all I can see is effort.
It's not always clear which scene is which good. One reason for this is that they serve so many different functions, all of which look different, and all of which are effective. Additionally, you don't want to confuse whether or not a movie uses sex scenes appropriately with whether or not you find them personally arousing. Even though there is overlap between these considerations.
Here's what I mean: When Aisha is talking about a sequence near the beginning of the movie. magic mike's last dance, it's not irrelevant that that scene is a hot one for her (and for me). But it also makes sense in the context of the film and series because of the way it sets up the dynamic between Mike (Channing Tatum) and Max (Salma Hayek Pinault). Mike is older now and knows more, and the way he approaches lap dances is actually different than in previous movies.
And not all good sex scenes are equally hot.The romance drama that I talked about in the episode. love and basketball, sexy, yes. But it's also a scene between young adults (Monica, a talented basketball player, and Quincy, played by Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps), and as such incorporates a tentative atmosphere that isn't present in the film. magic mike's last dance, to say the least. As Ronald pointed out during our discussion, that sex scene is completely different from the sex scenes that take place later in Monica and Quincy's relationship, when they are older and know each other better. . While it certainly feels true to real life, that's not always reflected in Hollywood movies. We tentatively estimate that in Hollywood movies, 90% of on-screen sex is more idealized and therefore less intimate than real-life sex. It is allowed to change over the course of the relationship.
Even further removed from the heat of the lap dance scene is Ronald's choice. Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) has an imagination running wild. Oppenheimer. While her husband (Cillian Murphy) is being interrogated, she witnesses him having sex with his mistress Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh). It passes by so quickly that it seems like a Christopher Nolan flourish for the sake of a flourish, but it serves its purpose of making us feel her pain over her husband's infidelity. Robert's relationship with her doesn't seem particularly romantic in the film, much less sexual. She finds herself obsessed with the idea of him having hot sex with this other woman, her eyes fixed on the vision of a naked Tatlock, and she realizes that she is in pain. I realize that. The real purpose of this scene is not to titillate the audience, but only to give substance to Kitty's obsession with the case.
Christina brought up another very important point. That said, the sex scenes also clash with the viewer at very specific moments. Her example is bound, and the scenes between Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and Corky (Gina Gershon) touch on (among other things) her own history. This is an underappreciated aspect of the discussion of sex in movies. Expression is as important in these scenes as in any other.I everytime I wish we had seen more sex scenes in movies that featured a wider range of body types. It's still really rare to see works that feature average-sized people.This is one of the reasons I'm interested in the next season bridgertonfocuses on the gorgeous and curvaceous Penelope (Nicola Coughlan).
Let's be honest, a good sex scene is like any other type of good filmmaking: whatever the scene's function is, it's all about whether it's executed with purpose and care.
Whether it's bitterness, conflict, relationship growth, or (e.g. bound) Set up a steamy neo-noir story that wouldn't be the same if it wasn't hot, ideally form follows function.
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