Do you think Hollywood goes too far—or not far enough—when it comes to showing nudity in feature films?

It seems we’re all avoiding this topic.  I suppose it could be that it’s difficult to take a stand one way or the other.  If I were to say I don’t think Hollywood goes far enough with nudity, I could be judged a pervert, yet if I took the opposite stance, I could be called a prude.  So, to be safe, I’ll take the middle road.  :)

There are certainly examples of Hollywood going too far with nudity.  Or, to put it another way, there are times when nudity seems completely unnecessary, or at least the degree to which it is used.  Monster’s Ball comes to mind, not solely because of the nudity itself, but because of the way Halle Barry was commended by many for bearing it all.  The decision is hers and I have no opposition to the decision she made, but I don’t elevate her role because of the nudity.

Titanic comes to mind, too.  The audience certainly did not need to see Kate Winslet’s breasts to know she was naked in front of Leonardo DiCaprio.  Don’t get me wrong; I do think it was a beautiful scene.  The nudity was not profuse, nor did it detract from the greatness of the movie, but that one scene will delay my sharing the movie with my kids at least a few years.

Confession - I did not shut my eyes during either of those scenes.  I am only human.  And a male human to boot.  Nor did I shut my eyes during the myriad other movies I’ve seen with superfluous skin.

Examples of effective nudity are less abundant, but Schindler’s List certainly comes to mind.  Seeing those poor, helpless people completely naked draws out even more emotion from an already emotional audience.  In The Fisher King, Robin Williams’ character dances around naked which helps develop his character.  The nudity in these examples is not entirely essential, I suppose, but it adds an element to both.

Being that gratuitous nudity examples are more abundant in my mind than vital nudity examples, I can admit I’m of the opinion Hollywood goes too far too often with nudity.  If that makes me a prude, I guess I can’t argue.  ;)

I would just like to see better plots, better characters, and overall better movies that don’t have to rely on the shock value or novelty of a pretty person’s privates.  Alliteration free of charge.

I think that Hollywood goes far enough in terms of nudity in a feature film. I would look at a movie and not too much concern myself with too much nudity because it most likely not going to happen. I see more in terms of alluding to nudity in reality shows as opposed to feature films. And I’m quite sure lots of our eyes are glued to the screen to see how far they will go. So when It kinda happens in feature films we are so “Oh my goodness”. And the actors that went for it gets extremely popular to the point of unforgettable.

Cynthia Washington

I don’t think Hollywood goes far enough in regards to nudity and sex in feature films.  British director Michael Winterbottom once wondered why authors could use explicit sex in novels without the novel being considered porn when legitimate filmmakers couldn’t do the same in movies.  He responded by making an interesting film called “9 Songs.” Filmmakers shouldn’t be subjected to censorship when telling the stories that they are trying to tell.

I’ve actually written a screenplay which takes a serious look at religion and sex, and I hope to produce it one day soon.  I envision the sex scenes in this to be very graphic because they need to be to tell the story I’m trying to tell.  I would hate for someone to tell me I couldn’t make the film I want to make.

Of course, I’ve been a model for college art classes for 23 years, so I take a much more liberal view toward nudity than most people…

I can certainly understand how you would feel about the sex scenes in your film and the tendency to want to film as you please. But I can tell you from experience with my short film “The Wedding Day” about a sex scene. The scene in my perception would have been a little more explicit, however #1 it took me forever to think about how it would be shot. Some of the obstacles that prohibited me from doing that was the thought of whom would be my audience weather I would want children or adults only and my family, friends and society expectations for a film featuring a nude scene. Well while I pondered almost a year had passed. Then finally I shot the film and the scene. My goodness guess what came out of it, absolutely no nudity. My mom saw the film and asked me “What are you doing to him”. I’m like of course mumbling to myself, you should have scene what I was going to do to him. But I stayed Miss Nicety with the short. Even though I know myself how it should have been done. Well maybe the next one I would go for it but of course with an actor that can pull the scene off without being too explicit, but at least making you think she was nude and actually was having a sex scene.

Cynthia Washington

Cynthia - 05 December 2007 11:18 PM

I can certainly understand how you would feel about the sex scenes in your film and the tendency to want to film as you please. But I can tell you from experience with my short film “The Wedding Day” about a sex scene. The scene in my perception would have been a little more explicit, however #1 it took me forever to think about how it would be shot. Some of the obstacles that prohibited me from doing that was the thought of whom would be my audience weather I would want children or adults only and my family, friends and society expectations for a film featuring a nude scene. Well while I pondered almost a year had passed. Then finally I shot the film and the scene. My goodness guess what came out of it, absolutely no nudity. My mom saw the film and asked me “What are you doing to him”. I’m like of course mumbling to myself, you should have scene what I was going to do to him. But I stayed Miss Nicety with the short. Even though I know myself how it should have been done. Well maybe the next one I would go for it but of course with an actor that can pull the scene off without being too explicit, but at least making you think she was nude and actually was having a sex scene.

Cynthia Washington

I was acting in an ultra low budget film this past summer.  It was a slasher picture, and I was playing a rather deranged killer.  We shot quite a bit of footage of me stalking and chasing a girl through the woods, with the girl losing her clothing as we went.  She was a real trooper.  By the end, she was completely nude and covered in fake blood.  For the last shot of the scene, I was supposed to have sex with her dead body.  He told me to start to unzip my pants, but that he would cut before I got very far.  So we shot it, and I kept acting until he said cut.  Of course, by then I was completely exposed myself.  But I just didn’t think about it.  It’s part of the scene.  I’m sure he’ll edit it the way he wants it, but at least he has that option of going as far as he thinks it should go.

I do think people in this country have too many hang ups about nudity and sex.  I would much rather see an explicit love scene more than I would want to see someone get an axe to the head.  But if either scene is necessary to tell the story, then go for it.

I think that it is great to have actors that would allow the director to shoot many scenes of nudity as a progression to the story that is being told. I was trying to envision the scene you described, I would end it with the actor running after the girl as you described and I would show different angles of the male, such as the back of him, the side of him running but blocking the anatomy area, even forward but not exactly showing the private area, if so it would be in somewhat of a shadowy aspect where someone couldn’t really tell what they were looking at. So that is the way I would show you as an actor. I believe I would have gone far enough. What do you think?

Cynthia Washington

Cynthia - 06 December 2007 10:07 PM

I think that it is great to have actors that would allow the director to shoot many scenes of nudity as a progression to the story that is being told. I was trying to envision the scene you described, I would end it with the actor running after the girl as you described and I would show different angles of the male, such as the back of him, the side of him running but blocking the anatomy area, even forward but not exactly showing the private area, if so it would be in somewhat of a shadowy aspect where someone couldn’t really tell what they were looking at. So that is the way I would show you as an actor. I believe I would have gone far enough. What do you think?

Cynthia Washington

I still think that if nudity is necessary to the scene, the filmmakers shouldn’t go out of their way to “block the anatomy area.” My wife and I went to see Beowulf a couple of weeks ago.  During Beowulf’s fight with Grendel, Beowulf is completely naked, and yet, they always made sure that something was blocking the view of his genital area.  It was almost comical.  In fact, I leaned over to my wife and said that it reminded me of the scene in Austin Powers where he was naked but they found creative and funny ways to make sure his genitals were hidden.  Now, the whole point of the Austin Powers scene was to see how many ways they could hide the genitals and it drew a lot of laughs.  But that same technique was distracting in the Beowulf scene because the point of that scene was the fight with Grendel.  I still don’t understand why people are so offended at the site of a penis…

it seems to me that the more skin is shown the less quality the film sota trying to get your mind off the movie, but hey!! sex sells, seldom do i see nudity done correctly in my view, but it has been. i remember easy rider only one scenc i think but it fit not over done..but thats my opinion.