Sexy Movies Since 1934
Sexy Movies Since 1934
When considering Foucault in relation to this project, I thought about the deployment of sexuality and its relationship to movies, more specifically how depictions of sex in movies relate to actual sex and pleasure. The MPAA’s regulations were intended to prevent the general public from being titillated by things that society viewed as wrong, perverse or indecent. Instead of regulating what people actually did, the MPAA regulated what they could be aroused by, by only allowing the depiction of sexual acts that were deemed proper and acceptable. If unacceptable sex acts such as rape, pedophilia, adultery or miscegenation were not depicted in movies, people watching movies could only be titillated by consensual, adult, non-illicit, intra-racial sex, which was viewed as acceptable. Because the MPAA was unable to regulate people’s actual lives, they regulated what sort of sexual arousal or pleasure people could experience from watching movies.
Depictions of adultery and illicit sex were allowed as necessary plot material, but were not to be explicit, attractive or justified. I chose a clip from the 2002 film Unfaithful to depict how the provisions of the Code are broken. The movie is known for it’s explicit scenes and attractive adulterers, but the act of adultery is still presented as completely unjustifiable because the main couple has a good marriage and there is no reason for the wife to stray.
Scenes of passion were another large provision of the MPAA’s original Code. They were not to be introduced when not essential to the plot and the 1942 film Casablanca illustrates that because it was only strongly implied that the main characters slept together in Paris, but never shown or actually stated. Some Like It Hot (1959) was actually released without the MPAA’s approval because of its violation of the scenes of passion provision prohibiting lustful kisses and embraces, as shown.
Scenes of seduction or rape were also prohibited from being shown explicitly or being “more than suggested.” Though the rape scene was not shown, the 1959 movie Anatomy of a Murder was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to openly discuss the subject of rape. The clip of the trailer included in the presentation shows the woman explaining what happened and other sections of the trailer indicate that the characters in the movie very openly discussed the topic. Scenes of seduction or rape were also never the proper subjects for comedy. The 1999 film Cruel Intentions perfectly exemplifies that provision and questions why seduction and rape were tied together as if they were closely related or almost interchangeable. The interaction between the two characters is comedic because of the female’s posturing and naivety and the male’s blatant guile. Despite its comedy, the scene is uncomfortable because it leaves the viewer questioning whether the woman was seduced or raped, coerced or willing.
Sex perversions were entirely forbidden from depiction, yet a movie full of implications of pedophilia; Lolita (1962) was distributed under the Code. Though the sexual relationship between Lo and HH was never actually shown in the film out of adherence to the Code, it was strongly implied. Therefore, despite the Code’s prohibition of showing sex perversions, the movie violated that provision through its implications of the characters’ sexual relationship. The clip comparing scenes from the 1962 version and 1997 version show the difference in depiction during and after the Code. During the Code, the underage character was depicted as developed and contact between her and HH was minimal. After the Code, the underage character was portrayed as more childlike and there was frequent intimate contact between the characters.
Miscegenation, any talk of sex hygiene/venereal diseases and the exposure of children’s sex organs were also prohibited. To show the depiction of miscegenation in movies, I choose a clip from the 2004 film Alfie. For the discussion of venereal diseases, I choose a humorous clip from the 2004 film Mean Girls. And to depict the exposure of children’s sex organs, I included an image of Chris Hansen from To Catch a Predator because I was not going to look for or actually include anything that depicted naked children, though my research did indicate that the 1938 film Child Bride distributed by an independent movie studio featured a nude scene by a 12-year-old actress.
