We all remember the films and television shows from the 1950s and 1960s. By today’s standards, they were pretty innocuous. The 1953 film From Here To Eternity was considered one of the raciest films of its time. Its famous sex scene, with macho Burt Lancaster, the waistband of his swim trunks riding ridiculously high above the navel, and demure little Deborah Kerr rolling in the thundering surf was about as bold as a movie could get in the conservative 1950s. Today, that film would likely get a “G” rating. In fact, films and television shows provide us with way more “skin” than most people would like. It has gotten so bad that the position of “Intimacy Coordinator” had to be created to ensure the safety and comfort of actors during scenes involving intimacy. The job of an Intimacy Coordinator is to create a safe place for actors to perform such scenes without discomfort or distress. The fact that a job had to be created to manage “sex on the screen” speaks volumes about the entertainment industry of today. A recent survey indicates that people think sex is too prominent in TV shows and movies, and what they really want to watch is hopeful, uplifting content. Experts say the reason there’s so much sex on TV and in films is due to a lack of imagination. Production companies use “sex sells” because they don’t have the imagination to come up with anything better. Until there’s a change of thinking about what really sells, the best you can do is keep your remote handy so you can change the channel.
