Merry XXXmas

As much as I have enjoyed writing this blog, as well as the class that I have been writing it for, the school year has come to an end, and I have been debating if this blog should too. I have actually had a lot of fun finding movies and exploring sexuality within film, and it has given me a new outlook on mainstream movies, and a new respect for movies that don’t try so hard to sell sex in obvious and ridiculous ways.

I have also learned how and why to critically think about how sex in film is portrayed. I will probably still watch every kind of movie (as creating jaded movie viewers was not the purpose of my blog) but continue to think critically about what I am watching, and the important implications films have.

I would have liked to explore many more movies, and still might explore them upon seeing the films, although Blockbuster will not be seeing as much of me because I do not plan on posting as often as I have been.

Possible movies to explore in the future: Superbad, Premonition, Jerry McGuire, This Film is Not Yet Rated, American History X and Primal Fear (an Edward Norton special because he deserves his own post), Cruel Intentions, Austin Powers, Black Snake Moan, There’s Something About Mary, The Departed, The Good Shepard, The Bond Movies. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I would also love to move into the realm of television (think Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, all CW Teen dramadies) and also explore music videos (Video on Trial style) and the blatant exploitation within certain genres of music (as well as which artists transcend sexual “norms”). I have always found sexuality within media (and its effects on everyone, in particular the younger generations) extremely interesting and incredibly valid yet mostly ignored. I love that MuchMusic began to get people thinking critically about being “Media Literate” within music videos, and attempted to do the same with film.

Some of my favorite or most important topics covered:
Religion (Eurotrip, The Golden Compass)
Pornography (The Girl Next Door)
Violence and Death (horror genre)
Violence and sex (Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
Homosexuality (Brokeback Mountain)
Infidelity (The Notebook) Racial Stereotypes (Crash)
Virginity/Drugs/Alcohol (teen-sex comedies)
Rape, Bisexuality, Threesomes (Wild Things)
Abortion (Knocked-Up)Intimacy (Swimfan, Pretty Woman, 40 Days and 40 Nights)
Tasteful vs. Tasteless (300, Troy) Casual Multiracial, multi-partner Sex (Matrix)

I want to thank everyone who read my blog this past semester, and hope some of you check in once in a while to see if new things have been posted.

Merry XXXmas and Happy Holidays everyone!! And Remember:

OMG! Sex and Religion

Eurotrip (from the Producers of Road Trip and Old School) is basically a blend of those two movies, only this one takes place in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Rome, and includes more sexual jokes and a LOT more naked European men. Essentially, Scotty Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) graduates from high school and his girlfriend dumps him (played by Kristin Kreuk-who was cheating on him with a hot rocker played by Matt Damon, hence the popular song, Scotty Doesn’t Know, which was actually written and performed by the band who played it in the movie) . Brokenhearted, he emails Mieke, an Internet pen pal in Berlin, Germany, with whom he has been corresponding for years. Scotty always thought that Mieke was a German boy's name (like Mike) and when Mieke (Jessica Boehrs) wants to get together with Scotty, his friend convinces him that Mieke wants a boyfriend. Scotty freaks out and emails Mieke never to write again, until Scotty discovers that Mieke is actually a cute girl (like Micah) and even though he has never met her, thinks she may be ‘The One’. Hence, their trip across Europe to find her, which proves to entail some interesting adventures.

Rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and drug/alcohol content, this classic misadventure actually got more laughs out of me than I originally expected. Between the robotic-dance-off in the street in Paris (which is one of the best dance sequences I’ve seen in a movie) and the infamous Absinthe green fairy, it almost makes up for the fact that the movie basically tanks in the last act, but for a movie with a paper-thin plot line, it had a few more-than-funny moments. (“Mi Scusi, Mi Scusi”)

Random Factoid: The first time that Michelle Trachtenberg did her bikini scene, she shook out her hair so much that she actually got dizzy and fell over. Random? Yes. Hilarious? Absofuckinlutley.

So, the final scene, when Scotty finally tracks down the girl of his dreams and (in front of all of Rome, of course, for dramatic suspense…) tells her he loves her, and asks her what she thinks… you get this scene…a horrible ending to an other-wise more-than-mediocre movie.
What exactly are the moral implications of two incredibly horny teenagers having sex in a confessional? In ROME? After pretending to be the NEW POPE? I mean…wow. What a stretch, even for this movie. It has the possibility of being pretty funny, but good Lord, a confessional? Really? The scene is so poorly done too, shoving each other against the walls while listening to her incredibly pathetic fake moans and groans like he has any idea of what he’s doing. And then, a woman actually comes in to confess, that she cheated on her husband (hah, that was pretty good) and she gets a dude’s ass in her face. C’MON. So, I was watching this scene at my friend’s house, and Dean looks over and says, “I knew someone who did that”. My jaw dropped. Someone actually thought this was a good idea. And the only thing running through my head was, “Do you think they confessed what they did afterwards..?”

Religion and sexuality has been intertwined within movies for some time now, but not usually in such a sacrilegious way. I mean, I know teen-sex-comedies have free reign to do basically whatever they can for a cheap laugh, but WOW... sex in a confessional. That is stretching the moral limits a little far, don’t you think.

But where is the line? What’s too far and what’s just far enough that it’s funny without offending someone? Isn’t there always someone who will be offended? Should we just ignore those people and pass them off as “too sensitive” (as we so obviously do) or should we take into consideration the serious implications that this can lead to?

Food for Thought: The Chronicles of Narnia was praised by the Christian community for the morality lessons within it, yet the new movie, The Golden Compass, changed or took out basically all of the anti-Christian-ness that is in the book for the movie, for fear of the backlash from the Christian community. Fair? Or exclusion of the essence of a fiction novel because of what people might think?

This is the "Unrated" Version of the movie. Compare it to the original movie picture, and then try to tell me that media doesn't try to sell sex---->

The Porn Star Next Door

Upon thinking of what to do for my genre switch layout pages, I remembered a movie that fit perfectly for what I plan on doing, yet I overlooked in my blog. I find Girl Next Door interesting simply because it is meant to be a regular teen-sex comedy, yet clearly borders on teen-porn attempted-comedy. Elisha Cuthbert (who I remember from Popular Mechanics for Kids) plays a porn star trying to get away from the life by moving into a small town, next door to a dorky teenage boy who instantly falls in love with her. In this movie, Elisha could not wear sexier or tighter clothes if she tried, and includes a sexy pool scene, a scene with her attempting to seduce the dork in a hotel room, and finally, the incredibly awkward sex scene at the end of the movie in the back seat of the limo (how romantic).

Most teen-sex comedies focus on teenagers in some embarrassing or impossible situation, with sexual gags, innuendos or embarrassing circumstances. This movie doesn’t contain a scene that doesn’t have to do with sex, strippers, porn stars, date nights, making porn, lingerie shows, porn star parties or sex scenes. It’s as if the point of the movie was to show as much skin as possible, and the plot line had to try to keep up as best it could. If you’re looking for another “guilty pleasure” to stash with your new copy of Wild Things, this can be purchased at your local Wal-mart for 6.99 in one of those big bargain bins, if you’re not too embarrassed to purchase it.

*Spoiler Warnings*
High points of the movie: main guy character (Emile Hirsch) has sexy pool scene with hottie Elisha and then gets her to ring his buddy’s doorbell (soaking wet) and say “I’m all wet, Can I come in?” Yes, trust me that’s a high point. Oh, and Elisha is at her annual porn-star convention in Vegas and Emile’s nerdy guy friends pretend they are porn directors, until they almost get the shit kicked out of them by a male porn star for groping his porn star girlfriend while “auditioning” her. The plot line is about as unrealistic as the main sex scene.
At the end of the movie, resident Dork finally gets laid by the former porn-star after he helped her get her life back on track. It is supposed to be romantic and sweet sex (in the back of the limo…on prom night – can I get a Holy Cliché, Batman) but actually just looks like the porn pro is faking it while the virgin has a permi-holy-shit-this-is-awesome face happening. He looks so stunned the whole time and she has the standard porn face on, it doesn’t really come off as sweet sex, but awkward to watch and cheesy altogether. As funny as some parts are in this film, this scene is such a let down.


Obviously the movie is incredibly unrealistic (some would argue that’s what makes it funny, as well as a movie) but what kinds of unrealistic stereotypes does this film set up about porn stars?

Come to think of it, the entire porn industry is so commercialized, idealized, and romanticized in this movie that it glosses over any moral implications that comes along with the very important issue of pornography, and all that it entails.

From all we know regarding treatment of porn stars, abuse, rape and child pornography, does this film give a younger generation unrealistic ideals of the porn industry, and could this be a problem for porn in the future (in terms of how much more violent or destructive it may get)?