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)?

If “Reality is a thing of the Past”, is this the Future of Sex?

If you live under a rock and don’t know what The Matrix is, here is a brief synopsis: Computer-hacker Thomas Anderson (Neo) discovers that life on Earth is nothing more than an elaborate façade created by cyber-intelligence for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is “farmed” to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the “real world”. Neo (Keanu Reeves) joins rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in a struggle to overthrow the Matrix.

Since there is really only one main male character, and one main female character, they simply must fall in love; it's mainstream movie algebra. Neo and Trinity finally have sex (in Matrix Revolutions) in their cave-like bedroom that is lit with enough candles to fill a shrine (watch the scene below). Slow-motion, extra-zoomed-in clips of kissing takes the focus off the fact that their bodies are covered with little metal holes (giving way to more sexual possibilities?) and of course the sex is so hot that she has to do the sex scene trademark of clawing her fingernails into him.

In the midst of the two cyberfreaks getting it on, scenes of a rave orgy cut in and out, where sweaty half-naked couples dance and grind with each other in celebration, and six foot tall black men jump (what seems to be) 20 feet in the air as part of some sort of strange dance move (if someone tried that in a club today, they would either get beaten up, made fun of, or thrown out). The sweaty skin clips of the famous couple are mixed in with the skin-filled clips of random party-goers' random body parts (toned and sexy, of course—because everyone in the Matrix has all the time in the world to tone and sculpt their beautiful bodies – just like all the people in 300 *eyeroll*).

The pulsing music with a strong backbeat gives the feeling of a racing, throbbing heartbeat that’s in tune with each lustful thrust (like Neo cares that he is missing the party – he’s getting lucky, damn it). Then suddenly, they stop, the music slows, they look longingly into each others eyes, and … we get the image of Trinity falling to her death (well, certain sexual occurrences are called “little deaths”, aren’t they? Well played, Wachowski brothers).

So, what’s the deal with all the sexiness in a movie whose premise is that we can transcend our bodies using computers? After all, most of us went to see it for another taste of a virtual world where Neo flies, Trinity leaps across buildings in a single bound, and Morpheus battles albino bodygaurds who can dematerialize at will.

Does this scene show a juxtaposition of the hedonism of Zion with the truly pure love of a hero, or does the scene come off as compleltey irrelevant, rediculous, and un-sexy, and manage to undermine the hero and cheapen the film’s entire purpose?

Is the sex in this movie a radical statement of multiracial, multipartner, out-of-wedlock sex that for once doesn’t spell doom for its participants, or does it seem like it is simply placed in the film for Matix nerds to gawk at a glimpse of skin in order to fulfil the media’s need to sell sex?

Why Crash conquered the Mountain

Although I have personally tried my very best to avoid watching Brokeback Mountain, I figured that because it was such a controversial mainstream movie, I ought to explore the impact of this type of sexuality within the film industry. I had no idea the plethora of information I was about to get myself into, but for the sake of this blog, I trudged my way through article after article to get a feel for how this affected the American audience.

If you didn’t already know, Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Picture. The fan favorite (Brokeback Mountain [Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger] ) about a 20 year long gay love affair was highly favored to win, and the audience was in shock and awe when the movie taking a racial stance won out.

Regarding this night, this gay news blog stated that; “In one wild moment, the whole evening turned around, ripping through the show's complacency and probably spoiling a lot of instant think-pieces already half-composed about "Brokeback's" gutsy reversal of America's sexual-cultural mythos.”

The good news: In a movie that is 130 minutes long, 129 of them are male kissing/male sex free. So yes, maybe it will be the longest almost 60-seconds of your life, but the rest of the film is intense longing and sadness of a doomed love. The sex scene is described by Roger Ebert as “sudden” and “almost violent”. It takes place in a tent after a night of drinking, and contains more shoving and pushing each other away than tenderness or kissing. I don’t feel the need to get into the specifics, that’s not the point of this particular blog, but if I had to group the scene into one of my “categories” (of either being 1) uncomfortable, 2) awkward, 3) unrealistic, or 4) simply put in movies to make money off selling sex) I would have to say it was just awkward (and unnecessary to be quite honest) probably more for males than females (simply because females are more accepting of the idea of expressing forbidden love (be it gay or straight), not because men are homophobic). Ebert says; “Brokeback Mountain” has been described as "a gay cowboy movie," which is a cruel simplification. It is the story of a time and place where two men are forced to deny the only great passion either one will ever feel. Their tragedy is universal. …Strange but true: The more specific a film is, the more universal, because the more it understands individual characters, the more it applies to everyone. I can imagine someone weeping at this film, identifying with it, because he always wanted to stay in the Marines, or be an artist or a cabinetmaker.”

Yet, Crash still won the Oscar.

Michael Wilmington, a movie critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote; “Crash probably won because more of the academy voters liked and admired it as a movie. They didn't shun “Brokeback”; they gave it three key Oscars (best director, adapted screenplay and original score) and a strong place in academy history. But I would argue that the majority -- and maybe it was a slim majority -- honestly preferred "Crash." In the end, it's more likely that the voting majority thought "Brokeback" was a good, honorable film, but slower, less engrossing and less moving compared with the jazzy, multistranded, Altmanesque L.A.-contempo "Crash," a movie about racism and crime in today's Los Angeles with a big-name ensemble cast playing for peanuts, a tricky structure of interweaving stories and an overall L.A. atmosphere and feeling that struck many Angelenos as right-on."

I agree that Brokeback is slower, less engrossing, and less moving than Crash, because many parts in Crash left me with my hand over my mouth, eyes wide open and loving the film. The scene that most stuck with me, however, was the physical abuse cavity search from the white police officer (Matt Dillon) to the upper-class black women (Thandie Newton) where she is basically “hand raped” by an officer while her husband stands by and watches her get “finger-fucked” in fear of the gun-holding policemen. The actress explains here why she is still outraged by the whole scene (watch it here).

In the midst of a racially interlocking story of whites, blacks, Latinos, Koreans, Iranians, cops and criminals, the rich and the poor, the powerful and powerless, who are all defined in one way or another by racism, this rape scene is thrown in to show racial discrimination as well as unnecessary physical violence in a situation that forces you to think about what you would have done if this happened to you. It is interesting how well-received this movie was with blatent scenes of racism and violence, but Roger Ebert explains why he thinks this is; “Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect "Crash" to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves….You may have to look hard to see it, but "Crash" is a film about progress.”

I agree that this film moves viewers forward more than Brokeback does, but then why was the win such an upset?

Why all the criticism saying that American wasn’t ready for homosexual sex scenes, yet a movie with racism, violence, sexual abuse and discrimination is not only fine with the American public, but glorified for the possibilities it can bring to society?

Is there a problem with this, or have we gotten so used to seeing this type of violence, we are immune to it in a way that is destructive?

With all its commercial success, along with all the comedic bashing surrounding Brokeback, do you think America was ready for this type of mainstream homosexuality, or was it simply a ploy to try to make American think they were ready for something so obviously controversial?

"Wild"ly Surprising...

In an attempt to get back to raunchier mainstream movies filled with porn-like sex scenes and nakedness at every turn, I asked my boyfriend’s roommates for this week’s pick and after much deliberation, they suggested Wild Things. What a fabulously trashy choice, boys. Good Work.

Synopsis: Sam Lombardo is a well-respected Florida high school guidance councilor who gets his life turned upside down when two students, spoiled rich-girl Kelly Van Ryan (Denise), and trailer-trash bad-girl Suzie Toller (Neve), bring rape charges against him in which local police detective Ray Duquette investigates the allegations. But not everything is what it appears to be and the big question arises: Who is deceiving who?

Instead of reviewing the movie, however, I thought it would fun to review someone else’s critique on the movie, since many movie reviews found they had something to say about this lovely piece of fiction. First, Rob Blackwelder of Spicedonline.com was pleasantly surprised regarding his own enjoyment of this film.

He describes it “A whodunit with a ‘90s mentality, it has back stabbing conspirators, a bi-sexual love triangle and teenage temptresses claiming rape. It’s moderately entertaining trash that turns crafty in the last reel when it is finally called on to explain itself. But until then, the only (cheap) thrill comes courtesy of Denise Richards, … and the wet T-shirt she sports while coming on to her high school guidance counselor”. It is true, this movie relentlessly tries to throw in a sexy car wash scene, tight and exposing clothing and shower scenes (ahh the infamous shower scene..) wherever and whenever possible. Blackwelder feels that “With more explicit sex scenes and smaller stars it could be a feature on the Playboy Channel.” I totally agree. This is definitely not something you want to get catch watching by your mom at three in the morning. File this under “guilty pleasure”.

He also says that it is unnecessarily complex, but not clever, and is more sex than mystery. “Richards’ body is on display throughout, Campbell’s contract had a no-nudity clause, but she comes awful close, and even [Kevin] Bacon goes full frontal in a late scene that leads the audience to momentarily expect some boy-boy hanky-panky to balance Richards-Campbell saphic pow-wow earlier in the movie.” The famous bitch-fight sex scene in the pool (featured below thanks to YouTube) is idealized in the film industry as one of the best girl-on-girl sex scene, complete with bitch slap after bitch slap, and ending with both of them topless in the pool (with a peeping tom recording it from the bushes). The blatant attempt at sexuality (watch this scene) makes this movie only earn 2 ½ stars, however, it does do one ingenious thing that makes it worth a rental—the closing credits are accompanied with out-takes that fill in the story’s holes. “This flash of creativity made me decide at the last minute that I liked the picture in spite of myself.”

Reviewer James Brundage (article) of ContactMusic.com wraps up this movie perfectly:
“Hands down, Wild Things is the most guilt-inducing guilty pleasure movie that I have ever watched… until you get to the end. When you do get to the end, you realize that, as sleazy of a film as Wild Things is, it is actually a brilliantly concocted, Hitchcock-with-a-hard-on, mystery thriller.” Hitchcock-with-a-hard-on… I couldn’t have put it better myself.

"Wild Things" Bitch Fight/Sex Scene

Denise Richards and Neve Campbell have a way of fighting, and then making out..i mean, up. ;)