The wildly graphic sex scenes in films like Poor Things and Saltburn shocked moviegoers and critics alike when they hit theaters last year.
But new research suggests that such films are becoming increasingly rare, with data showing that the level of explicit content has fallen dramatically by almost 40 percent in 2000, as Hollywood and viewers “squeak clean” “They have a new reckoning with sex on screen.
The study by data researcher Stephen Follows analyzed the 250 highest-grossing films in the United States each year since 2000, tracking their sexual content with the help of sources including the IMDb movie database and the British Board of Film Classication. (BBFC).
In a surprising finding, almost half of the films released last year did not feature sexual content, while the proportion in 2000 was less than a fifth, according to the analysis, which was first published in The Economist.
The biggest drop in sexual content was seen in action thriller films, with a 70 percent drop in more than two decades.
On the contrary, the number of scenes involving drinking, drugs, violence or foul language remains higher than those involving sex.
Stephen Follows’ study found a 40 percent drop in sexual content in films since 2000.
Thriller and action films saw a 70 percent drop, the largest drop, during the period analyzed.
The few sex scenes that have appeared recently have become increasingly graphic than the heyday of ’90s movies, like Sharon Stone’s infamous leg-crossing in Basic Instinct or Kate Winslet’s steamy car sex scene. and Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic.
Last year, Two films, Saltburn, starring Barry Keoghan, and Fair Play, starring Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor, featured characters performing oral sex on menstruating women.
In even more explicit scenes from Saltburn, Keoghan’s character Oliver, who harbors a twisted obsession with his wealthy friend Felix, is shown drinking dirty water from his bathtub and then simulating sexual intercourse with his freshly dug grave.
In the award-winning Victorian fantasy film Poor Things, Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman who is brought back to life by an experimental scientist and embarks on an uninhibited journey of sexual awakening.
And the reasons behind the surprising change?
The wholesome movie Barbie was a summer box office hit and did not include any explicit sex scenes.
Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, told the story of the team of scientists who developed the first atomic bomb.
Follows says that “squeaky clean” content is now in vogue and, as a result, there are healthier films on screens for people to watch.
Evolving viewer tastes are also driving the change, with especially younger viewers, Gen Z, less willing to sit through graphic sex scenes, he suggests.
Progressive audiences are more likely to reject outdated stereotypes that could be seen as objectifying women through a dominant male gaze, in favor of a more “authentic and respectful” alternative.
‘Modern audiences may have less interest in explicit depictions of sexuality. “Instead, there is a growing preference for content that avoids sexual themes altogether or treats them with more subtlety,” he stated.
Follows suggests that the proliferation of movements like #MeToo and others that helped shape the conversation around consent and gender representation “have likely contributed to a more cautious approach to including sex scenes in films.”
The 2000 film Scary Movie had many racy sex scenes: Starring: Jon Abrahams
The comedy Meet the Parents starring Ben Stiller also contained steamy scenes.
Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger starred in the 2000 film Me, Myself and Irene, which was filled with sex scenes.
The rise of Intimacy Coordinators in a bid to tackle inappropriate behavior on sets could, he says, “discourage gratuitous sex scenes unless they serve a critical narrative purpose.”
Filmmakers, he says, are “sensitive” to the perception of sexual content and how it could generate controversy among viewers and critics.
Hollywood also has to consider international audiences, and filmmakers eager to avoid censorship in certain countries may omit explicit sex scenes in an attempt to give their film a broader reach, Follows adds.
It also cites the explosion of streaming platforms and their ability to offer “personalized viewing experiences,” meaning viewers may be less interested in viewing sexual content and the wide availability of pornography on the internet.
Follows continued: “With the ubiquity of pornography on the Internet, audiences seeking explicit sexual content have a wealth of options available online,” Follows added.
“This has potentially reduced the need for mainstream cinema to fill this niche, allowing films to focus on other elements of storytelling without the need to include sex scenes to attract viewers.”
In the 2000 film The Beach, backpacker Richard (Leonardo Di Caprio) (left), strikes up a romance with Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen) (right), on a secret beach, where he later has sex with her.
In Poor Things, Bella Baxter, a woman resurrected by a scientist, becomes sexually liberated
Nearly half of young people ages 10 to 24 feel that sex is unnecessary to the narrative in most television shows and movies, according to a study last year by the University of California, Los Angeles.
Alison Taylor, an assistant professor at Bond University in Australia, suggests that the decline in sex scenes was due to several factors, including demand for big-budget superhero franchise series and pressure to export films to more conservative countries like China.
In her research, she has cited how the tennis drama Challengers uses “hints” instead of explicit sex scenes to keep viewers hooked.
In Saltburn, Barry Keoghan’s Oliver performs oral sex on a woman while she is menstruating.
Elsewhere in the film, a distraught Oliver pretends to have sex with Felix’s grave.
In another scene, Oliver, having outlived the other characters to claim Saltburn, dances naked.
She said: ‘(Director) Luca Guadignino does with erotic drama what The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did with horror. He promises everything to the audience, but he knows the power is in the suggestion.
The achievement of ‘Challengers’ is in capturing the dynamics of sexual tension. It charts the power plays, negotiations, mistrust and rivalry in which an exchange of glances feels as graphic as what those glances imply.’
He added that the “vivid close-ups, slow motion and sweat-soaked demonstrations” symbolize the passion in the film.
“When the pressure is at a fever pitch but not realized, the characters must channel it into their game. These matches are immediate, tense, and the closest the Challengers come to letting off steam.
