6 ms·

Teens Want Less Sex in Movies and TV Shows, Study Finds

Terr_ 2y ago
I imagine the trend may be inversely-correlated to how easily someone can find depictions of sex on-demand through other sources, i.e. actual porn. So then other areas like "safe bastion of platonic intimacy" or "awkwardly happy mutual hand-holding" are comparatively under-served.
- skylurk 2y ago
  > are comparatively under-served Korean soaps have this covered. And the plots are great too.
  - __rito__ 2y ago
    I tried watching some, and ended up not liking amd finishing any. Except exactly one- Reply 1988. I tried CLOY, Reply 1992, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, etc. and couldn't keep watching them. Any suggestions?
    - leosanchez 2y ago
      You didn't like Hometown Cha Cha Cha ? I loved it so much I watched it twice :)
neilv 2y ago
Sounds like this study is about what people say they want (and perhaps when given a multiple-choice selection of ideas), but not what their actual behavior is.
- Terr_ 2y ago
  But if it's repeated over time, that still indicates a change in what they're willing to admit-wanting.
- ensignavenger 2y ago
  What about it sounds like that?
- AStonesThrow 2y ago
  https://youtu.be/VUHFXnOn7mI?si=TdBZwL1qoHbaxQzT https://youtu.be/VUHFXnOn7mI?si=TdBZwL1qoHbaxQzT
- doctorpangloss 2y ago
  If you followed the study’s advice, you’d miss the massive popularity of hate watching.
decremental 2y ago
[dead]
mlindner 2y ago
[flagged]
- jeffbee 2y ago
  The period after they invented antibiotics but before they invented HIV was a local maximum in sexual expression.
- unquietwiki 2y ago
  There are still patriarchal abstinence-only programs in a considerable part of the US; so that can be affecting attitudes some. But also; with increased awareness of queer and asexual personalities and relationships, and emphasis on consent in general; that can be overall influencing attitudes as well.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - mlindner 2y ago
    Extreme emphasis on verbal consent is one example of the "sex negative messaging" I was referring to.
- defrost 2y ago
  Backtracked and reversal are out of place here. The starting point was an absence of sex in the public domain, an avoidance of reference to basic reproduction facts, a ban on anything beyond, etc. Things have progressed to sex scenes becoming so prevelant and readily accessible that it's become desirable to have a choice to see material that doesn't constantly interupt plot for steam. Sex has moved from titalling rarity to boring omnipresence. and is now winding back somewhat; this is not a backtrack from the state of play in the 60s though, the world has leapfrogged past that era.
- swatcoder 2y ago
  It's always just been cyclic and continues to be. The era you're calling back to to was just a hard push back against a post-war surge in clean imagery and buttoned up moralizing, amplified by the Hollywood Code, but you need only go back to the early forties to see and hear wide open celebrations of tawdry lives, and can dig back farther again to see repressive times around the Prohibition era, which you might reasonably assumed was in response to a time that was not so repressive at all, etc etc In many areas, we can see the incoming generations being the new teetotalars and moralizers eager to temper things down again. As for the role of feminism, it's found a voice on both sides all along, during all of the cycles. That's its reflection of true freedom. Even during the "Free Love" era and its direct continuance, the Gloria Steinem voices were driving a different vision than the ones celebrating "free love". And in fact, you can see a through line of that tradition within feminism to the one you're critiquing in the present.
Modified3019 2y ago
Movies and TV shows are things to watch with friends/family. It's awkward and annoying for sex scenes to come up.
- virtualritz 2y ago
  TLDR; US: nudity & sex: no, violence: yes!, Europe: nudity & sex: np, violence: not so much. > Movies and TV shows are things to watch with friends/family. It's awkward and annoying for sex scenes to come up. I and all pretty much all my pan-European friends that I talked to about this issue are always flabbeghasted about this. Can you elaborate why this is awkward and/or annoying to you? This is an earnest question out of pure curiosity. Specifically weird for us is that in PG13-rated US movies/series/etc, depiction of sex (and nudity) is not ok but violence (and even death!) commonly is (as long as there is no blood or the blood is from aliens, i.e. green or purple). "Alien vs Predator" is an example. In Europe it's literally upside down. When kids are watching we don't have an issue with sex scenes as much as with violence. Depiction of consensual sex is ok. Sex is fun, it's natural, it's wonderful (hopefully). You can explain that to kids. Violence -- not so much. Nudity? What's the issue? When I leave my house in Berlin in summer the park next door is full of kids running around naked (as are most playgrounds). The issue with nudity (and the obsession of taking offense with female breasts/nipples) is completely beyond most people in northern Europe. Basically, if many European family movies ever made it to the US market (they don't, ofc), quite a few would probably be edited for nudity (or even sex scenes) for that market. Vice versa, US movies often do get edited for violence to become more "family friendly" for the European market. "Lilo and Stitch" is a good example; Disney edited the German version down by 1.5minutes to get a FSK-0 (no age restrictions) rating here. [1] Specifically, female breasts occasionally visible in a kids movie won't raise eyebrows in atheist/agnostic/protestant northern Germany but in catholic southern Italy they may. And speaking of the latter: Berlin is the first city that has acknowledged that actual gender equality requires women (or any gender for that matter) to be topless too, in any public bath [2]. So if you go with your kids/teens to a public bath here, they will see nipples (i.e. "nudity"). [1] https://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=1004 https://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=1004 [2] https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-clarifies-gender-equality-rules-for-topless-bathing/a-65149849 https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-clarifies-gender-equality-rules...
tomohelix 2y ago
One only need to look at the current depictions of sex in popular shows to see why people don't like them. These are incredible gratuitous and basic and exist for shock value without a shred of passion nor artistry. Worse, they can detract from the actual story of the show and reduce overall enjoyment. For example, look at The Boys extremely detailed and crude rape scenes for absolutely zero reason. Sex sells, but it can also diminish overall entertainment value if not done right. Too bad sale is the only thing most producers care about.
- swatcoder 2y ago
  The Boys is a bad example because its whole aesthetic is hyperviolence and kink illustration. There's room for work that takes the extreme as its signature. Same for shows specifically trying to illustrate tawdry or violent subcultures like club kids or gangs. What gets boring, when too ubiquitous and gratuitous, are works that casually insert characters, scenes, etc that seem meant to resonate with some purported culture trend / market demand but aren't really necessary or coherent in the context. If you're not on that trend yourself, those insertions feel completely out of place and sometimes even offensive. That's a perpetual pattern in media though. Presently, we see that explicit sexual content was "hot" for a while but some people are tired of it and a new generation just doesn't give a damn. But you can see similar comings and goings looking backwards (and forwards) as well, with: relgious symbols, queer recognition, political moralizing, lifestyle moralizing, positivity, stoic/sacrificing men, empowered women/survivors, violence and brawling, eye candy, sarcasm and cynicism, romance, superheroes, flashy lifestyles, sad sap lifestyles, etc
virtualritz 2y ago
Movies/series/TV are/is shown/streamed/aired & watched worldwide. I presume the study was done in the US. Go figure.
S0y 2y ago
Here's the link to the 2024 study: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384d21/t/6719a3a9660bed6cba2abf97/1729733553264/Teens+%26+Screens+2024+Report.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384... Here's the 2023 study: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384d21/t/65452c5506cddd4709554a1b/1699032154689/Teens+%26+Screens+2023+Report.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384...
HumblyTossed 2y ago
I'm old and I think the same thing.
katamarimambo 2y ago
The problem is that these teens want to watch tougher, mature stories like prestige TV stuff or the movies Variety cited and then complain that there's sex on it. If they are not comfortable watching sex they should stick to basic mainstream stuff, which became completely aseptic after the Superbowl tit incident. Not everything has to be for everyone.
mezentius 2y ago
I work in Hollywood. Like USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers is just another example of a political advocacy group using a university as cover for ideological messaging, under the auspices of “research.” Note that both Annenberg and S&S rarely, if ever, publish the raw data used to draw these suspiciously blunt conclusions about media representation (in this case, about supposedly “dated and unrelatable romantic tropes”); they merely crank out glossy press releases designed to be regurgitated by overworked trade-magazine bloggers. Underneath these are lousy “self-reporting” surveys with data carefully massaged to fulfill an intended purpose. There’s a lot of snake oil peddled in town, but this stuff irritates me the most, as it is often reported uncritically and discussed without any reflection on why these “studies” are conducted, or who funds them.
SllX 2y ago
If there's any substance to a survey like this, it'll be reflected in their viewing habits and choices going forward.
beretguy 2y ago
I stopped watching Black Sails because of it.
majikaja 2y ago
Maybe seeing attractive people in media makes people feel bad about their own appearance. Or their partner's appearance. Maybe they don't want to watch something just to be reminded of their mediocre/nonexistent sex life.
- Slow_Hand 2y ago
  I doubt it. But if true, that feeling of inadequacy could still be triggered in nearly every other everyday activity. Be it social media, print media, people on the street, co-workers, close relations, or the visual arts. Good luck insulating yourself from attractive people.
  - majikaja 2y ago
    Attractive people in the office don't spontaneously take their clothes off and have sex while the uglies sit around watching.
johnea 2y ago
Well of course, duh... Sex in movies is so boomer. Any half way hip tween knows that you get sex from a chat bot...

I imagine the trend may be inversely-correlated to how easily someone can find depictions of sex on-demand through other sources, i.e. actual porn. So then other areas like "safe bastion of platonic intimacy" or "awkwardly happy mutual hand-holding" are comparatively under-served.

skylurk 2y ago
> are comparatively under-served Korean soaps have this covered. And the plots are great too.
- __rito__ 2y ago
  I tried watching some, and ended up not liking amd finishing any. Except exactly one- Reply 1988. I tried CLOY, Reply 1992, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, etc. and couldn't keep watching them. Any suggestions?
  - leosanchez 2y ago
    You didn't like Hometown Cha Cha Cha ? I loved it so much I watched it twice :)

neilv 2y ago

Sounds like this study is about what people say they want (and perhaps when given a multiple-choice selection of ideas), but not what their actual behavior is.

Terr_ 2y ago
But if it's repeated over time, that still indicates a change in what they're willing to admit-wanting.
ensignavenger 2y ago
What about it sounds like that?
AStonesThrow 2y ago
https://youtu.be/VUHFXnOn7mI?si=TdBZwL1qoHbaxQzT https://youtu.be/VUHFXnOn7mI?si=TdBZwL1qoHbaxQzT
doctorpangloss 2y ago
If you followed the study’s advice, you’d miss the massive popularity of hate watching.

decremental 2y ago

[dead]

mlindner 2y ago

[flagged]

jeffbee 2y ago
The period after they invented antibiotics but before they invented HIV was a local maximum in sexual expression.
unquietwiki 2y ago
There are still patriarchal abstinence-only programs in a considerable part of the US; so that can be affecting attitudes some. But also; with increased awareness of queer and asexual personalities and relationships, and emphasis on consent in general; that can be overall influencing attitudes as well.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- mlindner 2y ago
  Extreme emphasis on verbal consent is one example of the "sex negative messaging" I was referring to.
defrost 2y ago
Backtracked and reversal are out of place here. The starting point was an absence of sex in the public domain, an avoidance of reference to basic reproduction facts, a ban on anything beyond, etc. Things have progressed to sex scenes becoming so prevelant and readily accessible that it's become desirable to have a choice to see material that doesn't constantly interupt plot for steam. Sex has moved from titalling rarity to boring omnipresence. and is now winding back somewhat; this is not a backtrack from the state of play in the 60s though, the world has leapfrogged past that era.
swatcoder 2y ago
It's always just been cyclic and continues to be. The era you're calling back to to was just a hard push back against a post-war surge in clean imagery and buttoned up moralizing, amplified by the Hollywood Code, but you need only go back to the early forties to see and hear wide open celebrations of tawdry lives, and can dig back farther again to see repressive times around the Prohibition era, which you might reasonably assumed was in response to a time that was not so repressive at all, etc etc In many areas, we can see the incoming generations being the new teetotalars and moralizers eager to temper things down again. As for the role of feminism, it's found a voice on both sides all along, during all of the cycles. That's its reflection of true freedom. Even during the "Free Love" era and its direct continuance, the Gloria Steinem voices were driving a different vision than the ones celebrating "free love". And in fact, you can see a through line of that tradition within feminism to the one you're critiquing in the present.

Modified3019 2y ago

Movies and TV shows are things to watch with friends/family. It's awkward and annoying for sex scenes to come up.

virtualritz 2y ago
TLDR; US: nudity & sex: no, violence: yes!, Europe: nudity & sex: np, violence: not so much. > Movies and TV shows are things to watch with friends/family. It's awkward and annoying for sex scenes to come up. I and all pretty much all my pan-European friends that I talked to about this issue are always flabbeghasted about this. Can you elaborate why this is awkward and/or annoying to you? This is an earnest question out of pure curiosity. Specifically weird for us is that in PG13-rated US movies/series/etc, depiction of sex (and nudity) is not ok but violence (and even death!) commonly is (as long as there is no blood or the blood is from aliens, i.e. green or purple). "Alien vs Predator" is an example. In Europe it's literally upside down. When kids are watching we don't have an issue with sex scenes as much as with violence. Depiction of consensual sex is ok. Sex is fun, it's natural, it's wonderful (hopefully). You can explain that to kids. Violence -- not so much. Nudity? What's the issue? When I leave my house in Berlin in summer the park next door is full of kids running around naked (as are most playgrounds). The issue with nudity (and the obsession of taking offense with female breasts/nipples) is completely beyond most people in northern Europe. Basically, if many European family movies ever made it to the US market (they don't, ofc), quite a few would probably be edited for nudity (or even sex scenes) for that market. Vice versa, US movies often do get edited for violence to become more "family friendly" for the European market. "Lilo and Stitch" is a good example; Disney edited the German version down by 1.5minutes to get a FSK-0 (no age restrictions) rating here. [1] Specifically, female breasts occasionally visible in a kids movie won't raise eyebrows in atheist/agnostic/protestant northern Germany but in catholic southern Italy they may. And speaking of the latter: Berlin is the first city that has acknowledged that actual gender equality requires women (or any gender for that matter) to be topless too, in any public bath [2]. So if you go with your kids/teens to a public bath here, they will see nipples (i.e. "nudity"). [1] https://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=1004 https://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=1004 [2] https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-clarifies-gender-equality-rules-for-topless-bathing/a-65149849 https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-clarifies-gender-equality-rules...

tomohelix 2y ago

One only need to look at the current depictions of sex in popular shows to see why people don't like them. These are incredible gratuitous and basic and exist for shock value without a shred of passion nor artistry. Worse, they can detract from the actual story of the show and reduce overall enjoyment. For example, look at The Boys extremely detailed and crude rape scenes for absolutely zero reason. Sex sells, but it can also diminish overall entertainment value if not done right. Too bad sale is the only thing most producers care about.

swatcoder 2y ago
The Boys is a bad example because its whole aesthetic is hyperviolence and kink illustration. There's room for work that takes the extreme as its signature. Same for shows specifically trying to illustrate tawdry or violent subcultures like club kids or gangs. What gets boring, when too ubiquitous and gratuitous, are works that casually insert characters, scenes, etc that seem meant to resonate with some purported culture trend / market demand but aren't really necessary or coherent in the context. If you're not on that trend yourself, those insertions feel completely out of place and sometimes even offensive. That's a perpetual pattern in media though. Presently, we see that explicit sexual content was "hot" for a while but some people are tired of it and a new generation just doesn't give a damn. But you can see similar comings and goings looking backwards (and forwards) as well, with: relgious symbols, queer recognition, political moralizing, lifestyle moralizing, positivity, stoic/sacrificing men, empowered women/survivors, violence and brawling, eye candy, sarcasm and cynicism, romance, superheroes, flashy lifestyles, sad sap lifestyles, etc

virtualritz 2y ago

Movies/series/TV are/is shown/streamed/aired & watched worldwide. I presume the study was done in the US. Go figure.

S0y 2y ago

Here's the link to the 2024 study: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384d21/t/6719a3a9660bed6cba2abf97/1729733553264/Teens+%26+Screens+2024+Report.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384... Here's the 2023 study: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384d21/t/65452c5506cddd4709554a1b/1699032154689/Teens+%26+Screens+2023+Report.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/633f0603fdaa7311ba384...

HumblyTossed 2y ago

I'm old and I think the same thing.

katamarimambo 2y ago

The problem is that these teens want to watch tougher, mature stories like prestige TV stuff or the movies Variety cited and then complain that there's sex on it. If they are not comfortable watching sex they should stick to basic mainstream stuff, which became completely aseptic after the Superbowl tit incident. Not everything has to be for everyone.

mezentius 2y ago

I work in Hollywood. Like USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers is just another example of a political advocacy group using a university as cover for ideological messaging, under the auspices of “research.” Note that both Annenberg and S&S rarely, if ever, publish the raw data used to draw these suspiciously blunt conclusions about media representation (in this case, about supposedly “dated and unrelatable romantic tropes”); they merely crank out glossy press releases designed to be regurgitated by overworked trade-magazine bloggers. Underneath these are lousy “self-reporting” surveys with data carefully massaged to fulfill an intended purpose. There’s a lot of snake oil peddled in town, but this stuff irritates me the most, as it is often reported uncritically and discussed without any reflection on why these “studies” are conducted, or who funds them.

SllX 2y ago

If there's any substance to a survey like this, it'll be reflected in their viewing habits and choices going forward.

beretguy 2y ago

I stopped watching Black Sails because of it.

majikaja 2y ago

Maybe seeing attractive people in media makes people feel bad about their own appearance. Or their partner's appearance. Maybe they don't want to watch something just to be reminded of their mediocre/nonexistent sex life.

Slow_Hand 2y ago
I doubt it. But if true, that feeling of inadequacy could still be triggered in nearly every other everyday activity. Be it social media, print media, people on the street, co-workers, close relations, or the visual arts. Good luck insulating yourself from attractive people.
- majikaja 2y ago
  Attractive people in the office don't spontaneously take their clothes off and have sex while the uglies sit around watching.

johnea 2y ago

Well of course, duh... Sex in movies is so boomer. Any half way hip tween knows that you get sex from a chat bot...