9.08.2007

Let's Talk About Sex


a few weeks ago, IFC (independent film channel) had a week long special called 'Indie Sex'

I'm not sure why but I have been thinking about some things they talked about for the past few days.




each of the episodes discussed a certain topic of sexuality in the film industry. Dita Von Teese was one of the many people to give their thoughts.



The first night was 'Taboos.' The name is pretty self explanatory. The viewer was given basic information that dated back to the earliest days of film.

The next night was 'Extremes.' This dealt with fetishes and things of that sort. In my opinion, this was the most interesting night.



The third was 'Teenagers.'

Teenagers was my favorite, maybe because I relate with it the most. Movies such as 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High', 'Dirty Dancing', 'Porky's', '...But I'm A Cheerleader!', and 'American Pie'. Not to mention one of my favorite movies ever, 'Mysterious Skin.'


Obviously, there were many many more, but these were some of the most known.

I don't remember which movie brought it up, but they started talking about the rating system and what is wrong with it. (It is one of the most flawed systems in use today.)

We all know that an 'R' rating means it is for adults, particularly 17 and over. But in today's society the internet shows us so much more beyond what the worst movie in the world could ever do.

An example of this is the movie 'You, Me and Everyone We Know.'

One of the topics this movie brings up is that anything on the internet is available for anyone at anytime. In the film, a twelve year old boy and his little brother (6 maybe?) are involved in cyber sex with an older woman.

The movie was given a 'NC-17' rating. What this means is basically that your movie is set to fail. Theaters will not show it and no one will get to see it. This is a film maker's worst nightmare.

The problem with this is that we are censoring something that we, as a society, don't want seen by the youth of this world. Yet children as young as six have already seen (or even experienced) worse.



Teenage sex isn't being censored. Truth is.

John Waters was interviewed for the program and I don't remember what led up to it but he was talking about asking a woman who worked at the MPAA rating movies and asked why his movie received and 'NC-17' rating. She mentioned something about the film including masturbation and she would not want her sixteen year old son to see something like that.. John simply pointed out that there is no way in the world that her son hasn't been exposed to it already.



Sex is a beautiful thing. Without it, none of us would be here right now.
It is something to be celebrated, not swept under the rug and keep it from us.

I doesn't work anyway.


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