There's an interesting issue popping up about censorship that has people divided, but, funny enough, the lines aren't drawn strictly down ideological lines as they usually are, and it involves depictions of sex in media.
I want to start this article by stating that I actually hate sex scenes in movies and television for the most part. Oftentimes, it's gratuitous and unnecessary to the plot. I can remember concluding that I actually don't like them while I was watching "Love, Sex, and Other Drugs," when the two main characters would engage in a sex scene for the umpteenth time, and I felt like I had the point about the two already. It felt like they were halting the story to do it.
That said, I don't think that sex scenes are always useless or unnecessary, which might sound surprising coming from me, but I do love a well-written story and a well fleshed-out character (no pun intended), and there are times when a sex scene can really establish some things about the plot or character.
The big argument about sex scenes today actually centers around a video game, not a movie or television show. According to Sony, its most famous IP, God of War, is getting a remake. The game first arrived on the scene back in 2005 on PlayStation 2 and took the world by storm. The story involved a Spartan from ancient times named Kratos who, through deception by the god of war, Ares, was tricked into killing his own wife and daughter while storming a village. He is forced to wear the ashes of his murdered family on his skin. It's a very Greek tragedy.
But Kratos is thrown into a rage and goes on a murder spree against the gods. In an attempt to forget his pain, he falls into carnality, brutally killing anyone and everyone he finds that he remotely suspects of standing in his way and, from time to time, distracting himself with the pleasures of the flesh. The game will sometimes feature nude women that you can interact with and start up an off-screen sex scene with. You don't see the act, but you see the room while it happens and, of course, the aftermath.
Now, you may say there's no point to it, but the story makes it clear that all of Kratos's lust and rage couldn't quell the pain inside him. You're supposed to think you're watching an absolute Chad dominate everything from combat to lovemaking, but under the surface is a deeply injured man running from his own pain by stacking sins on top of the original one.
Was it necessary to have a sex scene in the game to convey that? I'm sure some would argue it wasn't, but I would say it actually deepens the character, and it truly creates weight later on down the line when Kratos, during the 2018 God of War games, is now an older man and father to a son whom he must now raise alone after the tragic passing of his second wife.
This man, who once ripped through ancient Greece with reckless abandon, killing and maiming his enemies and having careless sex with women he didn't know, now carries the weight of his past, and you can feel it as he attempts to be the best father he can, despite who he is.
There's a scene in the 2018 game where Kratos is picking up his old weapons, two blades attached to chains that now represent the chains of his past, and Athena attempts to tell Kratos he'll never escape his existence as a monster. Kratos agrees, but he's no longer her monster.
It's a moment that carries intense gravitas because God of War players from the early games actually played as him while he did horrible things, including the gratuitous sex. You understand this man on a personal level because you were there during some of his most personal moments, and the weight of his regret for his past actions is now accepted and conquered, allowing him to repurpose his nature in the name of love for his son.
The chains around his arms no longer represent his past, but the way in which he will protect his boy's future. One of the most beautiful moments in a video game that was well over a decade in the making.
You can even have on-screen sex depicted to affect the nature and tone of a story if done well, too.
I'll give you an example.
In my last VIP article, I mentioned a show called "Dark," which was created with almost no fat on it. The storywriting is very tight, and there aren't really any wasted moments. If you glance at your phone for a minute or two while watching it, the chances of you missing a key plot detail are very high.
Read: Yes, Television Is Getting Dumber and It's Not Your Imagination
*SPOILERS FOR DARK*
Yet, in the first episode, you're introduced to two characters, Hannah and Ulrich, and they're in the middle of having sex. It seems passionate and loving, and both are annoyed when they're interrupted by the character Jonas calling for his mother, Hannah, from downstairs. You think Jonas's parents, who are in a healthy, loving, and sexual relationship, are experiencing something many parents do, which is having their alone time interrupted by the needs of their children. In a way, you feel sympathetic toward them because you've been there before yourself.
But then, something odd happens. Ulrich and Hannah dress as they talk about their day, and then suddenly, Ulrich leaves... out the window and sneaks away. It's an odd occurrence, and later you find out that the reason he snuck away is that Ulrich is actually married to another woman, and he has a family with her. Suddenly, the intimate moment you felt like you were intruding on between a husband and wife becomes a lot more sinister, and both Ulrich and Hannah are cast into the opposite light you saw them in at first. You thought you had something in common with them, but now the flavor has changed.
It's good storytelling, and I'm not entirely sure you would've gotten the same tone and feel from it if you didn't see them first in an intimate act.
The difference here is that the sex wasn't just there to shock and titillate the audience. This wasn't meant to be gooned over. The depiction of sex served a purpose. It created something that put the character in a certain light for you that would ultimately go on and make a difference in the story.
I realize not everyone will agree with this, and they would prefer any depictions of sex be barred from being shown at all, and to each their own, but in the act of storytelling, certain things will get a message across about a character or plot element, while other things just won't. Sex can be one of those things if done properly, as it is an intensely intimate and personal act. If Hannah and Ulrich were seen just having dinner together or even just kissing, it wouldn't have had the same impact as when you saw him walk into his home and kiss his wife like he wasn't doing anything wrong.
You wouldn't understand the weight of Kratos's past in the same way if you didn't bear witness to his carnality in his former life as a godslayer.
If it's story first, then sex can be useful. If it's just there to get you to look at bits and get you wound up, then it's just trash.
