As a counterpoint - as a non-American millennial watching American movies as a child I couldn't understand why there should be sex/romance everywhere. I was not watching romance not to say erotic movies, just action, comedy, horror - yet every director felt obliged to add a pinch of sex everywhere. That felt pretty awkward and weird.
I’m France, I felt the opposite: American movies are so surreal with so much violence and guns for everyone, and sex is weirdly depicted.
I think French movies contained some sex scene almost all the time, mainly because it’s what happens in life so it’s just normal to see it in a movie. I think you can see some boobs in a movie if it’s rated for age 12 and up.
Nowadays, I think the American culture has rubbed off on Europe a bit more, and nudity alone is less ok in films or movie. So you can go to a movie where it’s expected to not show boobs, and then head up to the public beach where 20% of women are topless and nobody gives a shit. A bit dissonant.
Yet, I agree that having a sex scene in a movie sometimes feels like it’s wasting time if it’s not a good part of the story.
Well, US is the very definition of christian conservatism in talk and action, southern half would be considered bible nuts in western Europe, so movies are made with that optimization in mind
> just action, comedy, horror - yet every director felt obliged to add a pinch of sex everywhere
I can't find references to this, but there certainly have been situations in horror movies where nudity was added simply to up the rating, in case audiences felt that a non-r-rated horror movie was going to be inadequate.
I've also seen scenes and indeed entire films where I got the strong impression that the sole purpose was to get the lead actress naked so the director could see her. (non-nude example: the foot scene in Tarantino's Dusk Till Dawn)
I've read that for many years, it was considered a truism in Hollywood that any movie needed a romance element in order to keep the females in the audience interested. Hence, many war and science fiction movies had a lone woman with romance on the mind shoehorned into an otherwise all-male story.
You just say it. "Why does every movie." Doing that makes you categorize it as what a movie is. Simple, but subtle. It gives a certain level of legitimacy.
