Sex scenes can and do exploit the vulnerable

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/25/sex-scenes-can-and-do-exploit-the-vulnerable

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Sex scenes staged for the legitimate film industry are possibly the only part of showbusiness where the finished product can be just as embarrassing to watch whether it is done well or done badly. In fact, if you are viewing the film in mixed and unfamiliar company, it might be slightly more comfortable to watch an unrealistic sex scene than a credible effort.

Even an attempt to rank famous sex scenes for their artistry is a mildly humiliating endeavour, or at least an exposing one. But let’s have a go. Remember Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland in that Venetian hotel room in the brilliant 70s psycho-horror Don’t Look Now? Or Kathleen Turner and William Hurt inside a steamy beach house in the stylish early 80s thriller Body Heat? In the former, director Nicolas Roeg cut the images to communicate a sense of bleak release for a bereaved couple; while the latter sequence has a strong, almost cartoonish, hint of sensual menace.

Clearly, the intended mood is all. So the sex between the two female stars of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive is surreally unnerving, while the teenage encounter between two boys in last year’s Oscar winner, Moonlight is nervous and shy. Eroticism is often not the director’s aim, but if a viewer sitting at home next to Grandfather, while the on screen couple tumble in twisted sheets, does not know quite where to put herself, well, it has usually been assumed that the actors do.

Now we hear this is not always the case. Actors of both genders, it turns out, have regularly felt little protection from the exploitative inclinations of a director or a more powerful co-star. The welcome wave of honesty that has followed revelations about sexual predation and abuse in the world of entertainment is this month prompting a fresh look at the dynamics of “the closed sets” that are frequently organised for the cast when some actors must get naked. This week Equity, the British actors’ union, will meet to draw up new safety guidelines for all involved.

Actors of both genders have regularly felt little protection from the exploitative inclinations of a more powerful co-star

As sexual politics start to shift again, a search for new rules of conduct is also beginning, particularly in professional contexts. And suddenly the shooting of a cinematic sex scene provides us with a potent simulacrum for wider debate. As odd visual manifestations of both our cultural and our sexual conventions, they are at the cutting edge of change. This is not simply because of all they lay bare, but because of the especial vulnerability of younger stars.

The movie industry has always had guidelines, from Hollywood’s Hays Code of the 30s and 40s, urging twin beds upon even married couples, down to Channel 4’s meticulous instructions for protecting children on all kinds of television productions. In the last few days, there has been sensible talk of treating bedroom scenes like stunt sequences, when a trained supervisor has to be on hand to meet insurance requirements.

And there has also been some less sensible talk of flesh-toned body suits and stick-on modesty pads. (In New Zealand, strict shooting rules already impose pants at all times, unless everyone agrees otherwise – although it is hard to see why hobbits would care.)

The grumpy old guard will doubtless argue that greater regulation on set will take the fun out of films or inhibit creative expression. Inevitably, just as some moaned this year about waving goodbye to the hired “grid girls” on the Formula One track, the right to film sex without rules for actors will be vigorously defended – precisely because it is another one of the more visible supporting columns still keeping “hard-earned” male fantasies of superiority aloft.

Besides, improving standards for actors on British film and television sets, if it can be done quickly, will not need to change the sex actually shown on screen. Idiosyncrasies, even bullying and violence, can go on being essential parts of some of the stories told. But today that oft-quoted joke of Woody Allen’s – about sex only being “dirty” if you are doing it right – has lost some of its charm.

Putting aside the disputed allegations of abusive behaviour recently levelled at Allen, the whole entertainment industry now finds itself standing in the dock, jointly accused of shoring up some of the worst sides of human behaviour. Serious transgressions, we have to recognise, were being carried out behind the scenes, while on screen actresses were merely routinely asked to show more of their body than their male co-star – in return for significantly lower pay. Surely in this context, setting up clear standards on set and stopping directors from calling for nude line-ups at group auditions are but welcome and modest proposals.