Where did the sex scenes go? Shattering Hollywood’s ‘Puritan Age’

Let’s go talk about sex … or lack thereof. While movies are still a way to escape the reality of life, it seems there’s no need to fantasize about what it would be like to spend a night with an A-lister – unless they’re offering OnlyFans content.

Some of the biggest blockbusters of the past few years have made millions at the box office, but they’re missing one crucial thing: a steamy sex scene. Miles Teller he only felt the rush of flying F-18s until 2022 Top Gun: Maverick is concerned, and Tom Cruise he didn’t even sleep with a love interest Jennifer Connelly in the movie. Similarly, Twisters had audiences up in arms when it premiered in July because nothing romantic happened between the main characters Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Not even a smooch—if you count the deleted kiss which leaked to X.

Listen, Our is fully on board with the slow burn, but sometimes an escape in the form of two hot people getting it on screen is what we want — and need. When did the tide turn? More importantly, why does all the sex seem to be gone? Let’s blame it on Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Of course, we’re just kidding, because who doesn’t love a good superhero movie? (Chris Evanswe miss you!) But something needs to be done about the 34 and counting movies in the MCU. Keep in mind that the film series has been running since 2008 and only one of the films contains a sex scene (the 2021 bombshell Eternal). Most of them don’t even have a mouth!

Are we really living in the “Puritan Age” of Hollywood, as some have called it? A study published last year The Economist says yes, stating that sexual content in movies has dropped by 40 percent since 2000. Previously, 20 percent of films had no sex at all, and the same study revealed that this number has now risen to 50 percent. However, it has been argued that today’s rare intimate scenes are more graphic than they used to be – but this is still up for debate.

Another layer of this discussion is the actors who have taken a stand. A number of stars have been vocal about their distaste for filming (or choreographing, as some say) intimate scenes. Henry Cavillfirst, he bluntly stated that he’s “not a fan of doing them” in scenes “overused” in the film. The younger generation that prefers TikTok to AMC Theater seems to agree – They just root for anyone?

Related: Do actors get excited in sex scenes? The intimacy coordinator tells us

A reader asks us, “How do actors keep from getting excited during sex scenes?” Weird moments on Challengers and on shows like Outlander got us thinking about this all-important question, too, so we caught up with Intimacy Coordinator Brooke M. Haney to get the inside scoop. Haney, who worked on Elsbeth, the mayor (…)

Overall, it seems more appropriate to say that the cause of the recent decline in on-screen lovemaking is technology. The Internet age has made sex more accessible to Gen Z, thanks to OnlyFans and a slew of streaming services. The thrill of going to the cinema and trying to fake your eyes away from an intimate moment between two actors no longer seems necessary.

While sex scenes may be what the younger generation prefers to stream on their phones, studios rely on what audiences can only really enjoy in a theater. Tracking Pedro Pascal and Pavel Mescal battle it out in the Coliseum during Gladiator II there is never an experience on an IMAX screen that we experience at home. Maybe cinemas should make a permanent shift from intimacy to action movies? Because based on box office receipts, it seems likely that those are the only hot and sweaty scenes we’ll see on the big screen. We’ll take what we can get.