Will Donahue ‘24
Chief Copy Editor
When I heard there was an anti-sex scene movement among Gen Z-ers, my first thought was: that sounds hilarious. I’d like to see them try. You can imagine my disappointment when I realized that no such movement exists. That’s not to say there are no steadfast anti-sexers to be found; but with the amount of online discussion surrounding the purpose of sex scenes in movies and TV, you would think this was a full-blown debate between two equally populous parties. As far as I’ve seen, the anti-anti-sexers are dominating the discussion instead. It usually goes something like this: one person posts a dumb tweet, a handful of people agree, and thousands of opposing bystanders chime in by way of disproportionately viral posts. It’s the eternal cycle of internet discourse.
Granted, there is some merit to this idea that Gen Z is collectively sex-averse. An August 2023 study by the Center for Scholars and Storytellers found that 47.5% of adolescents believe that “sex isn’t needed for the plot of most TV shows and movies.” Additionally, 44.3% found that “romance in media is overused.” But it is worth mentioning that the adolescents in question ranged from 10 to 24 years old, with an even age distribution across the entire sample. In other words, nearly half of the sample was under 17 – and, presumably, not quite experienced sexually. I do not believe that this phenomenon – this observation that teenagers do not fully appreciate sex – is somehow unheard of or worthy of special discussion.
What I do find noteworthy is the fixation on a show or movie’s plot above all else. This seems to be at the root of these observations; Gen Z-ers disregard sex on screen not because they are anti-sex compared to everyone else, but because sex “isn’t needed for the plot.” Admittedly, it is not an incorrect belief. Sex scenes often do not contain vital plot information. But movies and shows are so much more than their plots, and to write sex scenes off as unnecessary would be to ignore what sex means for character development. Because at the end of the day, that’s all that plot is: a vehicle for characters to develop. A sex scene is the same as any other scene in this regard; if it advances a character’s development, it is absolutely necessary to include.
The sex scene debate can be a nauseating waste of time, but there are lots of true ideas floating around it. It is true that much of Gen Z does not value sex scenes. It is also true that young people today are having less sex than in years past. But though COVID and the rise of online socialization have made them less sexually active, sex is still far from taboo among Gen Z. Truthfully, the internet is all that sets Gen Z apart from past generations; teens are now shouting their opinions from virtual rooftops for all the world to hear, giving the impression that sex-scene opposition is a new and widespread phenomenon.
This misguided idea that Gen Z holds puritanical views on sex has done nothing but derail an already off-the-rails conversation. From what I’ve observed, the rise (if you can call it that) of sex-scene opposition stems instead from a distaste of “filler” scenes that don’t entirely serve the plot. This view is concerning in its own right, but it has little to do with sex. Gen Z-ers are not reborn boomers hellbent on bringing the Hays Code back to Hollywood. I hope we can let the puritan allegations rest once and for all and recognize that this debate is not an issue of sex, but an issue of media comprehension.
Featured image People at a Movie Theatre courtesy of Movie Theatres
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