Male Nudity in Movies
So recently, Fassbender's lack of inhibition in the movie Shame has caused quite a stir (and a few jokes) within the movie community. I haven't seen the movie, but it got me thinking on the stigma of male nudity in movies today.
Aside: Just to clear the air, I have no problem with nudity if it to enhance the sensuality or sexuality of a scene. There is a reason some directors do insert nudity aside from just showing tits and ass and I believe that nudity can help depending on the story.
With that said, I don't have a problem with male nudity personally. SPOILER ALERT! Hell, one of my favorite movies ever (Boogie Nights) ends in a shot of Dirk Diggler's 13 inch penis. It's not a real penis, but it's still a penis. I know guys don't want to see another man's junk, but that's why eyes move. I move to another thing to concentrate or I can look at it and feel bad about my situation. Either way, I'm comfortable with male nudity. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has a great example of using male nudity to make a scene funny. Like female nudity, it has to have a purpose whether it is towards the story or for arousal because I know women like to see naked guys in their movies just as much as I like to see boobs in my horror movies.
It's no big deal at the end of the day if the movie is good.
Chillin'
Nudity really doesn't hurt other people either since everyone has seen a nude person before, even if it is just themselves. As I have grown, seeing a penis, I think to myself "OK I have one of those and it's either more awesome or not as awesome" I haven't had a problem with seeing a naked guy since I was in my teens. I was a little dumb back then, but I kinda grew out of it.
I think a fine example that comes to mind is Sex Drive in which the creators were told to make an unrated edition with more cussing and lots of nudity! And the guy were like, we didn't have any of that in there so they just stuck random nude models in it. One seen in particular has a naked black man running at my face with his junk and I laughed, not hid in shame. It was a funny thing, and FSM is the best example I think of Male Nudity adding to a movie.
^haha Yeah! The unrated cut of Sex Drive is one of the best unrated cuts ever because of the random nudity.
Male nudity is more played for laughs anyways also.
My mom keeps complaining that there aren't enough penises in movies. It's awkward, but hilarious.
^That reminds me of a funny awkward tale with my mom when watching American Wedding. In the opening scene, when Biggs gets up to reveal Hannigan under the table, my mom goes "I think I saw his penis!". So she spent a good five minutes rewinding in slow motion looking for the penis that never was. She continued forward with disappointment.
Agreed. My problem with Shame though was not that there was male nudity in it, but because it was so overdone. The nudity in general in the movie was overdone and became a weakpoint of the movie for me, it detracted from the experience. It's cool to show it if you want to, but we get it after the 5th time, and we get that he's having doggy style sex with this girl, you don't need to almost go full on porn and zoom in on the action behind the scenes. To me there's a line between movie and porno, and I'd say Shame crossed it just a little too much. Still a good movie for sure though
Great blog! I don’t think I’m being unfair when I say that the average male MFC schmoe likes himself some female nudity. This website caters to you lot by offering “Mistresses of the Week” and even a column titled “Horror Whores.” (I’m not a hardcore feminist, but that title never fails to anger me.) Reviews routinely list how much female nudity the film contains; many pictures posted by members are of scantily clad young women (who are then immediately objectified in the comments). But when a film shows male nudity, way too many schmoes suddenly turn into little Rick Santorums and start questioning if it was necessary. I’m bisexual (no, it’s not a phase) and I’m partially Dutch (not a phase either) and I guess this contributed to my liberal stance on nudity (Dutch shampoo commercials always feature bare breasts; going topless on public beaches is pretty much the norm here in Holland). Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m cool with the female nudity on this site and I do not necessarily want MFC to starting adding images of men in various degrees of near-nakedness (a well-groomed man in a nice suit is to women what a naked girl is to most heterosexual men – sorry, boys, but very few women get excited from the mere sight of an exposed penis), but it would be nice if schmoes would refrain from yelling “eeewwww!” or "the director should have picked a different angle!" when a film contains some fleeting penis shots.
I find that my male friends are more accepting of male nudity in comedies than they are dramas. Which bugs me because there are some really great dramas that happen to have male nudity, but they laugh and wince and make a big production over what they have to look at.
There's also the porn argument. Porn has full blown erections in your face, but that doesn't guys from watching it. So what's one penis shot in a movie going to hurt?
I was just going to say , fan , as an Adult Film viewer , I've got schlongs flying every which way but loose . I have no qualms at all with male BARE ASSEDNESS . usernamenancy , you've made great points , I'm not gonna argue any of 'em . Rick Santorums indeed .
Thanks, Timmy. I know I can be a bit of a bitch (to quote Dolores Claiborne: sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to), but I often get the discouraging feeling that SOME schmoes are completely oblivious to – and in denial of – their obvious sexism.
As I've said before, I loved Shame. I'll admit the first time you see Fassbender's wang - which is very early on - it raises a giggle but that soon disappears, the nudity just fits in the story and you hardly notice it after a while.