Increasing Nudity in TV and Movies Essay

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Nudity in Television

Nudity is increasing in the television shows and movies with every passing day. More number of actresses and models agree to do nude shoots. As the technology is also advancing at a fast pace, even young children have access to such nude photo shoots and scenes by making use of the internet. It can be said that actresses and models are signing contracts for nude scenes and shoots because the benefit from the aforementioned actions can be two-fold. Firstly, the payment for the shoot increases with nudity and so does the popularity and rating of the actresses and models. However, what is important for us to analyze is the impact that this increasing trend of nudity and vulgarity is leaving on the entertainment industry with respect to the ethical dilemmas that it must face. Therefore, the main theme of this paper would be the identification of the dilemmas that have resulted from increasing nudity. Moreover, we shall also bring into limelight some incidences from the entertainment industry, which demonstrate the trend of increasing nudity in TV shows and movies.

Core Dilemmas

Back in the 1950s women who worked in the entertainment industry were given roles that portrayed them as caring mothers who could cook, clean and take care of the house and obey the orders of her husband. Many decades down the lane, we observe that women are no longer seen to be playing roles that would demonstrate their dignity. It will not be wrong to say that Television has changed dramatically since the 1950s; however this change has not proved to be favorable for women. The main reason for this is that the roles that are being offered to the women in the TV shows and movies demand them to act 'sexy', with or without a concrete role.

When the women were no longer restricted to play the role of mommies in the television shows and movies, they started playing the roles of shaky career women. Initially, it was thought that this transition would result in the empowerment of women, but the outcomes were different from the provisional analysis. For example, the show Charlie's Angels, which was one of the most popular television shows, showed four ladies who were strong career women and who were out there to fight the criminals. On the other hand, it was also demonstrated in this show that women are nothing without men and they need to place their trust in men, since all that the Angels did were according to the orders dispatched by their master Charlie. Furthermore, some analysts also believe that the reason why the show topped the charts was that none of the girls in the show wore a bra. The aforementioned statement implies that by 'objectifying' the women, nudity was introduced in the television show so that it could get a better ranking.

Another, Sex and the City was also an exhibitor of sexual activities and revolved around sexual scenes and nudity. The purpose of this show was to promote feminism; however all that was pictured in this television show were acts of coitus and nudity. Therefore, it will not be wrong to say that one of the most significant core dilemmas of increasing nudity in movies and TV shows is the objectification of women for increasing the popularity of the show (Feminist Legal Theory, 2012).

As mentioned earlier, internet has made it possible for each and every person irrespective of their age to access material that could come under the label of parental guidance (PG). One of the main setbacks of the internet access is that when young girls or actresses see nudity around them, the pressure on them to go for such shoots or acts increases. It should be noted here that the legal age for doing nude shoots is 18, however directors may go for girls who look younger than 18 and therefore create trouble for the young and upcoming actresses and models. The false impression of young girls (under 18) doing nude shoots and scenes is created. An example of such a false impression would be the sex scene that would be aired as part of the show "Reign" that is a production of CW, and therefore a nightmare for parents of young teenage girls (Gelt, 2013).

Nudity art v. Porn

A great deal of discussion has been done regarding the differences between nudity art and porn. First of all, we need to note that art is anything that would inspire our thoughts and porn is anything that would cause sexual arousal in us. Moreover, nudity art has the potential to transform into porn if the arousal aspect is added to it. However, it will not be wrong to say that there is a grey area that exists between nudity and porn and therefore a concrete line cannot be drawn between the two.

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There are some movies and television shows that are recreation of a historical event or a historical era. It is seen in these movies or television shows that the director adds the scenes involving coitus or sexual acts to enhance the story and make it sound more real. Apart from this, some renowned directors are fond of making use of nudity art in their movies to make them more attractive and interesting. For example, the upcoming movie of Lars Von Triers, Nymphomaniac is already being talked even before the announcement of the date of release in the United States. One of the reasons for this is that salacious posters of the movie are seen on a number of billboards. While some people would term the sexual scenes in the movie as porn, the others would just get inspired by them and appreciate them as a good piece of direction or acting (Huff Post, 2013).

It cannot be said for a fact whether or not taking off clothes is justified for the sake of art, however it will not be wrong to say that not every nude scene can be labeled as a porn, it only depends on the perception of the viewer.

Alternates to Nudity

There are many young female actresses who are ready to put the money at stake and deny an offer for doing a nude shoot or a nude scene as part of a television show or movie. On the other hand, there are some actresses who are bold enough to go for such acts as they believe that it is a part of their career and profession. Apart from these categories, there are some other young female actresses who do not have a problem going nude on air or for their viewers but they do have a problem taking off their clothes on the set. For these women there could be some alternatives that could be used.

As we all know that technology is progressing with the speed of light and there are thousands of soft wares that have been developed to edit the pictures or videos. One of the alternatives would be to get the shoot or scene done while wearing clothes and then the directors or the IT department can edit the video or the pictures so that they are given out as nude. Computer Generated Images (CGI) has become a popular phenomenon in the film and television industry.

We all were impressed by the partially nude scene played by Jessica Alba in Machete, weren't we? Few of us are aware of the fact that she did not take off her clothes on the set. Throughout the shooting of the movie she did not take off her clothes, in fact the scene that we are referring to was shot while she wore underwear and a bikini. CGI was used to create an image that she was not wearing anything (Tassi, 2010).

Many people blamed Jessica Alba for being a hypocrite since she had claimed that she would not a nude scene, even though she did not have a problem doing 'sexy' scenes. When the movie came out, people thought that she went back on her words and went on for a nude scene, but the reality was in fact different. However the main issue in making use of this alternative is that the viewers might think that they are being bluffed. This is because some viewers watch a movie for a specific nude scene and expect their favorite actress to be revealing. With the increased use of CGI, people would not be able to tell if what they are watching is real of CGI.

Body doubles is also not a bad alternative to showing nudity. The directors can use the bodies of the porn stars or the actresses or models that are willing to take off their clothes and the face of the actress who has been casted in the role can be used, if she is not willing to do nude scene or shoot. This alternative has saved the day for many actresses as well as directors.

Many analysts agree on the….....

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