Since the beginning of television, young adults and young adolescents alike have been objectified and hypersexualized in film and media, especially female characters. Since the early 2000s, it’s been on the rise and there has been a lack of genuine connections between love interests in films and a particular emphasis on sex—a lack of emotional chemistry, but a plethora of sexuality.
Currently, the Gen Z population along with myself is ready for change.
A study conducted by UCLA in 2023 concluded that 47% of viewers ranging from ages 10-24 observed there was too much sex in plotlines for shows and movies. There has been a push to explore more platonic relationships and genuine friendships. Aside from the study, people are bored by “friends with benefits” and the storylines of “casual” hookups for high schoolers.
In September, Ryan Murphy once again plagued my screen with another miniseries, Grotesquerie, a murder mystery and thriller set in a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Two of the side characters, Father Charlie Mayhew and Sister Meghan Duval, engage in an unfathomable and deeply salacious affair. The affair, along with other deviant behaviors of the characters, is so bizarre and unnecessary that it distracts from the storyline. My point is that plotlines oversaturated with sex corrupt the narrative and distract from the overall story.
Today there are fewer teen flicks centered around young love and teenagers experiencing a real romance. Now there are more plots about transactional relationships where sex is characterized as a tool or bargain, rather than intimacy for a couple.
A movie that presents a more accurate and appropriate depiction of a healthy relationship and intimacy is Dogfight, in which a Marine explores an unconventional romance with a waitress. As a critic, I observed that this older film has genuine language and communication, which are often absent from the dialogue in today’s films. I also noticed a sense of respect and communication between the characters. They put in the effort to meet their own needs while also meeting their partner’s satisfaction. In contemporary film, there is a strong focus on the physicality of sex, while the emotional aspect is often neglected.
A bigger issue for young adolescents who are being exposed to sexually charged material is it may be clouding their judgment and setting the tone for how lots of young adolescents view sex. Titles like Euphoria and The Politician, both have an emphasis on teens and young adults exploring sex. Still, I didn’t see the same effort put into exploring consent and boundaries. Coming from someone who was a teenager not long ago and had no business watching Euphoria at 15, I observed a lot of issues with the plotlines. To elaborate, in Euphoria one of the main characters, Maddy Perez, is groomed as a teen by a 40-year-old man. It’s characterized in the plot as socially acceptable since she “was in control,” which in retrospect, was victim blaming if I’ve ever seen it. Another plotline in the show is the male lead and antagonist Nate Jacobs has a distorted perception of sex due to being exposed to his father’s sex tapes at a young age. Additionally, he’s an incel who vehemently hates women, seeing them as commodities after observing his parents’ strained and failing marriage.
For viewers, these two characters were a lot to compartmentalize and process. A lot of viewers who thought the portrayal of the two characters were accurate and thought Nate and Maddy were accurate portrayals of real teenagers in America. Looking back, both characters were extremely hypersexualized and exposed to lots of trauma at the hands of their negligent parents.
The reason this is so prominent in Hollywood and the film industry is the popular saying that “sex sells.” The statement has been applied to a lot of characters and storylines in television, as a widespread method to sell and showcase characters in adherence to the male gaze. In film this ideology is rooted in the perception of the male gaze, translating to a character’s identity being rooted in their sex appeal.
Honestly, I am fed up and need to see a change yesterday.
I am at the age where when I watch a show or movie I can tell whether or not the character was written by a woman or man depending on how they are characterized. Are they stereotypical? Hypersexualized? Too emotional? Too withdrawn? That tells me all I need to know.
I am not saying that we need to eradicate sex from television, but I think we need to reevaluate how it’s conveyed to prospective audiences. Over the years there have been some advancements such as the incorporation of intimacy coordinators on sets for shows and writers are more receptive to critique from audiences. For sex positivity to work in practice it needs to be more positive than harmful to audiences.
Nevertheless, Gen Z desires something else in Hollywood because the storylines are getting profoundly mediocre and have grown to distort the minds of the current generation. The characters are flawed but also unrealistic and viewers analyzing these characters for accuracy are in for a rude awakening. What is needed is for writers to listen to the audience when they give a critique about the problematic storylines and to do better for their viewers. They should stop ramping up the shock value and create characters that actually represent their audiences.
