Sex scenes in games and movies are just always awkward. I can’t think of a time when it’s actually added to the narrative. Just makes it uncomfortable to watch with other people.
I think the sex scenes (and also Bateman just doing stuff with the TV playing porn in the background) make the audience understand how utterly fucked he is. They make it explicit that (a) he desires to be seen as someone who’s hot and enjoying sex and whatever, e.g. when he looks at himself flexing in the mirror and how he films everything (b) what he gets off on is absolute domination over women, through sex or torture or murder. Same thing for him. The viewer is supposed to realize that Bateman’s aberrant sexual desires, being as unremarkable to the rest of his society as his murders, are actually something society expects / encourages. I don’t think you could do this nearly as well without showing it.
You could argue that these aren’t “sex scenes” in the connotative way that prudes use it, since they’re ghastly and not titillating. For my part I think that people having sex is a sex scene.
honestly the issue I have with sex scenes isn’t that they exist per se, it’s that there’s almost always insufficient time to really set up the appropriate level of emotional connection that makes it not awkward. a movie of ~2 hours length certainly isn’t enough time; you can put a timeskip saying “1 month later” on the screen but that’s only in-universe, it doesn’t make me feel any better. in games it’s a little better as they can be longer, but not all of a game’s, say, 60-80 hour runtime (in the case of games like Baldur’s Gate 3) is gonna be dialogue and relationship-building, most of it’s gonna be defeating enemies or doing other stuff.
and also real flirting can be hard to depict in games with approval systems - like, I say something that you agree with enough times in conversations and you suddenly wanna get in my pants? where did that come from? feels very “press correct button X times to receive sex,” though fundamentally a video game cannot be any other way because, well, that’s how code works. I have seen few games (at least ones that aren’t explicitly a romance game as opposed to a game that happens to contain romance) displaying a genuine building of attraction over time as opposed to a sudden shift from “we did a great job saving those guys and defeating the monsters. +1 to Approval” and then 5 seconds later “ohoho I can feel the electricity between us, I’ve never felt this way before…”. those that do have those appropriate arcs tend to already have already very suave, charismatic, handsome men like Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed and his romance with… everybody, but especially Sforza or whatever her name was.
but again, I am generally pro-sex scene even if the implementations sometimes (often?) aren’t done very well imo
Largely how i feel about it. I’m not against the concept of sex in media its just the implementation generally feels inauthentic and a bit cringe. I can understand that its hard to do right or use effectively but that doesn’t mean I’m some puritanical mormon if I think most of them are just shit and cringe to watch.
Its not like i have the same reaction if I see people irl making out or expressing love openly its just the fake depiction in media that bothers me somewhat.
Interesting that some in this thread are coming to great assumptions of people over something like this though i find that odd.
Sex scenes in games and movies are just always awkward. I can’t think of a time when it’s actually added to the narrative. Just makes it uncomfortable to watch with other people.
Seems like a tool to look more “adult”
Kinda like a middle schooler who thinks saying “fuck” every other word makes them cool
watch a decently made movie then. citing people failing to successfully use a creative tool as a reason it shouldn’t exist is ridiculous
american psycho spoilers
I think the sex scenes (and also Bateman just doing stuff with the TV playing porn in the background) make the audience understand how utterly fucked he is. They make it explicit that (a) he desires to be seen as someone who’s hot and enjoying sex and whatever, e.g. when he looks at himself flexing in the mirror and how he films everything (b) what he gets off on is absolute domination over women, through sex or torture or murder. Same thing for him. The viewer is supposed to realize that Bateman’s aberrant sexual desires, being as unremarkable to the rest of his society as his murders, are actually something society expects / encourages. I don’t think you could do this nearly as well without showing it.
You could argue that these aren’t “sex scenes” in the connotative way that prudes use it, since they’re ghastly and not titillating. For my part I think that people having sex is a sex scene.
It also gave us this meme so that helps
i think this is a you thing and not a film thing
Your level of upset tickles me. I curse you so that you may never see a sex scene ever again! Moohahahhaha
Same. I often fast forward through them especially when they’re too long.
honestly the issue I have with sex scenes isn’t that they exist per se, it’s that there’s almost always insufficient time to really set up the appropriate level of emotional connection that makes it not awkward. a movie of ~2 hours length certainly isn’t enough time; you can put a timeskip saying “1 month later” on the screen but that’s only in-universe, it doesn’t make me feel any better. in games it’s a little better as they can be longer, but not all of a game’s, say, 60-80 hour runtime (in the case of games like Baldur’s Gate 3) is gonna be dialogue and relationship-building, most of it’s gonna be defeating enemies or doing other stuff.
and also real flirting can be hard to depict in games with approval systems - like, I say something that you agree with enough times in conversations and you suddenly wanna get in my pants? where did that come from? feels very “press correct button X times to receive sex,” though fundamentally a video game cannot be any other way because, well, that’s how code works. I have seen few games (at least ones that aren’t explicitly a romance game as opposed to a game that happens to contain romance) displaying a genuine building of attraction over time as opposed to a sudden shift from “we did a great job saving those guys and defeating the monsters. +1 to Approval” and then 5 seconds later “ohoho I can feel the electricity between us, I’ve never felt this way before…”. those that do have those appropriate arcs tend to already have already very suave, charismatic, handsome men like Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed and his romance with… everybody, but especially Sforza or whatever her name was.
but again, I am generally pro-sex scene even if the implementations sometimes (often?) aren’t done very well imo
Largely how i feel about it. I’m not against the concept of sex in media its just the implementation generally feels inauthentic and a bit cringe. I can understand that its hard to do right or use effectively but that doesn’t mean I’m some puritanical mormon if I think most of them are just shit and cringe to watch.
Its not like i have the same reaction if I see people irl making out or expressing love openly its just the fake depiction in media that bothers me somewhat.
Interesting that some in this thread are coming to great assumptions of people over something like this though i find that odd.