# Movies and magazine covers are more explicit than decades ago **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830 "2012-01-08T15:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/41 "2012-01-08T20:09:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’d like to know what the family friendly films are that are marred by one or two gratuitous sex scenes. Because I’ve been wanting to see “We Bought a Zoo” and now I’m getting a funny feeling about it… And I thought the explicit bestiality sex scenes in \*\*War Horse \*\*and \*\*Tintin \*\*were bad enough, now there’s a film that involves a whole zoo!? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/42 "2012-01-08T21:00:42Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Actually, I will join in the whine and cheese party on this point: there’s hardly anything entertaining for BOTH parents and kids these days. It’s either grit my teeth through The Electric Company (which is the best of the worst) again, or watch another Dirty Jobs. I mean, I like Dirty Jobs, but it’s getting tiresome. I don’t have kids, but my best friend has two (both under 7) and has said basically the same thing – there are shows for children and shows for adults but not a lot that is appropriate and enjoyable for both except for some of the quasi-educational or talent competition based reality shows. > [@](#): > > What I miss are shows like Family Ties and The Cosby Show - sanitary enough for kids but still entertaining for grown-ups. Now I can’t find a sitcom without a dildo joke or a “that’s what she said” every 30 seconds. I have no problem exposing my kids to healthy sexuality, but let’s face it… Barney on How I Met Your Mother is not a really great role model for healthy sexuality. I love HIMYM, but it’s not something I want to watch with my 6 year old. Or my 18 year old, for that matter! I think part of the problem is that there aren’t as many sitcoms in general as there used to be. A lot of that space on the TV schedule has been taken over by reality shows or dramas, often crime dramas. Still, I think shows like _The Middle_ and _Modern Family_ are generally appropriate for family viewing, although both of my examples are admittedly on the same channel on the same night! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/43 "2012-01-08T21:03:59Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > What do other Dopers think? Most movies, tv shows, and magazines are fairly boring and poorly written. The appropriate application on boobs can make them at least bearable. I would say that less than 5% of all movies would not benefit from a topless Natalie Portman wandering around. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/44 "2012-01-08T21:39:47Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > You watched Reservoir Dogs with your pre-teen? Really? > > I don’t see how Googling is inconvenient, especially when the alternative is to assume that stuff will be inappropriate, which would rule out pretty much everything that isn’t specifically kid-friendly. We live in Thailand, and my kids will access Thai movies whether I want them to or not. Hence, extreme violence and dirty jokes are inevitable. Thai movies do avoid the most explicit sex, so, as the one who brings American DVD’s into the house, it’s the only part I can control. Anyway, Mrs. septimus is the boss here and she objects to his viewing of sex scenes. Yes, I’d have to be lazy not to be able to check reviews before buying DVD. Still, it is annoying when an otherwise excellent film has an unnecessary scene rendering it unviewable. This was much rarer a few decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/45 "2012-01-08T21:42:44Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I think our society is pretty fucked up in it’s priorities when we turn nudity into a horrible shocking taboo, but we wallow violence and gore. > > The sight of a female breast should not be fodder for frothing at the mouth in rage and carrying on in a way that traumatizes children. I guarantee you that children are NOT psychologically damaged by the sight of the breast. They’re messed up by their parents and role models **reactions** , which are what teach them how they should react and think. I was watching John Carpenter’s **Vampires** in the theater. A mother and maybe 10(?) year-old boy were next to my husband and I. There is a crapload of gore and violence in it, but a good way into the movie, the only time I saw her do anything was when there was a shot of tits onscreen, and her hand shot out to cover his eyes. Gory torn throats are a-ok, but tits are evil! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/46 "2012-01-08T22:13:39Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Hence, extreme violence and dirty jokes are inevitable. Thai movies do avoid the most explicit sex, so, as the one who brings American DVD’s into the house, it’s the only part I can control. I see. So, if Thai movies also had lots of explicit sexual content, you would just shrug your shoulders and say, “Hey, it’s just inevitable. I can’t control what my kids watch on Thai TV.” That’s a pretty convenient set of principles you’ve got there. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/47 "2012-01-08T22:47:56Z")
A quick look at [Cosmo’s Sizzling Covers](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/quizzes-games/cosmo-cover-gallery) shows that a lot of them would make a young girl blush. And yes, Dakota Fanning shouldn’t be on the cover, though she’s no stranger to being a sex object for the entertainment of adults. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/48 "2012-01-08T23:12:17Z")
Cosmo is read almost exclusively by girls younger than Dakota Fanning. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/49 "2012-01-08T23:27:41Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > First to mind is _Godfather_, with a sex scene … though using it as example contradicts the “decades ago” motif in OP. :smack: The Godfather? THE GODFATHER? You watched a movie about the rise and fall of mafia familes, where Sonny Corleone gets shot by half a dozen men with machine guns and then his corpse is displayed on the funeral director’s table while his dad discusses what to do with him, where a police officer get shot point blank in a crowded restaurant, where there’s a five minute fist-fight on the streets concerning an abusive husband, and where there’s a montage, a friggin montage! at the end with dozens of lovely and creative ways to kill people that annoy you and your family, oh yeah and the horse’s head! I almost forgot about that one!.. …and your concern was the sex? All those examples I listed above were what popped out at me from things I remember about the movie. I don’t even remember the sex. Honestly, I can’t even recall where it took place in the film. That’s how much of an impression it made. Godfather. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/50 "2012-01-08T23:30:20Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > And yes, Dakota Fanning shouldn’t be on the cover, Why on earth not? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/51 "2012-01-08T23:31:48Z")
That was a great link. What was this thread about? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/52 "2012-01-09T00:11:01Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > We live in Thailand, and my kids will access Thai movies whether I want them to or not. Hence, extreme violence and dirty jokes are inevitable. Thai movies do avoid the most explicit sex, so, as the one who brings American DVD’s into the house, it’s the only part I can control. Anyway, Mrs. septimus is the boss here and she objects to his viewing of sex scenes. > > Yes, I’d have to be lazy not to be able to check reviews before buying DVD. Still, it is annoying when an otherwise excellent film has an unnecessary scene rendering it unviewable. This was much rarer a few decades ago. As Thailand is to violence, the U.S. is to titillation. Its a cultural norm. Personally, I’d let my kids watch a lot of boobie baring teenage sex comedies before I’d let them watch Reservoir Dogs - I have bigger issues with graphic violence than sex. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/53 "2012-01-09T00:19:52Z")
A few months ago I found myself thinking ‘THAT shouldn’t be on a front page!! Won’t someone think of the children?!’ for the first time in my life. It was weird. But I was in the supermarket, with my kid, and a tabloid front page said in letters a mile high, ‘WOMAN DIES AFTER SEX WITH DOG’. My kid is two, so no problems there. But if she’d been six? How the fuck is any parent supposed to explain that? WHY the fuck should any parent have to explain bestiality to a six-year-old? I have no problem with boobies being everywhere. We’ve happily discussed the fact that the Cosmo cover girl has Serious Boobies In Her Bra. And, like Dangerosa, I’d rather she was exposed to sexuality than to violence. But bestiality, spelled out in words a six-year-old could easily read? Fuck whoever thought that was OK. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/54 "2012-01-09T01:58:47Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Oh I know. **The Godfather** is such a great childrens movie! Pity there had to be a _ptooey_ _sex scene_ to distract him from all that wholesome violence! Of course it is a childrens movie. It has a horse in it. 40 years ago not only was there a lot more explicit sex in movies (some rated X) but after Deep Throat became a hit there was true porn in mainstream theaters. My objection to Cosmo, when someone brings one home, is that the racy article promos are just a cocktease - the actual lists and articles are very tame. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/55 "2012-01-09T02:03:22Z")
> [@'\[Undecided](#): > > Adrian;14645806’]\ > > I don’t think Germans are more screwed up than Americans sexually. You don’t watch much internet porn then do you? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/56 "2012-01-09T02:26:09Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > You don’t watch much internet porn then do you? https://www.youtube.com/embed/T__YXBN7LM8?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque “Dude, what the fuck is wrong with German people?” ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/57 "2012-01-09T02:48:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Do you really want specific examples? First to mind is _Godfather_, with a sex scene … though using it as example contradicts the “decades ago” motif in OP. :smack: Let me add my own perplexed reaction to your example. The brief scenes of bare breasts amidst all the murder is the gratuitous sex scene that ruins an otherwise “fun” movie for an intelligent child? If your child is handling the rest of that movie, then your out of whack reaction to the extremely benign sexual elements in that movie are going to be far more problematic than your child actually watching them. > [@](#): > > I’ll admit to watching Saving Ryan and Reservoir Dogs with him and wonder if such movies are far worse for him than the sex scenes. (It’s his mother and him who object most to his watching those.) I could start a thread titled “Ask the Dad who thinks he’s a very bad parent.” You’re in the best position to evaluate what type and intensity of content your child is able to handle. > [@](#): > > PS: I m NOT advocating censorship, merely expressing regret that many otherwise excellent movies become unsuitable for view with my children. Googling before purchase would be inconvenient and, anyway, outrule many I’d want to watch. I really think that it’s going to be hard for you to find a lot of movies with graphic and disturbing violence that draw some sort of line at breasts and references to the fact that sex exists. By the way, recently at school my 16 year old son used the quote, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” None of his peers recognized it at all. That’s the problem with today’s youth. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/58 "2012-01-09T03:09:28Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > A few months ago I found myself thinking ‘THAT shouldn’t be on a front page!! Won’t someone think of the children?!’ for the first time in my life. It was weird. > > But I was in the supermarket, with my kid, and a tabloid front page said in letters a mile high, ‘WOMAN DIES AFTER SEX WITH DOG’. > > My kid is two, so no problems there. But if she’d been six? How the fuck is any parent supposed to explain that? WHY the fuck should any parent have to explain bestiality to a six-year-old? > > I have no problem with boobies being everywhere. We’ve happily discussed the fact that the Cosmo cover girl has Serious Boobies In Her Bra. And, like Dangerosa, I’d rather she was exposed to sexuality than to violence. But bestiality, spelled out in words a six-year-old could easily read? Fuck whoever thought that was OK. Well, according to Dopers, there’s no correlation between violence and juvenile actions. :smack: Sex, on the other hand…come on. We were all young once. Some of us still are. My son recently commented that “all the super chicks have huge boobs”. He just turned seven. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/59 "2012-01-09T04:00:30Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I agree that things are too explicit these days (and perhaps back in ‘those days’, as I am only 26). There have been some “kid-aimed” movies my kid couldn’t watch because of sex/boobs. I’ve complained about it on SDMB before, but I got “meh” responses. > > So we’re probably in the minority here. I really wish PG-13 movies weren’t marketed in Happy Meals, though. Wait, what kid-aimed movies have sex/boobs? Because as a parent with small kids, I’d like to A)Avoid letting my kids watching them and B)Watch them. So which titles exactly are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/60 "2012-01-09T04:17:03Z")
I like fart jokes as much as the next person (I just recommended the Dr. Who parody [Curse of Fatal Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_and_the_Curse_of_Fatal_Death) to a friend on FB), but must every single Disney movie have fart jokes now? Disney movies used to be a refuge from that sort of crudity. Well, at least my kids are too old for most Disney fare now. And get offa my lawn you kids! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830.md?page=4)