# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/81 "2012-01-09T20:08:12Z")
Agreed with everyone. It is so much worse for children to hear their adults going into a collective tizzy over breasts than to actually see those breasts. ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/82 "2012-01-09T20:37:32Z")
At second thought, I agree with the censorship. My generation grew up with all of this stuff hidden, and we invented the '60s and free sex. If we hide everything again, maybe kids will grow up so frustrated that they’ll take to the streets again, and we could use that. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/83 "2012-01-09T21:35:22Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > The last time I saw it on TV, they left in the fart sounds but obscured the name of Lilly von [Shtupp](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shtupp). For years they let that go. I guess they finally got a Standards and Practices person who knows Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/84 "2012-01-09T21:48:43Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I do try to remain open-minded and even click [FoxNews links like this one](http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/01/06/petition-to-ban-cosmopolitan-magazine-from-stores-gets-over-10000-signatures) about a drive to put Cosmopolitan magazine in an opaque cover. Looking at the sexually explicit content of the covers, I find myself agreeing with these petitioners. > > Time was when most movies were more-or-less family-friendly. Nowadays, many fine films that would otherwise be fun for intelligent children to watch, are excluded by 1 or 2 gratuitous sex scenes. What’s the point of that? Requires less scriptwriting skill than a delighting next-morning breakfast chat? > > What do other Dopers think? I reject the assumption that nudity or other sexually oriented images are “family unfriendly.” I don’t think it is harmful to children in any way whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/85 "2012-01-09T21:52:13Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The gory torn throats in movies, however, are actually latex & corn syrup. Tits are tits. In the movies, tits are likely silicone. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/86 "2012-01-09T23:16:12Z")
> [@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. This. Some of you guys would get the vapors if you ever checked a Danish newspaper. There is no need for me to explain nudity. My daughter knows what people look like under their clothes already. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/87 "2012-01-10T00:21:08Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Lighten up, Francis. There is so much irony in Fox saying something is too explicit, it has its own magnetic field. > Just because the incorrectly named Woody was actually made of rubber is no reason to condemn the whole film. Well, it WOULD explain [this](http://i39.tinypic.com/2znmr9x.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/88 "2012-01-10T04:53:19Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Time was when most movies were more-or-less family-friendly. Nowadays, many fine films that would otherwise be fun for intelligent children to watch, are excluded by 1 or 2 gratuitous sex scenes. What’s the point of that? Requires less scriptwriting skill than a delighting next-morning breakfast chat? > > What do other Dopers think? I think you are mistaken about the movie and how most of them were family friendly. The fact of the matter when I was kid, parents didn’t freak out about some boobies. I saw many a PG rated film that had sex and drugs (and rock and roll). Now a days those movies get more restricted ratings because we think differently about that, not that we’ve suddenly added that. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/89 "2012-01-10T08:34:57Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Trust me on this: there is no better way to instil in your child shame and embarrassment regarding sex than to lunge frantically for the remote control every time a sexual scene comes on TV. Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/90 "2012-01-10T08:37:59Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > 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. And yet, you still haven’t provided an example that is not 40 years old. ---
**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 10, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/91 "2012-01-10T14:16:58Z")
I’m still waiting for an example of a kid’s movie that has gratuitous naked boobies. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/92 "2012-01-10T15:28:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Googling before purchase would be inconvenient… God forbid you do anything pro-active yourself to shield your precious, much better whine about it being societies fault on a message board. Godfather, really!? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/93 "2012-01-10T15:34:44Z")
The Godfather Saving Private Ryan Reservoir Dogs I can’t imagine what kind of children these movies would be appropriate for who would be damaged by the occasional sex scene, and in The Godfather if I remember correctly there’s not even any nudity. Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/94 "2012-01-10T15:42:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I can’t imagine what kind of children these movies would be appropriate for who would be damaged by the occasional sex scene, and in The Godfather if I remember correctly there’s not even any nudity. Yeesh. When Michael gets married in Sicily, there’s a short scene of his wife topless just before they consummate the marriage (this part is not shown). It’s usually edited for TV. That’s about it, and it’s tame compared to Sonny getting gunned down at the toll plaza, Vito getting gunned down outside his office, Michael gunning down a police captain, Moe Greene getting shot in the eye, or pretty much any of the other examples of violence in the movie. The horse head is still friggin’ gruesome, 40 years later. ---
**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 10, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/95 "2012-01-10T16:17:24Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > When Michael gets married in Sicily, there’s a short scene of his wife topless just before they consummate the marriage (this part is not shown). It’s usually edited for TV. > > That’s about it, and it’s tame compared to Sonny getting gunned down at the toll plaza, Vito getting gunned down outside his office, Michael gunning down a police captain, Moe Greene getting shot in the eye, or pretty much any of the other examples of violence in the movie. > > The horse head is still friggin’ gruesome, 40 years later. That’s not even to mention the challenging concepts of justice, vengeance, respect, criminality, social class and race just to name a few. If you believe that your child can adequately manage the mixed and confusing nature of these issues in The Godfather, he or she really ought to be quite able to handle the existence of sexual behavior and the viewing of bare breasts. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/96 "2012-01-10T16:26:43Z")
A part of me almost does want Cosmo magazines restricted, not because the articles are explicit, but because they give moronic advice. Any adult with a halfway healthy idea of sex and the intelligence of a dead possum should know this, but when a kid’s just coming into the idea of sex and relationships, I’d just as soon steer them away. But, seriously, nothing in Cosmo is going to warp your child. Most children already know that people have genitals and breasts under their clothes, and most children old enough to read Cosmo already have a basic understanding of what those parts are for. It’s been said and said again, but I’d worry more about them sitting down with an Eli Roth movie than skin flick. The only real concern I have with Maxum, Cosmos, and the like is the unrealistic portrayal of body image. My 11 year old nephew already seems convinced that his future girlfriend will look like Megan Fox, and no amount of reasoning will change his mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/97 "2012-01-10T16:39:47Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > A part of me almost does want Cosmo magazines restricted, not because the articles are explicit, but because they give moronic advice. Any adult with a halfway healthy idea of sex and the intelligence of a dead possum should know this, but when a kid’s just coming into the idea of sex and relationships, I’d just as soon steer them away. Exactly - [This](http://www.cracked.com/article_19066_7-psychotic-pieces-relationship-advice-from-cosmo.html) is why Cosmo shouldn’t be read, not [this](https://www.google.com/search?q=cosmo+covers&hl=en&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=M8K&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsu&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=m2kMT7aQD-fu0gH3-MSQBg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1123&bih=737). ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/98 "2012-01-10T16:50:51Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > My 11 year old nephew already seems convinced that his future girlfriend will look like Megan Fox, and no amount of reasoning will change his mind. Given the level of photo editing that goes into any major magazine, Megan Fox doesn’t look like Megan Fox. There’s commercial art (the magazine in your checkout line) and there’s reality (the cutie in sweats behind you in the checkout line). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/99 "2012-01-10T17:32:50Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > When Michael gets married in Sicily, there’s a short scene of his wife topless just before they consummate the marriage (this part is not shown). It’s usually edited for TV. Yep, and yet the subsequent “Mio marito! Look-a me drive-a you car!” _\_ scene is always shown in all its family-friendly, sponsor-approved glory. (Spoiler alert.) ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830/100 "2012-01-10T18:11:32Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Exactly - [This](http://www.cracked.com/article_19066_7-psychotic-pieces-relationship-advice-from-cosmo.html) is why Cosmo shouldn’t be read, not [this](https://www.google.com/search?q=cosmo+covers&hl=en&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=M8K&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsu&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=m2kMT7aQD-fu0gH3-MSQBg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1123&bih=737). Heh. That’s not even [the worst of them](http://www.cracked.com/article/156_7-sex-tips-from-cosmo-that-will-put-you-in-hospital_p2/?wa_user1=2&wa_user2=Sex&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-and-magazine-covers-are-more-explicit-than-decades-ago/608830.md?page=6)