# What was the most gratuitous piece of nudity you've ever seen in a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2019, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743 "2019-12-12T09:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/61 "2019-12-12T19:26:25Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You mean [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fewedit.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fshowers-16-candles_610.jpg%3Fw%3D610&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Few.com%2Fgallery%2Fshower-powerat-movies%2F&docid=henDD3au-SrIYM&tbnid=ML3rmb2ZGjl9hM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU..i&w=610&h=458&bih=938&biw=1920&q=16%20candles%20carolynn%20shower&ved=0ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU&iact=mrc&uact=8) potbelly, thunder thighs and bulging hips? :dubious: Also those boobs weren’t remotely giant at all. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/62 "2019-12-12T19:36:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s the very first thing I thought of. It wasn’t gratuitous, it was gratifying. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/63 "2019-12-12T19:38:48Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Linnea Quigley’s character in Return of the Living Dead gets high in the graveyard with her punk friends, strips off her clothes and dances, then spends the rest of the movie nude until she gets turned into a naked zombie. She looks fantastic, imo, but she’s really the only T&A in the movie and she remains naked during scenes where it would seem that she would get dressed as soon as she could. Yeah, even a character in the movie told her to put some clothes on. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/64 "2019-12-12T19:39:30Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You mean [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fewedit.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fshowers-16-candles_610.jpg%3Fw%3D610&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Few.com%2Fgallery%2Fshower-powerat-movies%2F&docid=henDD3au-SrIYM&tbnid=ML3rmb2ZGjl9hM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU..i&w=610&h=458&bih=938&biw=1920&q=16%20candles%20carolynn%20shower&ved=0ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU&iact=mrc&uact=8) potbelly, thunder thighs and bulging hips? :dubious: Huh. I’m sure I remember a shot where she looked really chunky. Anyway, as far as why there was female nudity of any kind, I think it was the reverse of what usually happened. Prior to 16C, movies aimed at teenagers tended to be either deadly damn serious, or gross and exploitative. Since 16C was clearly not a drama, someone must have insisted that it couldn’t be sold as a comedy without !!!boobies!!!1. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/65 "2019-12-12T19:40:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You mean [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fewedit.files.wordpress.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fshowers-16-candles_610.jpg%3Fw%3D610&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Few.com%2Fgallery%2Fshower-powerat-movies%2F&docid=henDD3au-SrIYM&tbnid=ML3rmb2ZGjl9hM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU..i&w=610&h=458&bih=938&biw=1920&q=16%20candles%20carolynn%20shower&ved=0ahUKEwjSwsi_47DmAhXtx1kKHdm-COEQMwiBASgVMBU&iact=mrc&uact=8) potbelly, thunder thighs and bulging hips? :dubious: Not that it usually matters to me since I visit a lot of sites at work, but I try to draw the line at nudity. How about a NSFW tag or something? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/66 "2019-12-12T19:45:34Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not that it usually matters to me since I visit a lot of sites at work, but I try to draw the line at nudity. How about a NSFW tag or something? Your work lets you look at thunder thighs? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/67 "2019-12-12T19:57:17Z")
_Topsy-Turvy_ about Gilbert and Sullivan writing _The Mikado_. For no reason, they have a scene with Sir Arthur cavorting in a brothel with a couple of half-naked French girls. For good measure, they tossed in an utterly gratuitous F-bomb - apparently for the sole purpose of getting the film an R rating. If they hadn’t, the film would have been rated G. I am otherwise in favor of naked women, but if they (and the pointless swear word) had not been included, the film could be shown in schools to introduce Gilbert and Sullivan to children. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/68 "2019-12-12T19:57:57Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Your work lets you look at thunder thighs? I’m in cybersecurity, and I know if someone is reviewing the proxy logs 🙂 It’s my own sense of “Nothing about nudity can be work related” feelings. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/69 "2019-12-12T20:08:07Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > It’s my own sense of “Nothing about nudity can be work related” feelings. I’m launching a new business to crowdsource breast cancer screenings. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/70 "2019-12-12T20:14:38Z")
gaffa: > [@](#): > > the film could be shown in schools to introduce Gilbert and Sullivan to children. Instead, the school children will just have to make do with information animal, vegetable and mineral. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/71 "2019-12-12T20:30:34Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not that it usually matters to me since I visit a lot of sites at work, but I try to draw the line at nudity. How about a NSFW tag or something? Oh, lordy, I’m sorry ☹ I guess because you can’t really see anything I forgot about the rule. Mods, please fix my link so it complies with the nekkid link rule. Apologies, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/72 "2019-12-12T20:36:43Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Oh, lordy, I’m sorry ☹ I guess because you can’t really see anything I forgot about the rule. Mods, please fix my link so it complies with the nekkid link rule. > Apologies, everyone. One thing nice about being self employed; no such thing as NSFW. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/73 "2019-12-12T20:37:39Z")
Rene Russo in The Thomas Crown Affair. I understand what they were going for, but it was hardly necessary for the plot. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/74 "2019-12-12T20:39:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Has to be Mathilda May’s legendary performance in [Lifeforce](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089489/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1). She’s playing an alien in human form and basically runs around nude throughout the whole film. There’s absolutely no need in the plot for her to be naked (though I don’t remember much of the plot, which was rather silly anyway, because I only think of a nude Mathilda when I think back of the movie). > [@Colibri](#): > > That’s the very first thing I thought of. I realize _Lifeforce_ is a bad movie—and I would know, because I’ve seen it twelve or thirteen times—but I have to step up and defend it here. The nudity in that film is justified by the plot. Mathilda May’s character survives by luring men to her and sucking the life energy out of them; being nude obviously helps her do that. She also has a line about how she took her form from Steve Railsback’s mind, so perhaps he imagined her that way. We also see the aliens in their true form in a couple of scenes, and they aren’t wearing clothes either. Maybe they’re from a planet where clothes never existed, and they don’t understand why humans have this weird hangup about nudity. Also, if you’ll forgive a small nitpick, she isn’t naked for the whole film; there are a couple of scenes (a [dream sequence](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mBAU3akVu-Q/VWgRW0lcNmI/AAAAAAAAJbg/UCMuvDDfyAk/s1600/15.jpg), and the [final scene in the cathedral](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lUtjTeLtk3c/WML_CbLDagI/AAAAAAAA2do/CJExLxdW-1g3EF1NPcC0MYo0t4jmKkAmACEw/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg)) where she’s wearing something, though not for long. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/75 "2019-12-12T20:47:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She actually wanted to be nakeder but the producers didn’t want to show public hair and had her shaved, then they thought that was even worse so they used a cover up device to give her a pubic area like Barbie’s. I am well aware of that fact. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/76 "2019-12-12T21:02:05Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Rene Russo in The Thomas Crown Affair. I understand what they were going for, but it was hardly necessary for the plot. That was the example I thought of, too. I think I watched the DVD with the director’s commentary on and he was talking about how the scene is a boring expositional conversation between Russo and Pierce Brosnan, and Russo is topless mainly as an audience distraction. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/77 "2019-12-12T21:03:03Z")
I would include anything in the category of “former wholesome teen star does nude scene to kickstart more serious film career”. Most notably, Katie Holmes in The Gift. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/78 "2019-12-12T23:07:02Z")
**[Moderating]** A reminder, all, that while NSFW links are allowed here, they must comply with the two-click rule: A user must have to click at least twice to see the non-safe content. The easiest way to do this is to put the link inside spoiler tags. I have modified one reported post to be in compliance; if any others need it, too, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/79 "2019-12-12T23:20:22Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > In the film _Airplane_, a topless woman comes out of nowhere and shakes her boobs at the camera. That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread, and it’s addressed in the OP. In the context of the movie’s silliness, it’s not gratuitous (and I first saw it in a theater!). My vote goes for that scene in “The Big Chill” where Glenn Close is crying in the shower, fully naked and everything exposed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743/80 "2019-12-12T23:22:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I can’t decide whether Julie Andrews’ boob flash in _S.O.B._ was gratuitous, non-gratuitous, or both at the same time. When MAD parodied it, one panel said, “If we showed Julie Andrews topless, the movie might bring in enough box office to break even” and someone else replies, “If it showed Dolly Parton topless, it would pay off the national debt!” 😃 I also nominate the closeup of John Malkovich’s penis in “The Sheltering Sky.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-gratuitous-piece-of-nudity-youve-ever-seen-in-a-movie/844743.md?page=5)