# Why don't they clean up after sex in the movies?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 2, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603 "2015-02-02T14:15:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/21 "2015-02-02T18:19:15Z")
In season 1 of House of Cards, the congressman and his staffer used tissues to clean up after sex.
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### Author:  [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/22 "2015-02-02T19:09:42Z")
People also don’t stop to pay cabs or take a second to end a phone conversation by saying good bye.
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### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/23 "2015-02-02T19:17:32Z")
In the Japanese movie,\* A Taxing Woman\* (which probably has a different title in Japanese, less cute – it is about government officials trying to track down taxation scofflaws), after sex, a woman walks away from bed, first stuffing some Kleenex between her thighs, and you see her bare ass naked from behind, with a bit of white tissue paper held there. I suppose that’s kinda real, but really, its just to comply with typical Japanese media standards: any topic goes, but don’t show pubes.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/24 "2015-02-02T19:26:18Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> It’s tricky cleaning up afterwards when you still have your underwear on. I’ve seen multiple instances of scenes that begin just as the couple is finishing, they fling themselves apart exhaustedly, converse for a few minutes and then they’ll hop out of bed, underwear in place.
>
> :dubious:
Everyone knows L shaped bed sheets are impossible to clean properly.
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> There might have been similar scenes in _Deadwood_, too, but they went out of their way to be raw, especially about the whores.
**Spartacus** (the Starz series, not the move) had a scene during a brothel raid that briefly showed a male prostitute (who looked about 14) with cum all over this face.
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### Author:  [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/25 "2015-02-02T19:57:02Z")
> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> In season 1 of House of Cards, the congressman and his staffer used tissues to clean up after sex.
I was going to mention that one because I think it was the only time I saw that realistic moment in anything. I thought it was amusing though, she grabbed a couple kleenex for herself and handed him one. He took it, looked at it and sort of tossed it aside as she reached below the sheet with hers.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/26 "2015-02-02T20:07:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> As Hitchcock said, “Because it would be dull.”…
Heh. Hitchcock also said, “My characters never call the police because that would be no fun.”
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/27 "2015-02-02T20:22:20Z")
Sure it’s not a plot point and it’s dull but sometimes it’s omission makes you think worse things.
I can think of two shows, both by Shonda Rimes, where a couple have an illicit tryst somewhere “dangerous” leaving the woman’s panties behind. All I can think is how she must have had uh … stuff running down her legs afterward without even panties to help contain it.
A UK show, Misfits, actually addressed something like this once but that show was a bit crude and I doubt they’ve ever show that in the US.
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/28 "2015-02-02T20:31:19Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#):
>
> People also don’t stop to pay cabs or take a second to end a phone conversation by saying good bye.
Hell, people will meet someone in a bar for a conversation, take 2 sips of their 8 dollar beer or wine, then leave.
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### Author:  [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/29 "2015-02-02T20:35:28Z")
I remember reading a novel for a 20th-century literature class that included a scene where one of the female characters waxed on about enjoying feeling her lover’s fluids leaking from her, post-coitus.
It’s the only thing I can actually remember from the novel, because it a) seemed wildly explicit and b) seemed to imply a…volume quite unlike my own experiences at that time. I don’t believe it was Updike or Roth, but could be wrong.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/30 "2015-02-02T20:54:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> There’s a scene in _Mad Men_ in which a hippie chick is seen cleaning up after boinking one of the main characters in his office. (I think she may have used his handkerchief, though.)
“Keep it.”
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/31 "2015-02-02T21:25:26Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> See, back in the older films after a couple had intercourse then they would pause the film and they’d clean up, that’s what they called the intermission. Usually it lasted for about four minutes or so, so it was definately happening but you’re right, they never showed the mission itself, usually just a still of some girl sitting on a flowery hillside looking wistful while pleasant music played in the background.
What episode of ST-TOS was it when the Enterprise was taken over by those beings that could move too fast to see?
Kirk took the girl to bed, or at least they were seen entering his rooms. Break for commercial, and he’s pulling on his boots, and she’s brushing her hair straight.
It’s the same episode where Scotty gets out the last bottle of his booze, and when asked what it is he says “It’s…it’s green.”
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### Author:  [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/32 "2015-02-02T22:39:26Z")
I don’t know about y’all but I definitely need to find a sink and wipe off my genitals with some water after intercourse.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/33 "2015-02-02T22:48:42Z")
Do medical dramas show doctors scrubbing their hands for a full 5 minutes before an operation?
Of course not, because it’s BORING, and adds nothing to the story.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/34 "2015-02-02T22:52:09Z")
> [@Stringbean](#):
>
> I don’t know about y’all but I definitely need to find a sink and wipe off my genitals with some water after intercourse.
I just roll over and go to sleep.
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### Author:  [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/35 "2015-02-02T22:54:04Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> Do medical dramas show doctors scrubbing their hands for a full 5 minutes before an operation?
[A Day at the Races](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql0oVWpcTDc&t=1m00s) came close…
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/36 "2015-02-03T00:28:09Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> What episode of ST-TOS was it when the Enterprise was taken over by those beings that could move too fast to see?
>
> Kirk took the girl to bed, or at least they were seen entering his rooms. Break for commercial, and he’s pulling on his boots, and she’s brushing her hair straight.
>
> It’s the same episode where Scotty gets out the last bottle of his booze, and when asked what it is he says “It’s…it’s green.”
Different episodes. The super-speed people were in “Wink of an Eye.” Scotty drinking the alien under the table was in “By Any Other Name.” That was the episode where the aliens from another galaxy took human forms and hijacked the Enterprise to take them back.
What may have confused you was in both episodes, Kirk bangs or attempts to bang the incredibly hot female alien for the sole (or at least stated) purpose of making the main male alien jealous.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/37 "2015-02-03T00:55:43Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> Different episodes. The super-speed people were in “Wink of an Eye.” Scotty drinking the alien under the table was in “By Any Other Name.” That was the episode where the aliens from another galaxy took human forms and hijacked the Enterprise to take them back.
>
> What may have confused you was in both episodes, Kirk bangs or attempts to bang the incredibly hot female alien for the sole (or at least stated) purpose of making the main male alien jealous.
You are right!:smack:
I also thought the “green” reply was funnier.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/38 "2015-02-03T01:03:20Z")
Can’t be because of any bodily fluids mentioning ban. Did you people not see “There’s something about Mary”?
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/39 "2015-02-03T01:11:21Z")
There’s a scene in _The Lover_ where 15-year-old\* Jane March wipes her genitals with her hand after her first sexual experience: “what’s this?!!?”. There’s also a washing scene later if I recall.
\*the character is 15; the actress Jane March turned 18 just before filming started
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-they-clean-up-after-sex-in-the-movies/711603/40 "2015-02-03T03:38:40Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> I just roll over and go to sleep.
Thus putting the “crust” into **Procrustus**.
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