# Will they have the guts to film "Princess of Mars" all-nude, as Burroughs intended? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604 "2006-05-21T03:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/21 "2006-05-21T16:55:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, the books do say that men wear belts and harnesses on which to hang tools and weapons, and women wear various forms of ornamentation. It wouldn’t be too much of a departure to add a loincloth or jock strap to a weapon belt, and I’ve seen many artist’s conceptions of Barsoomian women that include some sort of filigreed wire jewelry over the breasts which just barely covers the nipples. If they go with something like that, I think it’d be tolerably acceptable to both the censors and the fans… That seems likely. The Green Martians will be nude. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/22 "2006-05-21T18:44:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > . . . and I’ve seen many artist’s conceptions of Barsoomian women that include some sort of filigreed wire jewelry over the breasts which just barely covers the nipples. That’s another thing . . . John Carter says emphatically that there is only one “mammal” on Mars and it is very rare. IOW, the red Barsoomians are not mammals. Even after the egg hatches, the young, presumably, do not feed at the mother’s breast. Yet red Martian women **have** breasts. At least, their absence is never mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/23 "2006-05-21T20:09:43Z")
In “Quest for Fire”, Rae Dawn Chong has a farily major part in which she plays a Cro Magnon woman who wears nothing more than some body paint. So, it’s kinda been done before, but the filmaker was French (and we know all about them 🙂 ). ---
**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:** [May 21, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/24 "2006-05-21T20:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > That seems likely. The Green Martians will be nude. Probably. They’ll be CG anyway, so there’ll be no difficulty in omitting visible genetalia, and they’re un-human enough that the lack won’t be jarring. And I suspect that Martian females have breasts for the same reason that human females have breasts: Because they look nice. Most of that tissue is completely irrelevant for milk production. It is, of course, remarkable that Martians have exactly the same set of secondary sexual characteristics as humans, but that sort of comes with the territory. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/25 "2006-05-21T20:20:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That’s another thing . . . John Carter says emphatically that there is only one “mammal” on Mars and it is very rare. IOW, the red Barsoomians are not mammals. Even after the egg hatches, the young, presumably, do not feed at the mother’s breast. Yet red Martian women **have** breasts. At least, their absence is never mentioned. Did people think of themselves as “mammals” at the time ERB was writing? I mean in general as opposed to the scientific community. And of course it’s not like Barsoomian non-mammals can’t nurse their young… > [@John Mace](#): > > In “Quest for Fire”, Rae Dawn Chong has a farily major part in which she plays a Cro Magnon woman who wears nothing more than some body paint. Ah, Quest for Fire, the first movie that bored me so badly that I fell asleep in the theatre. A mark unmatched until Dracula: Dead and Loving It. RDC wasn’t a known star when she made that movie and it’s doubtful that she was being expected to carry it, the way, say, The Rock would if he were cast as John Carter. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/26 "2006-05-21T20:40:10Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Ah, Quest for Fire, the first movie that bored me so badly that I fell asleep in the theatre. A mark unmatched until Dracula: Dead and Loving It. RDC wasn’t a known star when she made that movie and it’s doubtful that she was being expected to carry it, the way, say, The Rock would if he were cast as John Carter. I actually like it, but then I’m a nerd about human evolution and will watch some pretty trashy stuff on that subject. But you’re right about RDC-- she wasn’t the star of this movie, or “a star” either, for that matter. If The Rock gets cast as John Carter, there’s going to be some not-so-polite whispering about what must’ve gone on in the Carter ancestral Virginian plantation… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/27 "2006-05-21T21:14:13Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > If The Rock gets cast as John Carter, there’s going to be some not-so-polite whispering about what must’ve gone on in the Carter ancestral Virginian plantation… 😃 He certainly doesn’t match Burroughs’ description of Carter (gray eyes). OTOH, Carter’s “ancestry” is mysterious. He seems to have lived for centuries without aging. He cannot remember ever having been a child. Yet he has people in Virginia he regards as “relatives.” Perhaps that mystery is resolved in later Barsoom books. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/28 "2006-05-21T21:50:43Z")
Not as I recall. I’ve read them all, but it was years ago. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/29 "2006-05-21T22:04:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That’s another thing . . . John Carter says emphatically that there is only one “mammal” on Mars and it is very rare. IOW, the red Barsoomians are not mammals. Even after the egg hatches, the young, presumably, do not feed at the mother’s breast. Yet red Martian women **have** breasts. At least, their absence is never mentioned. Maybe they’re marsupials? ---
**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:** [May 21, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/30 "2006-05-21T22:06:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Perhaps that mystery is resolved in later Barsoom books. It’s not. My personal hypothesis is that John Carter isn’t _of_ Mars, he _is_ Mars. As in, the Greco-Roman deity. There’s still the question of why he doesn’t remember this, but it explains the lifespan, the incredible prowess with any form of combat, the telepathy, and the ability to cross interstellar space at will. Note that in a later book, another Earthman manages to cross over as well, after saying a silent prayer to the god Mars, but Carter does not invoke such a prayer. The color of his eyes, though, is about the least significant of Carter’s traits. I think that as long as he’s a big, muscley hunk, details like his eyes are secondary. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/31 "2006-05-21T22:09:30Z")
Besides, if they want to be accurate, he’ll wear contacts. Forget Carter…who will play Deja Thoris?!? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/32 "2006-05-21T22:19:58Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Maybe they’re marsupials? Or monotremes? Nah, monotreme mothers lay eggs, but they feed their young by oozing milk from their bellies . . . ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/33 "2006-05-21T22:35:02Z")
Deja Thoris is \*\*not \*\* a platypus!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/34 "2006-05-21T22:46:28Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Nude? NUDE? We’ll be damn lucky if the outfits are even SKIMPY! Ah yes. Hollywood. Where [this](http://www.moviebadgirls.com/capimage/Aeon_Flux_10.JPG) must necessarily be translated into [this](http://ffmedia.ign.com/filmforce/image/article/655/655512/aeon-flux-20051003051146064.jpg). What, no veil? ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/35 "2006-05-21T22:59:15Z")
I do not know this story at all. Is it the nudity crucial for the story ? In Heinlein’s Puppet masters the protagonists have to walk around naked as it is the only way they can prove they are not controlled by alien slugs. In the movie they just took shirts off, and the women still wore bras. That was just one stupid thing about the movie version of the book. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/36 "2006-05-22T00:41:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the incredible prowess with any form of combat, I always put that down to being an officer in the cavalry of the C.S.A. 🙂 The travel to Mars I believe to be a literary device of some sort. The egg laying thing has already been mentioned. As someone previously posted, “we ain’t talking hard core sci fi here.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/37 "2006-05-22T01:04:00Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Ah yes. Hollywood. Where [this](http://www.moviebadgirls.com/capimage/Aeon_Flux_10.JPG) must necessarily be translated into [this](http://ffmedia.ign.com/filmforce/image/article/655/655512/aeon-flux-20051003051146064.jpg). > > What, no veil? Point well made. I’ve noticed lately that belly dancers in movies who used to wear a bikini with veils are now dressed in outfits that cover them from thoat to ankles. Things are getting kinda censorious nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/38 "2006-05-22T03:04:38Z")
All will be revealed in due time. **JCoM** ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/39 "2006-05-22T04:37:09Z")
Ever seen [Prospero’s Books](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102722/), which got an R rating? Whole lotta naked spirits running around in that one. I mean, almost _everybody_ is butt naked, to the point you forget about it after fifteen minutes (instead you’ll be struggling to figure out what the Hell is going on, even if you’ve read The Tempest many times). Not likely, but it could happen if the nekkidness is tasteful, I suppose. Then agian, Shakespeare maybe got a ratings pass that Burroughs perhaps wouldn’t. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604/40 "2006-05-22T06:56:25Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > All will be revealed in due time. > **JCoM** So, John, how’s it hanging? 😃 Burrough’s heroes are not fond of clothes. Tarzan hated them. But I’m not too hopeful that they’re going to be even remotely faithful. Burroughs was also not too fond of religion - bet you that point won’t be in the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-they-have-the-guts-to-film-princess-of-mars-all-nude-as-burroughs-intended/357604.md?page=3)