2: How sex is shown in the media
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Sleeping nude as shown in film and TV
Film and TV presents a very chaste view of the world almost every time they show a character in the bedroom.
In the film and TV world where:
- people always find an easy park (usually right in front of where they are going),
- you only need to turn on the TV to hear a highly relevant news story,
- if you arrange to meet someone you don't need to say what time to meet (but if you do say a time then one person will either be very late or not turn up), and
- you never go to the toilet (unless there is a plot reason),
There are two times that nudity in the bedroom (apart from sex scenes) might be shown: after sexual activity, including the morning after, and times when no sexual activity has or is going to happen.
Nudity without any sex before or after
Many single adults sleep in the nude, and many couples sleep in the nude. But you would not think this from what you see in film and TV. If there is a scene of someone going to bed, in bed, or getting out of bed, and there is no implication that any sexual activity has or will take place, then on film and TV bed-clothes are nearly always worn.
The reason why is very simple: Filming nudity is only done when necessary for the film. A nude scene is much more difficult and time consuming to shoot, so if the script says "he gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom", the director will always choose the easy option of having him wear some bed-clothes.
Also many actors would be unwilling to appear nude in a film unless it was necessary for the plot.
As many single adults and couples do wear bed-clothing, showing this on screen does not seem strange. Hence the easy option of not having the character shown sleeping in the nude is almost always shown.
Another reason that sleeping nude is not shown on screen is that there is a big difference in our thoughts and feelings between doing this ourselves and watching it.
If we walk into our own bedroom, take off all our clothes and get into bed naked, this can feel very normal.
But if we watch someone (other than our partner) doing this we are distracted by our reactions to seeing their nudity.
If we find the character sexually attractive, then there is a sexual component to our distraction. If the actor is well known we may even be taken out of the film by thinking of the nude person not as a character in the film, but as us seeing the actor naked.
Having the character wearing bed-clothes is an easy way of reducing or eliminating these distractions.
A few realistic art-house films do sometimes show a character naked in the bedroom as just a normal part of life. This gives the film a sense of being more real than other films, but everyone making the film knows that the audience will, in part, be reacting to seeing the nudity.
Keeping it easy to film, and not wanting to make a scene look sexy, can go one stage further than the characters always wearing clothing to bed. On TV and film some women even wear a bra to bed!
Sleeping nude may be a natural and normal part of many people's lives, but it is unlikely to ever become a normal thing to see on film or TV.
Nudity after sex
In film and TV the only time that we often see characters sleep in the nude is after they have had sex. Often the sex is not shown, and it is the after sex, or morning after, scene that tells the audience that sex took place.
Only rarely in these after sex scenes do we see some explicit nudity. Sometimes there is some chastely filmed nudity where it is clear the character is nude but we do not see much.
By far the most common is the viewer being given the impression that a character is nude by the way they cover themselves up.
Implying nudity by the actor covering themselves up means that no nudity is shown, and as the actor can wear something under what they are covering up, it is also much easier to film.
The covering up is so common in film and TV that it is now the `normal´ way for characters to behave on screen. This means that anyone not covering themselves up on screen is in a way making a statement that they are very uninhibited.
Apart from a few very modest people, and those whose real life behavior has been influenced by what they watch, in real life people do not act as if there is a camera crew in their bedroom.
For many people nudity in the bedroom is as normal and natural as nudity in the shower. Unfortunately this relaxed nudity is almost never seen on screen.
There are three common ways that nudity is covered up on screen: The L sheet, the majestic sheet pick-up, and wearing underpants in bed. (More)
Sleeping Nude within Devotional Sex
Sleeping nude feels great, especially if you are sleeping with a partner. Even just a cuddle turns into a sensual skin-on-skin cuddle. It also makes it much easier to enjoy some sexual activity.
Sleeping nude within Devotional Sex is discussed more in Chapter 11 here.
Conclusion
What we see on screen does effect what we think of as normal behavior.
That we almost never see people sleeping in the nude on screen makes us feel that this is far less common that it really is, and the covering up of nudity gives the impression that even nudity in bed (after sex) is something to be ashamed of.
Unfortunately, for the reasons given above, things on screen are unlikely to change.
So we need to be aware the film and TV are not realistic in the bedroom.
And once you are aware of how ridiculous it is to cover up in the bedroom, you can have fun seeing how the actors try to make this unrealistic behavior seem natural.
