Real sex, notes

[1] This is a story Southern was fond of telling. I have heard and read slightly different versions over the years. Here and elsewhere in this opening section I will stick to the version Southern told an interviewer for the on-line magazine Smoke Signals. See:
www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern.
[return to page 1 of essay]

[2] www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern.

[3] www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern

[4] “Sex on Screen: Porn or Art?” China Daily, October 11, 2006,
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
lifestyle/2006-10/11/content_705976.htm.

[5] The MPAA has strict rules about movie advertisements like one-sheets, newspaper ads and trailers. The Advertising Administration (supervised by the MPAA) offers the following description of their task: “The film industry wants to ensure that all advertising for rated films is appropriate for viewing by the general public. Therefore, all advertising for films rated by CARA must be submitted to the MPAA Advertising Administration prior to being released to the public. Advertising materials include, but are not limited to, all print ads, radio and TV spots, press kits, outdoor advertising such as billboards, Internet sites, video or DVD packaging, and trailers for both theatrical and home video releases. The Advertising Administration reviews these materials to determine their suitability for general audiences, and to make sure that the advertising is placed appropriately. After its review of submitted materials, the Advertising Administration reports within 24 hours to the submitting distribution company.

Every advertising item must display the film's rating, and may require several revisions before final approval. According to the Advertising Administration guidelines, advertising that is targeted for an audience attending a "G" or "PG" feature will not be approved if it includes scenes depicting violence, sensuality, offensive language, or other material that most parents would find unacceptable for their younger children to see or hear. Film companies do have the option, however, of creating advertising for a limited audience (not including younger children) for whom the material is appropriate, i.e., "restricted" trailers, which may be shown only before "R" and "NC-17" films, restricted-access internet sites, and television spots reserved for late-night audiences.”
http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Advertising.asp.

[6] When a film is produced independently and then picked up by a studio for distribution (at a festival, for example) it's called a negative pick-up (because the studio ostensibly buys the negative).

[7] For a detailed discussion of the MPAA and its unwritten policy on copyrights and venue-based censorship (including film alterations made by theater owners and various Christian conservative outfits see: Jon Lewis, “The Utah Version: Some Notes on the Relative Integrity of the Hollywood Product,” Film International, 4 (2003/4).

[8] Dave Karger, “Executioner’s Song," Entertainment Weekly, November 16, 2001, pp. 73-74.

[9] Berry received a $500,000 bonus for agreeing to go topless in the movie.

[10] A.O. Scott “Monster’s Ball” (film review), New York Times, December 26, 2001,
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&
res=9C07EED81531F935A15751C1A9679C8B63&oref=slogin;
and Rene Rodriguez, “Monster’s Ball is an eloquent love story,” Miami Herald, February 8, 2002,
http://ae.miami.com/entertainment/ui/
miami/movie.html?id=57561&reviewId=7666.

[11] Dargis’ cautionary remarks for the promising indie actress Chloe Sevigny proved unnecessary. Whatever audiences and more relevantly casting agents and indie film and cable television producers made of Brown Bunny, the film has not wrecked Sevigny’s career. Indeed, she has since 2003 landed a recurring role on the popular HBO series Big Love and appeared in several films including Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005) and David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). While some celebrities have benefited from the release of home made sex tapes — Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson have both maintained attention in the media absent actual work thanks to the internet traffic attending their real sex performances — Sevigny’s post-Brown Bunny success likely regards her talent and her unusual look. But it is fair to wonder in this age of easily accessed celebrity porn (via Mr. Skin and celebrity movie archive) just how much real sex might affect a celebrity’s career. [return to page 2]

[12] Erica Jong, Fear of Flying (NY: New American Library, 2003).

[13] Mailer as cited by Richard Falcon in his review of Intimacy: “Last Tango in Lewisham,” Sight and Sound, July 2001,
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/491.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Center of the World lead actress Molly Parker remarked that “If anything, I think [Wang] was interested in going much further than he did. But I didn’t think it was necessary.” Aug 24, 2001.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/
film/2001/aug/24/artsfeatures2>
Parker also objected to the way the film was marketed; she remarked that the lurid poster depicting a woman fellating a lollipop “makes no sense to me whatsoever.”

[14] One of those 45 screens was in Cincinnati where a theater owner contracted to screen The Center of the World decided he was uncomfortable with some of the footage so he cut it out of the film. When news got back to Artisan, they pulled the film from the theater — protecting their product far more ardently than a studio would have under the same circumstances. For a parallel story about a Utah theater owner making cuts to James Cameron’s Titanic see: Jon Lewis, “The Utah Version: Some Notes on the Relative Integrity of the Hollywood Product.”

[15] Between 3200 and 3500 screens was the 2001 industry standard for bigger studio releases. The early summer blockbuster Pearl Harbor opened on 3,214 screens; Tim Burton’s much-anticipated remake of The Planet of the Apes was released to 3,500 screens and Jurassic Park III had its opening weekend on 3,434 screens.

[16] Despite the notoriety, Baise Moi and Intimacy never played on more than 8 screens.

[17] J. Hoberman, “Arrested Development” Village Voice, April 26, 2000,
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/
0017,hoberman,14342,20.html

[18] BBFC People Archive, taken from a Guardian article by Brian Pendreigh,
http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arbphap.htm

[19] Both actresses have appeared in several hardcore titles. Launcame/Bach has appeared in such films/videos as Anal Power 3 (1999) and Anderson starred in Faust Fucker (Gabriel Pontello, 1995). Anderson became something of a celebrity after the 2003 documentary by Emmanuelle Schick Garcia, La Petite Morte. The film chronicles the story of Anderson’s rape by two men who recognized her from adult films. In Garcia’s film, Anderson recounts how the prosecutor and judge dismissed her account of the events: “You’re an actress in pornographic films, so you can’t complain.”

[20] Roger Ebert, The Devil in the Flesh (review), Chicago Sun Times, July 10, 1987,
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/19870710/REVIEWS/707100302/1023

[21] AC Grayling, “Close Encounters of the Rude Kind,” The Guardian, May 17, 2001,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/may/17/gender.uk1.
Preceding and accompanying the film’s first run in England, The Guardian ran a total of eight reviews and feature articles — unusually full coverage for an art house title.

[22] Alexander Linklater, “Dangerous Liaisons,” The Guardian, June 22, 2001,
http”//film.guardian.co.uk/features/
featurepages/0,4120,511246,00.html.

[23] Linklater, “Dangerous Liaisons.”

[24] Chris Darke, “Truly, Madly, Explicitly,” The Guardian,
July 1, 2001, http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/
interviewpages/0,,515108,00.html.

[25.] A handful of recent exceptions, all with the same intended effect as the “hand job” scene in Intimacy are worth noting here, for example: Sex and Lucia (released in an edited version theatrically and uncut on DVD) and the opening episode of the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me.

[26] Linda Williams, “Cinema and the Sex Act,” Cineaste, Winter 2001, p. 21. This intimate shot (of a woman stroking a man’s penis) occurs in a number of other explicit films of late, including Lucia y el sexo and Lie with Me (Clement Virgo, 2005).

[27] Williams, “Cinema and the Sex Act,” p. 22.

[28] Jang Sun Woo quoted by J. Hoberman,”Imps of the Perverse,” Village Voice, November 15-21, 2000,
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0046,hoberman,19791,20.html.
[return to page 3 ]

[29] Michael Rechtshaffen, “Ken Park” (film review), Hollywood Reporter, September 27, 2002,
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1723291.

[30] Manohla Dargis, “The Brown Bunny: The Narcissist and His Lover,” August 27, 2004,
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?
res=9B07E1D6133EF934A1575BC0A9629C8B63.
Dargis’ cautionary remarks for the promising indie actress Chloe Sevigny proved unwarranted. Whatever audiences and more relevantly casting agents and indie film and cable television producers made of The Brown Bunny, the film has not wrecked Sevigny’s career. Indeed, she has since 2003 landed a recurring role on the popular HBO series Big Love and appeared in several popular films including Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005) and David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). Kerry Fox, the star of Intimacy, and Margot Stiley, the star of Nine Songs, have continued to land roles. For these three actresses at least, performing real sex in a real sex feature has not adversely affected their careers and has not resulted in any sort of typecasting.

[31] Roger Ebert, “The Brown Bunny “ (film review), Chicago Sun Times, September 3, 2004,
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20040903/REVIEWS/409020301/1023.

[32] Of the films discussed here, Shortbus is the only one with any gay male scenes. A number of recent features have male masturbation scenes, some to on screen climax like Joe Swanberg’s Kissing on the Mouth (2005). No doubt there are real sex films featuring gay men, but these receive significantly less exposure than the heterosexual films discussed in this essay and are screened at select art-houses.

[33] David Ansen, “Shortbus”(film review), Newsweek, October 5, 2006,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15146189/site/newsweek/.
Linda Williams, in her review of the film for Cineaste (Spring 2007) also dubbed Shortbus a “quintessentially American sex film.”

[34] Manohla Dargis, “Naughty and Nice in a Carnal Carnival,” New York Times,
October 4, 2006,
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/movies/04shor.html.

[35] Manohla Dargis, “Naughty and Nice in a Carnal Carnival,” New York Times,
October 4, 2006,
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/movies/04shor.html.

*JUMP CUT* A REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA

	Notes [1] This is a story Southern was fond of telling. I have heard and read slightly different versions over the years. Here and elsewhere in this opening section I will stick to the version Southern told an interviewer for the on-line magazine Smoke Signals. See: www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern. [return to page 1 of essay] [2] www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern. [3] www.carminestreet.com/smoke_signals.html#terrysouthern [4] “Sex on Screen: Porn or Art?” China Daily, October 11, 2006, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ lifestyle/2006-10/11/content_705976.htm. [5] The MPAA has strict rules about movie advertisements like one-sheets, newspaper ads and trailers. The Advertising Administration (supervised by the MPAA) offers the following description of their task: “The film industry wants to ensure that all advertising for rated films is appropriate for viewing by the general public. Therefore, all advertising for films rated by CARA must be submitted to the MPAA Advertising Administration prior to being released to the public. Advertising materials include, but are not limited to, all print ads, radio and TV spots, press kits, outdoor advertising such as billboards, Internet sites, video or DVD packaging, and trailers for both theatrical and home video releases. The Advertising Administration reviews these materials to determine their suitability for general audiences, and to make sure that the advertising is placed appropriately. After its review of submitted materials, the Advertising Administration reports within 24 hours to the submitting distribution company. Every advertising item must display the film's rating, and may require several revisions before final approval. According to the Advertising Administration guidelines, advertising that is targeted for an audience attending a "G" or "PG" feature will not be approved if it includes scenes depicting violence, sensuality, offensive language, or other material that most parents would find unacceptable for their younger children to see or hear. Film companies do have the option, however, of creating advertising for a limited audience (not including younger children) for whom the material is appropriate, i.e., "restricted" trailers, which may be shown only before "R" and "NC-17" films, restricted-access internet sites, and television spots reserved for late-night audiences.” http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Advertising.asp. [6] When a film is produced independently and then picked up by a studio for distribution (at a festival, for example) it's called a negative pick-up (because the studio ostensibly buys the negative). [7] For a detailed discussion of the MPAA and its unwritten policy on copyrights and venue-based censorship (including film alterations made by theater owners and various Christian conservative outfits see: Jon Lewis, “The Utah Version: Some Notes on the Relative Integrity of the Hollywood Product,” Film International, 4 (2003/4). [8] Dave Karger, “Executioner’s Song," Entertainment Weekly, November 16, 2001, pp. 73-74. [9] Berry received a $500,000 bonus for agreeing to go topless in the movie. [10] A.O. Scott “Monster’s Ball” (film review), New York Times, December 26, 2001, http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1& res=9C07EED81531F935A15751C1A9679C8B63&oref=slogin; and Rene Rodriguez, “Monster’s Ball is an eloquent love story,” Miami Herald, February 8, 2002, http://ae.miami.com/entertainment/ui/ miami/movie.html?id=57561&reviewId=7666. [11] Dargis’ cautionary remarks for the promising indie actress Chloe Sevigny proved unnecessary. Whatever audiences and more relevantly casting agents and indie film and cable television producers made of Brown Bunny, the film has not wrecked Sevigny’s career. Indeed, she has since 2003 landed a recurring role on the popular HBO series Big Love and appeared in several films including Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005) and David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). While some celebrities have benefited from the release of home made sex tapes — Paris Hilton and Pamela Anderson have both maintained attention in the media absent actual work thanks to the internet traffic attending their real sex performances — Sevigny’s post-Brown Bunny success likely regards her talent and her unusual look. But it is fair to wonder in this age of easily accessed celebrity porn (via Mr. Skin and celebrity movie archive) just how much real sex might affect a celebrity’s career. [return to page 2] [12] Erica Jong, Fear of Flying (NY: New American Library, 2003). [13] Mailer as cited by Richard Falcon in his review of Intimacy: “Last Tango in Lewisham,” Sight and Sound, July 2001, http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/491. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Center of the World lead actress Molly Parker remarked that “If anything, I think [Wang] was interested in going much further than he did. But I didn’t think it was necessary.” Aug 24, 2001. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/ film/2001/aug/24/artsfeatures2> Parker also objected to the way the film was marketed; she remarked that the lurid poster depicting a woman fellating a lollipop “makes no sense to me whatsoever.” [14] One of those 45 screens was in Cincinnati where a theater owner contracted to screen The Center of the World decided he was uncomfortable with some of the footage so he cut it out of the film. When news got back to Artisan, they pulled the film from the theater — protecting their product far more ardently than a studio would have under the same circumstances. For a parallel story about a Utah theater owner making cuts to James Cameron’s Titanic see: Jon Lewis, “The Utah Version: Some Notes on the Relative Integrity of the Hollywood Product.” [15] Between 3200 and 3500 screens was the 2001 industry standard for bigger studio releases. The early summer blockbuster Pearl Harbor opened on 3,214 screens; Tim Burton’s much-anticipated remake of The Planet of the Apes was released to 3,500 screens and Jurassic Park III had its opening weekend on 3,434 screens. [16] Despite the notoriety, Baise Moi and Intimacy never played on more than 8 screens. [17] J. Hoberman, “Arrested Development” Village Voice, April 26, 2000, http://www.villagevoice.com/film/ 0017,hoberman,14342,20.html [18] BBFC People Archive, taken from a Guardian article by Brian Pendreigh, http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arbphap.htm [19] Both actresses have appeared in several hardcore titles. Launcame/Bach has appeared in such films/videos as Anal Power 3 (1999) and Anderson starred in Faust Fucker (Gabriel Pontello, 1995). Anderson became something of a celebrity after the 2003 documentary by Emmanuelle Schick Garcia, La Petite Morte. The film chronicles the story of Anderson’s rape by two men who recognized her from adult films. In Garcia’s film, Anderson recounts how the prosecutor and judge dismissed her account of the events: “You’re an actress in pornographic films, so you can’t complain.” [20] Roger Ebert, The Devil in the Flesh (review), Chicago Sun Times, July 10, 1987, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/19870710/REVIEWS/707100302/1023 [21] AC Grayling, “Close Encounters of the Rude Kind,” The Guardian, May 17, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/may/17/gender.uk1. Preceding and accompanying the film’s first run in England, The Guardian ran a total of eight reviews and feature articles — unusually full coverage for an art house title. [22] Alexander Linklater, “Dangerous Liaisons,” The Guardian, June 22, 2001, http”//film.guardian.co.uk/features/ featurepages/0,4120,511246,00.html. [23] Linklater, “Dangerous Liaisons.” [24] Chris Darke, “Truly, Madly, Explicitly,” The Guardian, July 1, 2001, http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/ interviewpages/0,,515108,00.html. [25.] A handful of recent exceptions, all with the same intended effect as the “hand job” scene in Intimacy are worth noting here, for example: Sex and Lucia (released in an edited version theatrically and uncut on DVD) and the opening episode of the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me. [26] Linda Williams, “Cinema and the Sex Act,” Cineaste, Winter 2001, p. 21. This intimate shot (of a woman stroking a man’s penis) occurs in a number of other explicit films of late, including Lucia y el sexo and Lie with Me (Clement Virgo, 2005). [27] Williams, “Cinema and the Sex Act,” p. 22. [28] Jang Sun Woo quoted by J. Hoberman,”Imps of the Perverse,” Village Voice, November 15-21, 2000, http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0046,hoberman,19791,20.html. [return to page 3 ] [29] Michael Rechtshaffen, “Ken Park” (film review), Hollywood Reporter, September 27, 2002, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/ article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1723291. [30] Manohla Dargis, “The Brown Bunny: The Narcissist and His Lover,” August 27, 2004, http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review? res=9B07E1D6133EF934A1575BC0A9629C8B63. Dargis’ cautionary remarks for the promising indie actress Chloe Sevigny proved unwarranted. Whatever audiences and more relevantly casting agents and indie film and cable television producers made of The Brown Bunny, the film has not wrecked Sevigny’s career. Indeed, she has since 2003 landed a recurring role on the popular HBO series Big Love and appeared in several popular films including Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005) and David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). Kerry Fox, the star of Intimacy, and Margot Stiley, the star of Nine Songs, have continued to land roles. For these three actresses at least, performing real sex in a real sex feature has not adversely affected their careers and has not resulted in any sort of typecasting. [31] Roger Ebert, “The Brown Bunny “ (film review), Chicago Sun Times, September 3, 2004, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/20040903/REVIEWS/409020301/1023. [32] Of the films discussed here, Shortbus is the only one with any gay male scenes. A number of recent features have male masturbation scenes, some to on screen climax like Joe Swanberg’s Kissing on the Mouth (2005). No doubt there are real sex films featuring gay men, but these receive significantly less exposure than the heterosexual films discussed in this essay and are screened at select art-houses. [33] David Ansen, “Shortbus”(film review), Newsweek, October 5, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15146189/site/newsweek/. Linda Williams, in her review of the film for Cineaste (Spring 2007) also dubbed Shortbus a “quintessentially American sex film.” [34] Manohla Dargis, “Naughty and Nice in a Carnal Carnival,” New York Times, October 4, 2006, http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/movies/04shor.html. [35] Manohla Dargis, “Naughty and Nice in a Carnal Carnival,” New York Times, October 4, 2006, http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/movies/04shor.html. To topPrint versionJC 51 Jump Cut home This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

JUMP CUT A REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA

JUMP CUT
A REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA