Sexual and romantic encounters are so widespread across different forms of media that its absence would be noticed. Not only do sexual and romantic references exist in explicit sex scenes, but in the form of sexual innuendos that are sometimes seen in programming for younger viewers. With the heavy presence of sexual and romantic references or situations in the media, it came without difficulty to select three different types of romantic and erotic encounters in movies. I examined sexual and erotic encounters in the following movies, which all are from a different genre. The Notebook, Knocked Up, and The Last House on the Left each contained strong examples of sexual/erotic encounters that displayed a heavy sexual emphasis in specific ways that reflected on the genre that the film is classified. The Notebook (2004) is a love story between two young adults in South Carolina. This film placed a heavy emphasis on relationship and romance, as it is a love story. The main characters, Noah and Allie, for the most part portrayed gender characteristics that coincided with the setting of the movie. While their relationship lasted, Allie was outgoing and outspoken and Noah, on the other hand, was quiet and allowed her to take the lead. Their relationship reached its turning point when Noah goes off to war, thus altering the way the two interact in the rest of the film. The explicit sex scenes featured in the film were of loving and intimate nature, which highlighted the film’s
Each video was watched twice, to ensure that no characteristics were missed. Videos were analyzed through the use of sexual characteristics and non-sexual characteristics tally sheets. When a specific characteristic was present it would only be marked down once per video. Because the focus of this research was on sexualization of women, only females were identified and coded.
The main characters in The Notebook include: Allie, Noah, Allie's parents, and Noah’s father. Allie is a young city girl, who comes from a wealthy family, who spend their summer vacation in Seabrook, where Noah is from. Noah is a young country boy, who comes from a poor family. Noah and Allie meet through mutual friends, and end up
The magazine article describes the stark contrast in the portrayal of female sexuality between pre-Code and post-Code movies. Pre-Code movies are flagrantly sexual; although some contemporary film critics believe that women were simply embracing their sexual freedom through these pre-code films, the marketing for many of these brazenly sexual films often included derisive comments from males, suggesting that the intent of overt sexuality in films was more crude. Post-code films often used screenwriting strategies to stay within bounds of the Code. Denby argues that this censorship actually created a net benefit for women, who were given stronger personalities and more interesting plot lines instead of simply being sexual objects. The article suggests that censorship led to the inception of the screwball comedy genre, which was forced to “create sex without sex.”
The different descriptions and dialogues of Allie and Noah are what bring the change into their relationship. In the novel, Noah is described as a quiet and shy poet. “Although he was quiet, years of heavy lifting at the lumberyard helped him excel in sports, … An occasional person found him arrogant; most simply figured he had grown up a bit faster than everyone else.” (Sparks 24) Whereas in the film, Noah is very outgoing and confident. He does not stop until he gets what he wants. This is evident when Noah climbs on the ferris wheel and hangs from the bars at the carnival where he asks Allie to go out with him. She refuses and he blackmails her by making her think that he will fall down from such a height. Allie becomes frightened and agrees to go out with him, little did she know that this was his plan all along. The change in Noah’s description changes his personality and the way the audience views him as an individual character. Allie and Noah’s tone of dialogues are also changed to make them seem more modern. In the book, Allie agrees to spend time with Noah without any objection. “…the four of them stayed at the festival until the crowds were thin and everything closed up for the night. They met the following day, and the day after that, and they soon became inseparable.” (Sparks 13) This circumstance would not exist in today’s society as females have their personal preferences. This is seen in the movie when Allie plays ‘hard to get’ and rejects Noah several times when he reminds her of the date. “‘What are you doing tonight?’ … ‘Why?’ ‘Why? Our date.’ ‘What date?’ ‘The date that you agreed to.’ ‘No!’ ‘Yes, you did. You promised, and you swore it.’ ‘Well, I guess I changed my mind.’ … ‘Come on, one date. What's it gonna hurt?’ ‘Umm..I don't think so.’” (Cassavetes) Noah is also very understanding with Allie’s decision to leave him
* The main focus of many teen dramas is sex, with each episode containing countless verbal and visual references to sexual activity. These highly sexualized portrayals of relationships bear little resemblance to the real lives of teens—and are generally not balanced by clear messages about safe and healthy attitudes towards sex.
Sex and relationships are recurring themes throughout the genre and are essential elements teen narrative. Their portrayal ranges from comic interactions to serious exchanges and emotional liberation from restrictive forces. Timothy Shary explains the significance of these two thematic threads: “Romantic longing and sexual curiosity take on heightened intensity and profundity for youth in the adolescent years struggle to recognise and cope with the emotional and psychological changes”(2002). The character’s experience with sex are usually comedic and linked to sexual discovery and loss of virginity, which are continually present topics in the narrative. It is is often a determinant that shapes teen identity, as well as providing a commentary on societal questions regarding a desire of intimacy. The sexual exploits between the teen male and female investigates teen behavior and the conceptualization of feelings and emotions in their discovery of identity.
The beautiful silent film released in 1927, ‘Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans,’ is directed by the famous German director, F.W. Murnau, and is starred by George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor who take the main characters as the Man and the Wife respectively. It is a story of married couples that have conflicts over the husband’s immoral actions, but however, they become reconciled through their journey in the City. Apart from love, another underlying theme of this film is the experience of human with modernity. Similar to ‘Sunrise,’ ‘The Notebook,’ the all-time famous love novel written by Nicholas Sparks, is adapted into a film by Nick Cassavetes, and is starred by Hollywood popular actress and actor, Rachael McAdams and Ryan Gosling
In the movie The Notebook first released in 2004 that features actor Ryan Gosling and actress Rachel McAdams; Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB) best describes the plot by saying, “A poor yet passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman, giving her a sense of freedom, but they are soon separated because of their social differences” (IMBd). At the start of the movie, an elderly man begins to read a love story from his notebook to a female patient. The love story takes place in 1940. He tells the story how Allie and Noah fall in love over a summer. Then, her parents disapprove of her seeing Noah. The two get into an argument and then decide to break up. The next day Allie is forced to go without saying goodbye to him, she later starts school in New York. Although Noah seemed fine when he left that night, he was devastated and ends up writing Allie a letter each day for a year. She never received the letters because of her mother. Noah ends up going to battle in WWII and Allie becomes a nurse for wounded soldiers. She ends up meets a more wealthy young man who later she becomes engaged to. Later, Allie reads in a
Sexuality and sex in America is a complicated subject in that there is little consensus on the topic of sex in, and the American media sends many mixed messages regarding sex and sexuality to everyone, not just to adolescents. Americans are aware of sex primarily through advertising (print media, commercials, etc.) as sex is used to sell anything and everything. The media also bombards Americans with sexuality and sex on television and in films. The sexuality of teenagers is not a straightforward issue in America either. Many parents do not discuss sex or sexuality with their children. There have been ongoing debates as to whether sexuality should be taught as part of school curricula because there are such a great deal of adolescents participating in reckless and/or dangerous sexual behaviors, largely because they are grossly uneducated about sex. The paper will reference the film Juno and other texts as a meditation on the relationship between adolescent sexuality and the media.
With reference to relevant cultural theories analyse the representation of sexuality in a film/television text of your choice.
The Notebook is a phenomenal film with incredible performances and many heartfelt moments from beginning to end. It is a love story that many of us fantasize of living someday. The story unfolds in recent times at a Nursing home with the introduction of an elderly lady (Gena Rowlands) who is being visited by an old man, known as Duke (James Garner), who also resides in the nursing home, and he's there to read her a story. He begins to read about a young girl named Allie (Rachel McAdams) who was visiting a cousin one summer in the late 1940s. Allie was a beautiful teenage girl who eventually caught the eye of Noah (Ryan Gosling), her cousin's boyfriend's best friend. Initially, she showed no interest in Noah, considering the fact
The adult-entertainment industry erupted in the late twentieth century and has expanded recently due to improved technology. Millions of men and women alike watch these films and arrive to the conception that what is portrayed on the screen is how a relationship should be. In a recent article in the New York Times, it was reported that 80% of men and 50% of women feel that their sex life is lacking due to pornography, and 40% of the people within the same poll have broken up with their spouse or partner due to the “lack” of love life. Clearly, the adult entertainment gives both genders a false conception of how a relationship and sex life should be. Pornography portrays sex as overly exciting and thrilling, which can lead to dissatisfaction with one’s partner. Such a situation can cause a rift between couples that can result in divorce and break-ups, which leads to fewer
The film "The Notebook" is a 2004 romantic drama set along the coast line of South Carolina in 1946, directed by Nick Cassavetes. This film is an American love story between two young adults, Ally and Noah, which had fallen for each other over a short summer break and was torn apart due to financial differences that were looked down upon by Ally's parents.
Our sex saturated media is also generating conflict in young girls’ development. The portrayal of women as sexual objects is discussed in the article “The sexualization of Girls is Harmful” by Olivia Ferguson and Hayley Mitchell Haugen. The article cites statistics of “prime-time television shows popular among children” remarking that “12% of sexual comments involved sexual objectification toward women” and “23% of sexual behaviors involved leering, ogling or catcalling at female characters”.(par 6) The feature provides www.aboutkidshealth.ca/ as an “online resource for information about areas of children’s health and family life”. (Par 1) This web site states “depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders” as consequences for media sexualizing women. (Par 2) The research defines “the objectification theory as a psychological theory explaining the
The love story between two different teenagers that come from completely different worlds is the most remarkable. The Notebook is about two young teenagers who fell head over heels with each other. They got separated by Allie’s upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn’t right for her. But that obstacle didn’t stop these two young lovers from being together even if it took years. This beautiful tale has a special meaning to an older gentleman who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging wife to help her remember what they went through and that the story that he’s reading to her was their love story. The story he reads follows two young