Sexposition: Difference between revisions
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The term was coined by the blogger and critic Myles McNutt in his post on the [[HBO]] TV series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' episode named "You Win or You Die", posted in May 2011;<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> see link in External Links section below. |
The term was coined by the blogger and critic Myles McNutt in his post on the [[HBO]] TV series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' episode named "You Win or You Die", posted in May 2011;<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> see link in External Links section below. |
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In this blog post McNutt used the term to describe scenes in which characters reveal crucial information related to plot and character development during intimate scenes.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> Author [[George R. R. Martin]] said this technique is in line with the purpose of sexuality in the ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' books, and acknowledged that this technique allows for the exposition of motivations and incentives not available{{explain|date=August 2021}} to the TV show.<ref name=ft_lunch>{{cite |
In this blog post McNutt used the term to describe scenes in which characters reveal crucial information related to plot and character development during intimate scenes.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> Author [[George R. R. Martin]] said this technique is in line with the purpose of sexuality in the ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' books, and acknowledged that this technique allows for the exposition of motivations and incentives not available{{explain|date=August 2021}} to the TV show.<ref name=ft_lunch>{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bd1e2638-a8b7-11e1-a747-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1wYzURCl0 | title=Lunch with the FT: George RR Martin | work=Financial Times | date=June 2, 2012 | accessdate=June 4, 2012 | author=Berwick, Isabel }}</ref> As the show has to convey details of many characters and backstories from the books, sexposition is useful to deliver the information to viewers in condensed form.{{r|kuperinsky20120416}} |
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The term has since been retroactively applied to similar practices in many earlier works, including the older HBO shows ''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]''{{fact|date=August 2021}} and ''[[The Sopranos]]'' (frequently set in a strip club), many older cop films{{specify|date=August 2021}} (likewise) and even the 1930s comic strip ''[[Jane (comic strip)|Jane]]''{{fact|date=August 2021}}. According to [[James Poniewozik]], the novelty of the practice is not the nudity, but the manner in which it accompanies exposition, for which older TV shows with less complex plots did not have as much need.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012"/>{{r|kuperinsky20120416}} |
The term has since been retroactively applied to similar practices in many earlier works, including the older HBO shows ''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]''{{fact|date=August 2021}} and ''[[The Sopranos]]'' (frequently set in a strip club), many older cop films{{specify|date=August 2021}} (likewise) and even the 1930s comic strip ''[[Jane (comic strip)|Jane]]''{{fact|date=August 2021}}. According to [[James Poniewozik]], the novelty of the practice is not the nudity, but the manner in which it accompanies exposition, for which older TV shows with less complex plots did not have as much need.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012"/>{{r|kuperinsky20120416}} |
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==Criticism== |
==Criticism== |
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Critics have disapproved of sexposition because, in their view, it uses inappropriate tactics, insults the audience's intelligence by appealing and succumbing to carnality and covers up the screenwriter's failure to build cohesive narratives, having to rely on long drawn out sequences of exposition made watchable only through appeals to sexuality.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> Some criticize sexposition for catering almost exclusively to heterosexual men.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/06/16/game_of_thrones_fails_the_female_gaze_why_does_prestige_tv_refuse_to_cater_erotically_to_women |title="Game of Thrones" fails the female gaze: Why does prestige TV refuse to cater erotically to women? |work=Salon |accessdate=January 7, 2016}}</ref> [[Neil Marshall]], director of the second-season ''Game of Thrones'' episode "[[Blackwater (Game of Thrones)|Blackwater]]," recalled that he was repeatedly urged to add more full-frontal nudity during filming. The producer told him, according to the director, that "[e]veryone else in the series is drama side. I represent the pervy side of the audience", an experience that Marshall described as "pretty surreal" to happen on the set of a major network production.<ref name="plumb20120601">{{cite web | url=http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=34164 | title=Neil Marshall Game Of Thrones Podcast | work=Empire | date=June 1, 2012 | accessdate=June 1, 2012 | author=Marshall, Neil}}</ref> |
Critics have disapproved of sexposition because, in their view, it uses inappropriate tactics, insults the audience's intelligence by appealing and succumbing to carnality and covers up the screenwriter's failure to build cohesive narratives, having to rely on long drawn out sequences of exposition made watchable only through appeals to sexuality.<ref name="Guardian 11 March 2012" /> Some criticize sexposition for catering almost exclusively to heterosexual men.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/06/16/game_of_thrones_fails_the_female_gaze_why_does_prestige_tv_refuse_to_cater_erotically_to_women |title="Game of Thrones" fails the female gaze: Why does prestige TV refuse to cater erotically to women? |work=Salon |date=16 June 2014 |accessdate=January 7, 2016}}</ref> [[Neil Marshall]], director of the second-season ''Game of Thrones'' episode "[[Blackwater (Game of Thrones)|Blackwater]]," recalled that he was repeatedly urged to add more full-frontal nudity during filming. The producer told him, according to the director, that "[e]veryone else in the series is drama side. I represent the pervy side of the audience", an experience that Marshall described as "pretty surreal" to happen on the set of a major network production.<ref name="plumb20120601">{{cite web | url=http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=34164 | title=Neil Marshall Game Of Thrones Podcast | work=Empire | date=June 1, 2012 | accessdate=June 1, 2012 | author=Marshall, Neil}}</ref> |
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''Game of Thrones'' showrunner David Benioff admitted that he does "pay less attention to intricate plot points delivered during sex scenes", while co-creator [[D. B. Weiss]] disagreed, countering that "Sex grabs people's attention. But once it has their attention, it tends not to let go of it."<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/03/hbo-game-thrones-season-3-interview-david-benioff-dan-weiss | title="Game of Thrones" Creators on Shark, Sexposition, and Season 3 | journal=Mother Jones | issue=March/April 2013 |date=March 5, 2013 | accessdate=March 7, 2013 | author=Mechanic, Michael}}</ref> While the effect is reportedly different for different directors, they say "Every one of those sex scenes is there because we wanted that particular scene in the show. There is not a sex scene quota from HBO."<ref name="egner20130329">{{cite news | url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/your-game-of-thrones-questions-answered/ | title=Your 'Game of Thrones' Questions, Answered | work=The New York Times | date=2013-03-29 | accessdate=March 29, 2013 | author=Egner, Jeremy}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' reported before the seventh season in 2017 that "Even if Benioff and Weiss don’t always admit it, the show has changed. Scenes in which exposition is delivered in one brothel or another, for example, have been pared back."<ref name="daddario2017">{{Cite magazine |last=D'Addadio |first=Daniel |date=2017-07-10 |title='Game of Thrones': Inside the World's Most Popular Show |url=http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/ |magazine=Time |access-date=2017-09-02}}</ref> |
''Game of Thrones'' showrunner David Benioff admitted that he does "pay less attention to intricate plot points delivered during sex scenes", while co-creator [[D. B. Weiss]] disagreed, countering that "Sex grabs people's attention. But once it has their attention, it tends not to let go of it."<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2013/03/hbo-game-thrones-season-3-interview-david-benioff-dan-weiss | title="Game of Thrones" Creators on Shark, Sexposition, and Season 3 | journal=Mother Jones | issue=March/April 2013 |date=March 5, 2013 | accessdate=March 7, 2013 | author=Mechanic, Michael}}</ref> While the effect is reportedly different for different directors, they say "Every one of those sex scenes is there because we wanted that particular scene in the show. There is not a sex scene quota from HBO."<ref name="egner20130329">{{cite news | url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/your-game-of-thrones-questions-answered/ | title=Your 'Game of Thrones' Questions, Answered | work=The New York Times | date=2013-03-29 | accessdate=March 29, 2013 | author=Egner, Jeremy}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' reported before the seventh season in 2017 that "Even if Benioff and Weiss don’t always admit it, the show has changed. Scenes in which exposition is delivered in one brothel or another, for example, have been pared back."<ref name="daddario2017">{{Cite magazine |last=D'Addadio |first=Daniel |date=2017-07-10 |title='Game of Thrones': Inside the World's Most Popular Show |url=http://time.com/game-of-thrones-2017/ |magazine=Time |access-date=2017-09-02}}</ref> |
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==Satire== |
==Satire== |
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An April 2012 sketch on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' purported to be an episode of ''[[HBO First Look]]'' featuring Adam Friedberg, 13 year-old "creative consultant" to ''Game of Thrones''. Played by [[Andy Samberg]], the teenage boy was proud of "mak[ing] sure there are lots of boobs" and various sexual acts during expository scenes. The author of the books the show is based on, George R. R. Martin (here played by [[Bobby Moynihan]]), called Friedberg "a visionary. He knows that even when I didn't write sex into a scene, I was definitely thinking about it."<ref name="snl20120414">{{cite episode | title=HBO First Look: Game of Thrones | series=Saturday Night Live | url=http://gawker.com/5902076/snl-explains-the-nudity-in-game-of-thrones | credits=Samberg, Andy; Moynihan, Bobby; Killam, Taran | network=NBC | airdate=April 14, 2012 | number=721 | season=37}}</ref><ref name="sims20120415">{{cite web | url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/josh-brolingotye,71972/ | title=Josh Brolin/Gotye, S37/E19 | work=A.V. Club | date=April 15, 2012 | accessdate=June 1, 2012 | author=Sims, David}}</ref> The real Martin is aware of the skit, joking at [[San Diego Comic-Con International|San Diego Comic-Con]] that Friedberg could not attend because "[t]here was a scene in Belfast with no boobies in it" and that he needed to go fix that.<ref>https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/comic-con-game-thrones-season-3-george-rr-martin-349198/</ref> |
An April 2012 sketch on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' purported to be an episode of ''[[HBO First Look]]'' featuring Adam Friedberg, 13 year-old "creative consultant" to ''Game of Thrones''. Played by [[Andy Samberg]], the teenage boy was proud of "mak[ing] sure there are lots of boobs" and various sexual acts during expository scenes. The author of the books the show is based on, George R. R. Martin (here played by [[Bobby Moynihan]]), called Friedberg "a visionary. He knows that even when I didn't write sex into a scene, I was definitely thinking about it."<ref name="snl20120414">{{cite episode | title=HBO First Look: Game of Thrones | series=Saturday Night Live | url=http://gawker.com/5902076/snl-explains-the-nudity-in-game-of-thrones | credits=Samberg, Andy; Moynihan, Bobby; Killam, Taran | network=NBC | airdate=April 14, 2012 | number=721 | season=37}}</ref><ref name="sims20120415">{{cite web | url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/josh-brolingotye,71972/ | title=Josh Brolin/Gotye, S37/E19 | work=A.V. Club | date=April 15, 2012 | accessdate=June 1, 2012 | author=Sims, David}}</ref> The real Martin is aware of the skit, joking at [[San Diego Comic-Con International|San Diego Comic-Con]] that Friedberg could not attend because "[t]here was a scene in Belfast with no boobies in it" and that he needed to go fix that.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/comic-con-game-thrones-season-3-george-rr-martin-349198/|title = Comic-Con 2012: George R.R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones' Q&A Gets Awkwardly Sexual|date = 13 July 2012}}</ref> |
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==External Links== |
==External Links== |
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Revision as of 23:06, 4 October 2021
In visual media such as television and film, sexposition is the technique of providing exposition against a backdrop of sex or nudity.[1] The Financial Times defined sexposition as "keeping viewers hooked by combining complex plot exposition with explicit sexual goings-on".[2] Its purpose, according to James Poniewozik, is to divert the audience and give characters something to do while exposition is being delivered, which is what distinguishes sexposition from merely gratuitous titillation.[1]
Etymology
The term was coined by the blogger and critic Myles McNutt in his post on the HBO TV series Game of Thrones episode named "You Win or You Die", posted in May 2011;[1] see link in External Links section below.
In this blog post McNutt used the term to describe scenes in which characters reveal crucial information related to plot and character development during intimate scenes.[1] Author George R. R. Martin said this technique is in line with the purpose of sexuality in the A Song of Ice and Fire books, and acknowledged that this technique allows for the exposition of motivations and incentives not available[further explanation needed] to the TV show.[2] As the show has to convey details of many characters and backstories from the books, sexposition is useful to deliver the information to viewers in condensed form.[3]
The term has since been retroactively applied to similar practices in many earlier works, including the older HBO shows Deadwood[citation needed] and The Sopranos (frequently set in a strip club), many older cop films[specify] (likewise) and even the 1930s comic strip Jane[citation needed]. According to James Poniewozik, the novelty of the practice is not the nudity, but the manner in which it accompanies exposition, for which older TV shows with less complex plots did not have as much need.[1][3]
Criticism
Critics have disapproved of sexposition because, in their view, it uses inappropriate tactics, insults the audience's intelligence by appealing and succumbing to carnality and covers up the screenwriter's failure to build cohesive narratives, having to rely on long drawn out sequences of exposition made watchable only through appeals to sexuality.[1] Some criticize sexposition for catering almost exclusively to heterosexual men.[4] Neil Marshall, director of the second-season Game of Thrones episode "Blackwater," recalled that he was repeatedly urged to add more full-frontal nudity during filming. The producer told him, according to the director, that "[e]veryone else in the series is drama side. I represent the pervy side of the audience", an experience that Marshall described as "pretty surreal" to happen on the set of a major network production.[5]
Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff admitted that he does "pay less attention to intricate plot points delivered during sex scenes", while co-creator D. B. Weiss disagreed, countering that "Sex grabs people's attention. But once it has their attention, it tends not to let go of it."[6] While the effect is reportedly different for different directors, they say "Every one of those sex scenes is there because we wanted that particular scene in the show. There is not a sex scene quota from HBO."[7] Time reported before the seventh season in 2017 that "Even if Benioff and Weiss don’t always admit it, the show has changed. Scenes in which exposition is delivered in one brothel or another, for example, have been pared back."[8]
Huffington Post critic Maureen Ryan contrasted sexposition—which she said was useful if used to convey much information that would otherwise be boring—with "H.B." ("Hey, boobs!"), which she described as scenes that only exist to show (usually female) nudity.[3]
Satire
An April 2012 sketch on Saturday Night Live purported to be an episode of HBO First Look featuring Adam Friedberg, 13 year-old "creative consultant" to Game of Thrones. Played by Andy Samberg, the teenage boy was proud of "mak[ing] sure there are lots of boobs" and various sexual acts during expository scenes. The author of the books the show is based on, George R. R. Martin (here played by Bobby Moynihan), called Friedberg "a visionary. He knows that even when I didn't write sex into a scene, I was definitely thinking about it."[9][10] The real Martin is aware of the skit, joking at San Diego Comic-Con that Friedberg could not attend because "[t]here was a scene in Belfast with no boobies in it" and that he needed to go fix that.[11]
External Links
- link to Myles McNutt blog[bare URL] original Myles McNutt blog post using the term for the first time
References
- ^ a b c d e f Hann, Michael (March 11, 2012). "How 'sexposition' fleshes out the story". The Guardian. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- ^ a b Berwick, Isabel (June 2, 2012). "Lunch with the FT: George RR Martin". Financial Times. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ a b c Kuperinsky, Amy (2012-04-16). "It's not a dirty word: Here's the explanation of 'sexposition'". NJ.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- ^ ""Game of Thrones" fails the female gaze: Why does prestige TV refuse to cater erotically to women?". Salon. 16 June 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ Marshall, Neil (June 1, 2012). "Neil Marshall Game Of Thrones Podcast". Empire. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ^ Mechanic, Michael (March 5, 2013). ""Game of Thrones" Creators on Shark, Sexposition, and Season 3". Mother Jones (March/April 2013). Retrieved March 7, 2013.
- ^ Egner, Jeremy (2013-03-29). "Your 'Game of Thrones' Questions, Answered". The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ D'Addadio, Daniel (2017-07-10). "'Game of Thrones': Inside the World's Most Popular Show". Time. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
- ^ Samberg, Andy; Moynihan, Bobby; Killam, Taran (April 14, 2012). "HBO First Look: Game of Thrones". Saturday Night Live. Season 37. Episode 721. NBC.
- ^ Sims, David (April 15, 2012). "Josh Brolin/Gotye, S37/E19". A.V. Club. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ^ "Comic-Con 2012: George R.R. Martin's 'Game of Thrones' Q&A Gets Awkwardly Sexual". 13 July 2012.