HBO: The Normalisation of Nudity?

[aussieollie]

Hi all

So this is a conversation I was having with some (clothed) friends recently. They don't know that I'm into nudism, so it was interesting to hear their views, and I'm interested in yours.

It seems that with shows like Game of Thrones, Westworld and just about any HBO shows, nudity is becoming more acceptable and it's not uncommon to see breasts, bottoms and both genders in profile (and some full frontal nudity) these days. Which leads me to wonder whether there's a bit more of acceptance around nudity than there used to be, and whether or not it won't be as shocking to clothed people in the future as it has been in the recent past?

Really interested in everyone's thoughts. Ol

[The_Xenologer]

I think HBO is mildly helping to desensitize people to nudity, but their use of nudity is often problematic. Particularly in Game of Thrones, it is primarily female bodies that are seen nude, not male bodies. These nude bodies are often only seen in sexual situations as well; and these bodies are mainly young and "attractive" by contemporary US standards. There's more egregious examples of this too, such as in Hung where the show is about a male prostitute, yet you see copious amounts of female nudity and no male full frontal nudity. If HBO didn't pressure showrunners to display specific types of nudity merely for titillation, and instead allowed them utilize nudity in a more natural way to tell their stories, I feel that it would lead to a healthier acceptance of nudity in US society.       

[NaturesDram]

Hi Ol,

My observation would be that whilst in the media there is a lot more nudity, and the censors seem a little more chilled about the issue these days, a perfectionistic body culture is so pervasive now that the youth of today are perhaps even more body conscious and embarrassed about their own nudity than the previous couple of generations.

For this reason, the existence of INYO is fantastic, groundbreaking, and worthy of our support and encouragement!

[Tree]

Both of you make good points.

Didn't several of the female leads a while ago decide they wouldn't do any more nude seens in it? I think the main reason for this was because they saw that they were being disrespected by the general public as a result. In a time when many young men sadly don't have fathers around to teach them how to be men, it is all the more important that young men learn to respect women as people who are more than just flesh but souls and hearts which need caring for too.

The statement about the lack of male nudity is well noted too. Is there any outside of season 1?

[Longingtobenude]

I'm not sure the impact westworld will have.  All the nudity you see is the "robots".  They do such a good job of it, you really have to step back and think about that being person at all.  Its something a real human would be too good for in the show.  And it will probably be something the robots never do once given their own choices in the matter. 

[newbie]

I'm not sure the impact westworld will have.  All the nudity you see is the "robots".  They do such a good job of it, you really have to step back and think about that being person at all.  Its something a real human would be too good for in the show.  And it will probably be something the robots never do once given their own choices in the matter.

well at least in westworld the robots are very natural about their nudity - i mean in many of their nude scenes it's not about sex. actually it's often during maintenance etc.  at least for a robot that must count as being in a natural state and being relaxed about it right?

[Il_lore]

I still remember the good old OZ that had more frontal male nudity than what I saw in gyms
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=oz+frontal+male&client=ubuntu&hs=EtF&channel=fs&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKwu_IqtHTAhUF1xoKHfruDUAQ_AUICigB&biw=1680&bih=923#channel=fs&tbm=isch&q=oz+frontal+male+nudity

but it was an exception

[HenryJoseph]

I've never seen Game of Thrones (I don't like violence :x ) but from what I've heard, it doesn't sound like normalizing nudity as much as it's sensationalizing it.

As for whether or not that's a healthy thing, or if it's okay outside of the context of the nudism lifestyle (like, is it okay for people to enjoy watching sex and violence just for entertainment?), that's a whole different question and one that I'm not gonna discuss, lol.

So, mentally separating that aspect of nudity from the equation, the question here is whether shows like these make it acceptable to see nudity, in the way that naturists see nudity. And as far as I know, having not seen it myself, I don't think it portrays nudity as a casual, natural, healthy and normal state. I think it elevates nudity to the same level as violence, something forbidden yet alluring and thrilling (to some), which seems contrary to the values held by naturists, as far as I've gleaned so far.

There's a lot of nudity (though not as much as a lot of people like to say there is when you take into account how long the show is), but it's always presented as a normal thing in that universe, even if quite a lot if it is sexual in nature. Having said that, some characters are nude quite a lot of the time simply because that is what they are like; one character, Melisandre (in case you wanted to know) spends a lot of time naked, and the majority of it is casual. There is also a fair amount of full male nudity (including genitalia), and I would probably say half of it is fairly casual.
There are also scenes of public nude bathing, as well as private nude bathing where full nudity is depicted, but a sexual element is not necessarily present.

[gbanude]

The premium channels have been on the forefront of nudity for at least 30yrs. Practically pulling the rest of America with them. My guess is what the premium channels show is typical of European content. Look where we have come from. What will everything look like in another 30yrs?

[gj83]

I would echo what others have said and point out that while it has helped normalize nudity, it has been a fairly specific type of nudity. It has tended to normalize a sexualized nudity for conventionally attractive body types. So, I think of it as a bit of a mixed bag. It would be great if the nudity was more like what you would see among naturists, but any normalization can help.

[Delta]

To bring this up again, I just stumbled upon this little interview:


I think Emilia's position on this matter is on point.