In my opinion, television series like Masters of Sex, Six Feet Under, and Orange Is the New Black have turned their actors into porn stars. We have seen toe-sucking, various combinations of gay sex, S&M, outdoor sex, streetwalker sex, ED sex, honeymoon sex, and even suggested necrophilia. Last night on a 4th season episode of Six Feet Under (we’ve been binge-watching it) there was girl-to-girl seduction, David picked up a street criminal who performed oral sex on him while they were both high on crack, the street guy suggested having sex with the corpse in the back of the van, Brenda and Joe went to see a rental property and instead of measuring the countertops, they had sex, Rico had sex with his mistress, and for a change of pace George went to sleep on Mom without so much as a snuggle.
The writers seem to have forgotten that they were there to tell a story, not to provide an evening of not-so-soft porn. The interesting part of sex is subjective – watching somebody else do it has a sameness that deadens storytelling.
The first seasons of all of the above series were engrossing, funny, informative, and wonderfully written. Then the writers ran out of steam so they took off all the actors’ clothes, showed a dildo or a condom or a wacky situation or position, and called it a day.
Clearly, some people disagree, but I can’t think of a single reason why showing orgasmic, naked sex is interesting in an episodic television series style. It’s the seduction that’s interesting, the change in character, the building of relationship, the betrayal, devotion, decision-making, and bonding of the act that makes it interesting. Grunting, naked humans are not in themselves intriguing.
I wonder how actors feel knowing that at any moment they may be asked to take off their clothes and simulate sex — to become porn stars.