Random Thoughts on Sex in Fiction

[fearedeyepatch]

So, I've just been thinking in general (I think it was brought on by a lack of well written smut in the CATs fandom) about the place of sex in stories/fiction/movies/TV shows. It's interesting because in a lot of ways I feel it's a taboo subject in our culture (or at least a sorta generally disliked one in public discourse) but at the same time we

Comments

[meadowlark4491]

Okay, so I think I had more coherent thoughts the first time I read this....anyhow, here goes my attempt at what I was thinking. I get what you're saying about this, and I agree. The one thing that interested me was the comparison you drew between Zoe and Wash vs Mal and Inara from Firefly. I know this doesn't hold true in all of Wheadon's works (See: Buffy specifically), but it does draw an interesting character layout in that one. We have Zoe and Wash who are content and happy in their relationship, basking in the afterglow, but never shown actually having sex. On the other hand, we have Mal and Inara who are at the very least heavily implied as a pairing and are shown having sex, but never with one another. It's almost as though the layout, in this case, supports your argument that love doesn't need to be shown through sex. I hope that made sense, I'm not certain I was as to the point as I intended.

[fearedeyepatch]

Well, if you get any of those thoughts back just tell me.

I think a lot of sex scenes have nothing going for them, but there are specific times when you need the sex, and other you need the foreplay and other's you need the afterglow. But so much of fiction focuses on just one or none.

((You haven't seen all the sex scenes in Buffy, but even the one with Angel and Buffy originally made me feel a little uncomfortable. But I'm focusing mostly on Firefly here for being freshest in my mind.))

[vital_signs1719]

I have...a lot of thoughts about sex in fiction, but unfortunately I've got so many other things I should be figuring out that I can't really spare the time to think coherently about this. (And it's hard to separate my Issues from my opinions.) Anyway, I think it's interesting that Joss Whedon's stuff made you uncomfortable; I actually had a rather silly debate with my friend about "classy sex" in fiction vs. er, not-classy sex. And the comparison was the Buffy/Angel scene vs. any random episode of True Blood. HBO shows in general I find fascinating, just because how much sex they have in them, and how incredibly unappealing that sex is. I watched a single episode of True Blood, and one of many reasons why I had no interest in watching any more was just because it was plain gross. Felt the same way (though slightly less so) about The Tudors, because it's like...random shots of naked, rather unattractive people having sex. I mean, seriously. What's the point? Trust me, in general I enjoy every moment of fanservice. But in this case it