Strange and Rather Pervy Details Surrounding this Film

'Pervy' and 'erotic' are the same result of subjective perspective. Some of your observations are inaccurate. Using your numbers:

3. 'Pumpkin' is Richard's pet name for Miranda, not a reference to her genitalia. He uses the nickname in other scenes, including in front of her parents. The: "Yes yes yes, no no no." line is just Miranda giving him feedback and guidance in bed, which a lot of couples do. She sounds mildly annoyed in delivering that line, not threatened or frightened, in fact she resumes the 'yes' sentiment directly afterwards. There is no evidence for your conjecture that it refers to anal sex, consensual or otherwise, and Richard does not say 'poop' in that scene. Even if it did, there's nothing wrong per se with anal sex between two consenting adults in a country where it isn't illegal.

4./5. Again, subjective opinion. Jeremy Irons' character specifically addresses this issue directly to Liv Tyler's character: "Don't be cross with me, I'm sorry. You must understand, all we have to talk about up here is each other." The distinct impression is given throughout the film that that much is true. As soon as any gossip arises concerning any of the villa's occupants, everyone wants to know about it, even including Daisy the little girl. When she returns from a slumber party, everyone wants to know how it went, what she did there, what film she watched etc., etc., They get so little interaction or outside influence, everything new becomes a matter of intense interest, including Lucy.
Up in that villa they are all isolated from the world, which is a key element of the film. Showcasing the downsides of living in what the outer world percieves as paradise. Human aspects like loneliness, boredom, lack of privacy, being homesick and feeling unfulfilled. Small unpleasant things like stinging insects. Plus the same human negatives that you find everywhere, paradise or skid row: prostitutes, gossip, noisy technology and building work, sexual assault, drunk people urinating at parties, drugs.

6. Ian does not know that Lucy is his daughter until she tells him. That much is clear if you pay attention to that scene. He is shellshocked and even tears up once he realises what she is saying. Before that reveal, he says that he cannot fathom why Lucy would want to visit them. If he knew she was his daughter, or that there was any chance he had a long-lost child, he would not have wondered why Lucy came to stay at his home. As Lucy's mother wrote in her poem, she and Ian only ever had one night together, almost twenty years before the events of the film. And we see from photos that Lucy looks exactly like her mother. Ian had no reason to suspect that the man Lucy called dad was not her biological father.
A lot of people think that he knew because he acts appalled when Diana suggests to him that Lucy may be attracted to Christopher. But what they don't realise is that Miranda and Christopher are not Ian's children, they are Diana's children from a previous relationship, so Lucy and Christopher are not related. Even if Ian knew Lucy was his daughter, he would not be appalled about incestuous implications, because he would know that Lucy and Christopher were not related.

7. Eroticism explains the armpit thing. I find it odd too but then a lot of people do a lot of unusual things during intercourse! The bodily fluids theme is common to Bernardo Bertolucci films. The sexual assault was very unpleasant to watch but then, it's supposed to be! Nothing strange about sexual assault being depicted as horrible, it is horrible.

8. You've explained that one yourself, so I'm not sure what your point is?

9. Literally no reason to assume that scene was anal sex, and Miranda doesn't look horrified, just uncomfortable and pissed off. She had no qualms about giving him both barrels the next morning, and she yells at him all the time, including breaking a plate and hitting him, so I don't get the impression she was afraid of him. That's not to say it couldn't constitute rape, I just don't think that's what the director was trying to convey. Anyway, the point of this scene was to explain why Miranda finally dumps the douchebag and sends him back to America in the next scene. She comes across as resigned and relieved that he's gone, not traumatised.

10. There is only one shot during the Lucy/Osvaldo scene that I would consider even marginally graphic. You don't see any intimate parts, both of them keep most of their clothes on, and the point was to illustrate that there can be beauty in waiting to give away one's virginity to the right person, instead of throwing it at someone who won't treat you with respect, just to lose the 'virgin' label. The shy awkward sensitive person may be less attractive and less sexually skilled or experienced, but sharing that experience with them can still be preferable to sharing it with a shallow, cold, sexually experienced brute. Frankly an uncommon message in today's superficial world of instant gratification and glorification of vulgarity, and a message that I think young people need to see more of in movies.

Overall, really the main disagreement I have with your points is that what you deem 'pervy' is deemed erotic cinema by many. It's Bernardo Bertolucci's style, and a great many people, male and female, old and young, critic and cinemagoer love him for it. Research the artist/muse relationship. Liv Tyler looks back upon her time on this film fondly, in fact she just designed a clothing collection partly inspired by it. Her mother was also her chaperone the entire time she was filming, and she has never had a bad word to say about Bertolucci or the film's content either.
Perhaps it's a free spirit thing, or perhaps you aren't considering the film in the context of the era in which it was filmed. Online social justice warriors didn't exist back then, the paedophile paranoia moral panic hadn't exploded, and not everything was deemed offensive or exploitative like it is now.

All that said, it's a pleasure to discuss Stealing Beauty with someone who has watched it many times like I have, and who has detailed insight and opinions on it like I do. It's been very interesting reading your observations, and there's so much subjectivity to the film that it's likely we're both close to the mark.




The mirror... it's broken.
Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.

These are portrayals of the intricacies of human sexuality and the twists and turns they take. That something can be beautiful and ugly all at once.
This film captures the reality and rawness of this.
I think that their love scene is special and real; perfect idea of awkward first moments first timers.