MovieChat Forums > About Last Night (2014) Discussion > Why are Blacks so afraid of nudity?

Why are Blacks so afraid of nudity?

posted 9 years ago by ilykyu
12 replies | jump to latest

I am not sure but I think the original was where Demi Moore was butt nekkid for a good half of the movie. I have been noticing that Black actors are extremely conservative and self conscious on screen, it just comes off strange to me for some reason. I'm not a pervy Mr. Skin subscriber, ok, mebbe a lil pervy, but something about screen nudity makes the movie feel more like adult fare, like you're getting a window onto the true beings that are the characters. It wasn't necessary in the golden age of Hollywood, but the oldies didn't cover the breadth of themes recent movies do. I remember reading something about Angela Bassett feeling offended that Halle Berry won her Oscar for Monster's Ball, featuring the one of the beyond rare nude scenes I've seen a black actress in a lead role do since the 70's.
I wonder if that reticence shows up not only in this one way, but in other ways that prevent these actors from going deeper into their roles, and prevents black movie making from getting to the next level altogether, a level I can only see Steve Mcqueen accessing thus far.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!"

[–] TrinidadJanes 9 years ago

So not doing nudity "prevents actors from going deeper into their roles"? Does this mean that 99% of male actors, who most producers would never ever even dare ask to show their bare dick and balls on screen, have never actually gone deep in their roles?

Boom.

[–] ilykyu 9 years ago

You being a 'equal rights means equal turnout' and thus equal exposure nut, you should know your argument is self defeating. If men and women are to be equal, then male nipples=female nipples. Tis holds true especially in the intimate setting of the cinema where movies become less dependent on the contrived traditional mores of the outside world where men don't give a sh!t and women pretend not to notice anything. Case in point I heard and saw a MUCH bigger female reaction to Thor's fan service than I did from men seeing Shannon Elizabeth in American Pie, the same for Striptease vs Magic Mike.
Female full frontal nudity does not equate to male frontal nudity, because pubic hair alone being visible does not equate to penis and testicles. As for your claimed 99%, I've only ever heard of Rosario Dawson and Charlotte Gainsberg revealing their their shaved form, compared to Bruce Willis, Kevin Bacon, Richard Gere, Matt Dillon, Marlon Brando, Ewan McGregor, Jason Segel, Vincent Gallo and probably more going whole hog. Even now where 70% of women go bare in real life (more for younger women), this is almost never reflected on screen, like with 50 Shades, the actress is bare in real life, but the character as presented is not.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!"

[–] TrinidadJanes 9 years ago

You being a 'equal rights means equal turnout' and thus equal exposure nut, you should know your argument is self defeating. If men and women are to be equal, then male nipples=female nipples.

Just to be clear I didn't read past the above^^ in what I am very sure was overall a *beep* post.

A woman walking around topless in the park in most cities IN THE WORLD will be arrested on the spot. A man walking around topless in the park is Tuesday. This means that anyone with any social awareness whatsoever, who didn't just make up some garbage about equality so as to justify his want to see tits as much as possible without the threat of seeing balls the same amount, would not be dumb enough to say male nipples = female nipples.

Boom.

[–] ilykyu 9 years ago

Like I said in my post you don't want to read, those ideas belong to the same old patriarchal world feminazis claim they want to change, so why not start with something closer to home and already at the fore of that progressive liberalization? And by start I mean not complain about or claim their analogous body part is somehow extra special.

"what is your major malfunction?!!"

[–] TrinidadJanes 9 years ago

On cue, a person who is likely extremely anti-feminist and anti-female in general, pretending to give a damn about female equality because he feels pretending to give a *beep* about female equality in this instance can be a means to an end for him (more boobies on screen--boobies of all races!!). You're ohhh so against actresses not going deep into their role by being naked on screen, but whoa whoa wait a minute actors too? No that can't be right. That's different. Think of the politics and progressiveness and liberty of it all.

You're a very predictable hypocrite. Thank you for allowing me to own you in your own thread though. I'm done now :)

Boom.

[–] ilykyu 9 years ago

Your diatribe of illogical suppositions generally unbalanced thought have added nothing to the discussion, which for added measure was based on minority culture vs majority, a truer mystery, not male vs female, which as already been mostly settled for all intents, well thanks for nothing.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] firstwinsgop-1 9 years ago

Dey afraid ghosts gonna steal their clothes, lol.

[–] undomiel152003-1 9 years ago

First off, religion is very important in the life of many African Americans, so appearing in the nude would be something that would make them very uncomfortable since it would upset most of their family, which it is still, to them, a very important part of their lives. (and more power to them)

There is something else, there is a definite feeling of being exploited for the purpose of titillating the audience when nudity is presented in most films. And that is something African Americans have felt in their history with this country. There is exploitation in their past and that is something we cannot deny. If you have a people who have endured such cruelty and degradation and shameful abuse in the past, do you think they will put themselves in that situation as needlessly as in a movie?

We all know nudity, in most instances in Hollywood, is just done to attract the male audience into the theater, or most likely, for the male directors, producers, etc, to watch those actresses in the buff.

Am I a prude? Am I puritan? No. I live in a city where we have lots of tourists from Europe, women, most of them, go bra-less in our beaches, and we do have a nudist beach, which I have visited. To me nudity is nothing other than a body without clothes, it has no sexual significance to me unless there is something sexual going on.

But still, in movies, it is just to get men turned on.

Quit ya moanin

[–] ilykyu 9 years ago

Nudity in movies has only little to do with purposefully ' getting men turned on'. Unless you're only watching puerile teen sex comedies and juvenile b horror flicks. Usually that's just a side effect of the artists'(director,writer) true intentions which are too complex to get into here, but consider almost any Lars Von Trier movie (except that last one, the sex scenes in that will probably turn on most men, but most men will know they should not be getting turned on, it's that complex) for instance. Even the original About Last Night itself isn't puerile, the nudity was quite appropriate to moving the story.
Historical considerations doesn't really explain it as there was lots of black nudity in the 70's although most of that was admittedly for titillation, though that could probably explain some of the counter reaction and how there were hardly any 'black' movies during the entire 80's. I usually take it as just blacks are just much less willing to take risks in various art forms in general for some other reason. Just like there are hardly any syfy, fantasy, horror authors, or rock musicians, not even pop, or how Basquiat was a completely one off visual artist.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!"

[–] luvie2003 9 years ago

Your assumption is just plain wrong. Have you ever thought that maybe the studios didn't want any nudity in the film? I think the real threat is black sexuality (yes there is such a thing). Society has a problem with that. If you do not think so then you really need to look further into Black sexuality and how it is portrayed in film and how it reflects in mainstream society.

Also for nudity to be in a film there has to be a good reason. What is the reason for nudity in a film? If it is just to get men (people) off then it is just porn. But if there is a real reason for the nudity then I don't really see a problem. Gratuitous nudity and violence is just plain boring and dumb if there is not a really good reason for it.

Always look for the positive in every situation.

[–] ilykyu 9 years ago

That's why I said titillation is hardly ever the objective. I don't want to see random nudity thrown in either, that's why I'm not a huge fan of it in game of thrones, where it's mostly completely unnecessary. But consider American Pie, Shannon Elizabeth's scene may seem gratuitous on the surface, but it really served the sense the audience got of Jason Bigg's character's excitement, his newness to sexual situations. Even Showgirl's nudity had meaning, it was purposefully excessive to normalize the situation of the women.

"what is your major malfunction numbnuts?!!"