Sexual Movie Messages
Sex can be seen in every aspect of mass media in America today. One aspect of media in which sexual content can easily be seen is in movies. Movies have increased the amount of sexual content and this growing number has led to the fact that today’s adolescents now consider media as one of their main forms of sex education. Movies today bombard the screen with messages that teach unhealthy practices, objectifying women and influencing the sexual behaviors and attitudes of the American culture.
Mass media has been a growing influence in sexual education because of the increased exposure to different types of media. This can especially be seen with adolescents. A recent survey said that adolescents spend seven to eight hours each day with some form of media and that of these medias at least eleven percent is sexual content. In regards to movies, adolescents watch on average one hour each day and at least twelve percent of movie content is sexual (L’Engle 76 & 84). Many movie-goers think that this percentage is too high. A recent poll done by the Media General- Associated Press found that seventy percent of the people said most new movies have too much nudity (Moviegoers Unhappy Despite Blockbuster 3). Another study suggested that movies show much more detailed images of sexual activity and that children under seventeen are often exposed to R-rated movies, in spite of the fact that the rating indicates, “Under seventeen requires accompanying parent or adult guardian”. Sixty-three percent of ninth and tenth graders surveyed reported that R-rated movies were the ones they watched most often. A different survey showed a list of sixteen top grossing R-rated films (that received R-rating, primarily for sexual content) to ninth and tenth graders. They found that the majority of students had seen nine out of the sixteen films, and six of the remainder had been seen by more than a third (Cantor 3). Two-thirds of Hollywood movies made each year are...