Doing "It"
by Joe Swanberg
 Are films finally growing up? Have they passed through puberty, and are
they now in search of some hot action under the covers? I sure
hope so.
I am inspired by a recent outbreak of real sex in films. It's about damn
time. With Vincent Gallo's "The
Brown Bunny" hitting theatres
later this month, John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus" in the works,
and Michael Winterbottom's "Nine
Songs" sure to find its way over
here soon enough, we might
actually be seeing the beginning of a steady wave of independent
films that are actually good, and contain characters doing the
nasty.
And soon enough, it won't be nasty. Isn't this the way it always goes
down? Independent filmmakers try something, and if it works,
Hollywood comes lumbering along and copies them. I've seen "The
Brown Bunny", and I think it's a very good film. I can only expect
that Winterbottom's film will be good as well. Soon enough, there
won't be a knee jerk reaction about "porn" or other nonsense,
and audiences may find themselves sitting in a theatre watching
a film they really care about, and witnessing the characters
making love on screen. For real.
 I cannot for the life of me figure out why there has been a stigma attached
to onscreen sex for so long. The porn industry is absolutely
massive, so there are obviously plenty of people out there buying
porn. Why wouldn't they want to see a good film with good acting,
good direction, nice photography, and the same hardcore sex they
enjoy in films of lesser quality? Is it a matter of sitting in
a theatre with other people? Is this uncomfortable? If so, why?
Are we that sexually repressed as a country, as a
planet?
Will it take Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise having real sex in a film by
Steven Spielberg before mainstream America accepts it? Or will
it take a steady stream of smaller films that get less and less
controversial, until eventually reviewers don't even mention
the sex, because they are able to focus on other aspects of the
film? It's tough to tell, but I welcome our risky new motion
pictures to the multiplexes of America, and I will be sure to
buy a ticket to each and every one of them until I'm sure they
are here to stay.
UPDATE: Or maybe it will take Matt Damon. I just read an article that
quotes Damon as wanting to make an X rated film. I don't know if he plans
to star in the film, or only direct, but this might just be the one that
pushes the new trend out into the mainstream.
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