The 'It' Question

Just got back from Watchmen.
For those of you who don't know, it's based off of an Alan Moore comic, the same guy who did "V for Vendetta" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Therefore, it has to be at least halfway good.

In summary, Superheroes have allowed the United States to win the Vietnam War (In one of the coolest allusions to Apocalypse Now! I've seen) and Nixon has won the presidency at least five times, since the 22nd Amendment was never passed. Reagan is in office, loose morals are abound, Russia has stockpiled 50,000 nukes, and our ace in the hole can't stop them.

But, whilst the character of Rorschach and others were somewhat interesting, something drove me away. In a word, sex. There was an attempted rape scene, and then the same guy gunned down a Vietnamese woman 7 months pregnant with his child, a porno book that we actually saw the open pages of, a Superman with an exposed sexual member throughout the movie, hookers abound, and two lesbians found dead with blood smeared on the walls. Now, Apocalypse Now! had some equally bad parts in it (OK, not quite) but what kept me going through that movie was decent pacing and development. I feel that I could have finished the movie, had the Superman and the rape scene been toned down, but that's irrelevant.

When is it too much? When does the sex start dragging down a movie, and where does it help?

Debate.

sex helps for comedic factor... or can be used to make a character seem more "evil"

but rape and stuff like that shouldn't be shown in movies at all... it doesn't add to the plot (unless its a psychological movie ABOUT the rape)... but for super hero movies it is unneeded...


not a big watchmen fan... i'm not seeing the movie in theaters

Looney Limeys?
(Watchmen was originally British)
(I think)

The thing is, I've most often seen sex scenes used to show character development, as a red flag saying "It's OK! They like each other now! They're in love!"
Which, unfortunately, is about as cheap as a laugh track in a sitcom. You are TELLING the audience what to think, as opposed to showing them two people and letting them form their own opinions.

The rape scene was a subplot, as the woman whose mother was almost-raped finds out that the guy ended up being her father through a consensual relationship... But I'm unsure whether this added to the plot.

As for sex scenes in other movies, I often fast-forward through the one in Terminator. But it was neccessary, as Reese was the father of John Connor, and he had 48 hours to do it.
The near-rape scene in V for Vendetta (The one with the priest, not the one with the Fingermen that barely got off the ground) I fast forward through it, and I kinda wonder if it was neccessary, as other devices could have been used to make the priest evil, but I guess I'm no expert.

Watchmen... It's not quite a superhero movie, as the superheroes in question have no superpowers. They are just vigilantes.
The naked guy, however, does have a plethora of superpowers at his command, and is sort of a central figure in the story.

Meh, it looked good in the previews. And Alan Moore, the guy who wrote "Watchmen", is British, but he wrote it for DC Comics.

Pass the crumpets... Jolly good.

It was following the comic.

and rasq, the real question is

"how gay are you?"

KristallNacht wrote:It was following the comic.

and rasq, the real question is

"how gay are you?"

I am straight, NT. I just prefer actual character development and story to two sweaty naked bodies rolling around baring all.

good thing its a 3hour movie!!!

plenty of time for both


and some porn has great character development >.>

Rasq wrote:I am straight, NT. I just prefer actual character development and story to two sweaty naked bodies rolling around baring all.

well whether you like it or not, sex is a big part of a relationship.

Yes, some scenes are gratuitous, but some are emotional and well done. One example is the on from terminator. It's not like you heard sarah connor moaning as she climaxed. It was a respectable scene.

There's a big difference between San Andreas hot coffee mod and the mass effect sex scene.

KristallNacht wrote:good thing its a 3hour movie!!!

plenty of time for both


and some porn has great character development >.>

You and your porn...

was the movie at least good? I mean, if you look away and cover your ears during those sex scenes, is the movie still a worth while film?

ReconToaster wrote:

Rasq wrote:I am straight, NT. I just prefer actual character development and story to two sweaty naked bodies rolling around baring all.

well whether you like it or not, sex is a big part of a relationship.

I realize that. However, I've seen it used in place of real relationships in a lot of movies.

ReconToaster wrote:Yes, some scenes are gratuitous, but some are emotional and well done. One example is the on from terminator. It's not like you heard sarah connor moaning as she climaxed. It was a respectable scene.

And I gave that one as an example of such a scene done well.

Felix wrote:
was the movie at least good? I mean, if you look away and cover your ears during those sex scenes, is the movie still a worth while film?

From what I saw, it's somewhere between "V for Vendetta" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen".
All of which were written by the same guy.

Unfortunately in film (especially those revolving around killer Austrian robots) there often isn't enough time to show gradual character relationship development - partially because there is no gradual development. This is usually resolved with the kiss or sex scene to show, as you said, 'They like each other now! They're in love!'

That's just the way it usually has to be in action films, because otherwise we'd have Kurt Russle taking an extra hour to stargaze and whatnot instead of chasing explosions.

Also, I always find it hard to believe they're in love. More often than not they're just caught in the heat of the moment. So when the killer robot replicants (Screamers had no sex scene... it just didn't make any damn sense) are finally beaten and the flames die down - they're probably not going to get married.

So I always thought of the sex scene as a way to include a relationship in a film without devoting too much screen-time. As that, I suppose it works.

Chasing explosions?

PiEman wrote:Chasing explosions?

Kurt Russle is too hardcore to run away from the explosions: here merely chases them with his back...

i agree
also like in 300 the rape scene was too much i fast forward instead of just looking away like in the nude scenes

??? There was a rape scene?