It’s no hidden secret that sex sells. There are countless recent releases which highlight audience fascination with what has usually been kept so private. Shows like Sex Education (2019) are a sound example of the explicit. Some viewers adore the plainness in which sex is portrayed, with no shyness or restraints. I’d argue that many viewers tuned in based solely on rumours of the opening scene that bears it all.
Even beyond the fiction of TV shows, there is evidently a market for discussions of real-life sex, kink and fetishes on screen. Olivia Attwood's investigate style series Getting Filthy Rich (2022) offers a deep dive into the lives of sex-workers from their own perspective. No topic is too taboo for the show to feature. Given that it’s returned for 3 series, it’s safe to assume that at home viewers are enjoying such gonzo approaches to sex.
Now that audience enjoyment has been established, how come more shows aren’t playing into this easy grab for viewership?
The industry has been seemingly favouring more suggestive portrayal of on-screen sex over the ‘served on a silver platter’ approach.
The answer is all in the age ratings. The wider the audience that shows can be advertised to, the bigger the money grab. The industry has been seemingly favouring more suggestive portrayal of on-screen sex over the ‘served on a silver platter’ approach. With intimacy only hinted at, otherwise explicit episodes can abide by the assigned age rating. Take Bridgerton (2020) for example. In keeping with the age 15 rating, any promise of sex is quickly dissolved with a screen that fades to black or a quick progression to the next plot point. Even so, audiences just adore the series- is the lack of sex really that detrimental to audience engagement?
To give an example away from typically scripted show, we can look to reality TV like Love Island (2005). The earliest seasons were controversial to say the least. They were also the most memorable. Any private acts undertaken by contestants were aired quite plainly the following night. Now, viewers can maybe expect to see a few toes poking out beyond a bed sheet and nothing more. This recent approach of course seems a little more respectful to the privacy of the Islanders but, does TV owe them privacy when they signed up to such a show? It’s likely the pressure of age ratings and written ethical complaints that have deterred the rate of explicit output in the latest seasons.
We’ve passed the golden age of sex on TV.
The increase of sexual sensitivity on screen is by no means bad; it seems to move away from the reliance on sex to make good TV. All in all, it seems that in cases of shows of marketed to the mass audience, we’ve passed the golden age of sex on TV. Maybe sexless is too far a title given that implied sex is still very much prevalent, or maybe the hinting teases, leaving the rest to the audience’s imagination, makes TV sexier after all.