Sex scenes that actually add to the work

[Erttheking]

I am currently watching Fate Zero with a friend of mine, and she herself has played the visual novel that it is a prequel to, Fate Stay Night. She has informed me that overall it's pretty good, aside from the main character being a bit of a tool, but she has also informed me of the sex scenes, which are kinda god awful. Apparently they come out of nowhere, are massively OOC and involve two of the characters getting into a threesome with a third one, where the third one's consent is questionable at best. Needless to say, these scenes did nothing but detract from her enjoyment of the game.

That got me thinking. So many times in fiction sex scenes just seem shoehorned in, just going "Hey look! People having sex! We're so mature!" A lot of the time it doesn't add to anything and can just feel jarring. Are there any sex scenes out there that add to a work rather than take away from it? Ones that feel like the next logical step in someone's relationship where you go "This character doing this makes perfect sense", one that was done in a way to invoke an emotional response for characters you care about rather than just making you go "Oh look, sexy naked people". Sex scenes that feel like they're part of the story and actually add onto it rather than feeling like artificial add ons. Can you think of anything?

Just about the only example I can think of is the sex scene between Guts and Casca in Berserk. It was a really well done, really sweet scene that showed how far their relationship had become and how strong their bond was. Granted a lot of the sex scenes in Berserk do add to the work, but most of them are...less pleasant and I am kind of aiming for more happy scenes with this thread. It's depressing because I feel like sex CAN be worked into a story to show a connection between two characters, with it even being romanticized, but more often than not we just get shallow stuff that sometimes just feels jarring and pandering.

So, can you think of anything?

 

[Flutterguy]

Game of Thrones does this well, plenty of filler boobs too though.

 

[leberkaese]

I dislike the sex scenes in Game of Thrones: most of the times they add nothing to the whole show. I don't remember that the books had this much sex in them...
A show that has probably even more sex scenes than Game of Thrones is Californication. In here it's perfectly fine, because the main character is some sort of sex addict, so it simply underlines his f*cked-up way of life.

To say something about this in anime: I don't watch anime often, but too much fanservice (and sex) destroys these shows for me. Elfenlied was the very first 'grown up' anime I tried to watch, but that was just ridiculous.

 

[shogunblade]

No one will agree with me about the Watchmen sex scene, but that was one of my favorite scenes. Everybody thinks the scene with "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen is overkill, but I enjoyed the scene, it really symbolized how Dan/Nite-Owl is sort of a smaller human being without his suit than he is with his suit, the idea of his sexual strength coming back after saving the burning building was kind of nice, and I LIKE THE SONG, it was perfect, and I defy anybody to tell me otherwise.

Another example would be the movie Shame, directed by 12 Years A Slave's Steve McQueen. That movie, with Michael Fassbender is almost about sex, but it has a darker bent to it, and maybe I'm slowly becoming one of those arthouse folk that like movies like this, but every sex scene is symbolic to the movie, without the scenes, it's not much of a movie, but every sex scene in the film just slowly gives you an idea of a person who is hiding a lot more then what we think, and it's sad for those reasons, but the sex is something that wouldn't give you that idea if the director decided to cut it down, or worse, cut it out entirely.

 

[Thaluikhain]

No one will agree with me about the Watchmen sex scene, but that was one of my favorite scenes. Everybody thinks the scene with "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen is overkill, but I enjoyed the scene, it really symbolized how Dan/Nite-Owl is sort of a smaller human being without his suit than he is with his suit, the idea of his sexual strength coming back after saving the burning building was kind of nice, and I LIKE THE SONG, it was perfect, and I defy anybody to tell me otherwise.

I came into this thread ready to talk about Watchmen, as it happened. The sex scene after the rescue[footnote]In which they fired off a zillion rounds from the minigun to bring down a water tower, rounds which would then continue to fly out into the big city they had as a backdrop...don't don't that[/footnote] was, IMHO, very hamfisted and unsubtle, but at least there was a good story reason for it to be there.

Myself, I liked the one before that, when he can't. Because you just don't see heroes with this sort of issue. There's no reason why someone that's fought the badguy and rescued the adorable kids necessarily has to be able to perform in bed with the heroine. Though, it was linked a bit strongly to him and his suit anxieties. I can see what they were getting at, but they still went and linked "hero" with "erection".

 

[Casual Shinji]

Just about the only example I can think of is the sex scene between Guts and Casca in Berserk. It was a really well done, really sweet scene that showed how far their relationship had become and how strong their bond was. Granted a lot of the sex scenes in Berserk do add to the work, but most of them are...less pleasant and I am kind of aiming for more happy scenes with this thread.

It also revealed just how deep Guts' scars were. It wasn't just 'we love eachother, let's have sex', in a way it's not even that that gives rise to the occasion - It's both of them feeling unable to ever get close to Griffith that drives them into eachother's arms "to lick their wounds" as they themselves claim. But more than that it showed that even at his happiest, Guts can't escape his past. He even says that the previous year he didn't think about his father or anything that happend back then, but this one moment with Caska makes it all come rushing back.

The anime His and Her Circumstances has a very similar sort of sex scene.

 

[Fappy]

Sex scenes are just like any other scenes, it just depends on how you use them. There can be just as much character/plot development while two people are bumping uglies as there can be with two people crossing swords or arguing in a court room. People have sex ALL THE TIME. It's a hugely important aspect of the human experience and plays a large role in most people's lives. I personally prefer to save sex scenes in my writing for character moments. It can be big or small, but there's a reason why they're having sex and that reason is usually very important in understanding the character(s).

 

[Anachronism]

The one that most readily springs to mind is Blue is the Warmest Colour.

There were a lot of sex scenes, and they all added to the story, but for the sake of conciseness we'll just discuss the "big" one, where Adele and Emma first have sex. Yes, it was seven minutes long, and yes, it was extremely graphic. But it didn't indulge in the male gaze, it didn't pander to the audience, and it wasn't meant to titillate. It was simply two people having sex. They're young, madly in love, and Adele's discovering her homosexuality: of course they fuck each other's brains out, because that's what young, in love people do.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Ah, I was just talking about this topic the other day with a couple of friends. Mainly focusing on anime but we branched the conversation out to TV, movies and manga after awhile. We touched on most of the things said here but not the Fate series, instead we talked about another of Type-Moons works, Tsukihime. I've only read the manga for Tsukihime and not the VN but I have to say it handled sex really well. It wasn't there simply for erotica sake, it worked in the story and didn't outstay its welcome.

It was refreshing.

 

[RiseUp]

I'd have to go with The Devil's backbone.

Jacinto, a violent sociopath who has been stuck in an orphanage since he was a child (he's now in his twenties) has sex with the elderly owner of the orphanage because the man she actually loves and cares about (Doctor Casares) is impotent, and every night he steals a key from her key ring to see if it will fit the safe that hold's the orphanage's money so he can escape with it and build a life for himself.

I like that sex scene. It's really weird because of the fact that Carmen (the orphanage's owner) has raised Jacinto since he was 6 years old, made more so by the fact that Carmen is one-legged. Carmen hates Jacinto, but he provides for her the one thing that her love can't, and he gets nothing from it, sleeping with her only to steal her keys.

It's a great movie overall, I highly recommend it.

 

[Vault101]

Another example would be the movie Shame,

now that was....an interesting movie...to say the least

The one that most readily springs to mind is Blue is the Warmest Colour.

There were a lot of sex scenes, and they all added to the story, but for the sake of conciseness we'll just discuss the "big" one, where Adele and Emma first have sex. Yes, it was seven minutes long, and yes, it was extremely graphic. But it didn't indulge in the male gaze, it didn't pander to the audience, and it wasn't meant to titillate..

I don't know....there WERE a lot of gratuitous ass shots (not just that scene but other times in the movie)...

some lesbians have said it was kind of rediculous....I don't any experience in that area but I think the actual scene itself wasn't that bad, I'm not against its graphic nature

but after a while it just went on...and on....and on....and on...and I was beggining to laugh just because it was getting rediculous

[i/]yes....theyre having sex...thats good....uh huh...you know I think I get what your trying to say here...mabye you want to move on with the plot?..no?...ok....there they go...having sex[/i]

OT: Natalie portman and mila kunis in Black Swan...because charachter....reasons...

Surprisingly enough, the new Wolfenstein did a pretty great job of it, I'd write something out but there's a thing on Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/20/5734482/wolfenstein-sex] that puts it better than I could.

That whole game is way more well written and acted than it has any right to be. Not that I'm complaining.

this too...I saw it and was like "huh....yeah I buy this"

I liked that movie but utterly loathed the sex scenes, which I found to be some of the most boring things ever filmed and that's a list that includes Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. One of the main problems with them is that the entire rest of the movie is filmed in close-ups of the characters, which creates a sense of connection with them and gets the viewer to empathise with Adele, but when the sex scenes start the camera pulls back (to the director's POV maybe?), any connection is immediately lost and you may just be watching two random women unconvincingly fuck for what feels like an eternity.

"its slices! it dices! its out your-" (joke stolen from "lesians react to BITWC"

that sex scene aside...I find that films like that are more fun to talk about after than they are I actually watch, I guess they aren't my kind of thing

off topic but during the film, the part where the cracks are starting to show in Adele and Emma's relationship, Emma dicusses with Adele that she should try writing because "I want you to be fullfilled" whereas Adele isn't having a bar of it

at first I didn't get Adele's problem, artistic expression is great! I agreeed with Emma

it didn't hit me untill after the film that while unintentioally Emma is essentially saying "your job is benieth you and unfullfilling" after Adele has clealy spent the night not feeling like Emmas intullectual eaqual....it was so obvious at first but I didn't get it

 

[FoolKiller]

*flame shield activated and turned to eleventy one*

I thought the scene in 300: Rise of an Empire did it right. It was dirty, violent, and tactical and had nothing to do with the fucking at hand. And with all that, it was humourous too.

 

[Zombie Badger]

The one that most readily springs to mind is Blue is the Warmest Colour.

There were a lot of sex scenes, and they all added to the story, but for the sake of conciseness we'll just discuss the "big" one, where Adele and Emma first have sex. Yes, it was seven minutes long, and yes, it was extremely graphic. But it didn't indulge in the male gaze, it didn't pander to the audience, and it wasn't meant to titillate. It was simply two people having sex. They're young, madly in love, and Adele's discovering her homosexuality: of course they fuck each other's brains out, because that's what young, in love people do.

I liked that movie but utterly loathed the sex scenes, which I found to be some of the most boring things ever filmed and that's a list that includes Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. One of the main problems with them is that the entire rest of the movie is filmed in close-ups of the characters, which creates a sense of connection with them and gets the viewer to empathise with Adele, but when the sex scenes start the camera pulls back (to the director's POV maybe?), any connection is immediately lost and you may just be watching two random women unconvincingly fuck for what feels like an eternity.

And that's the second problem. Even as someone who has never had lesbian sex in his life I can tell that those scenes bear no resemblance to reality. The first time they have sex not only is Adele an instant expert but they go through about twenty different positions in one night, many of which are extremely acrobatic and clearly done for the benefit of the camera, which makes sense given that the director's influence for these scenes was porn (seriously). The strange thing is though that I wouldn't even describe the sex scenes as pornographic, as porn has a focus (to titillate), but the combination of pornographic aesthetic and attempt to avoid titillation on the directors part leaves them without any purpose whatsoever. In the end they're nothing.


As far as good sex scenes go I'd recommend both Stranger by the Lake and In the Realm of the Senses, the latter of which used a great number of real sex scenes to explore Japanese culture.

 

[persephone]

I actually found the sex scenes in The Kids Are All Right really fit well and added to the work. They're not really there to titillate; they're there to illustrate the character's lives, personalities, and troubles, and they do just that very well.

 

[Phlakes]

Surprisingly enough, the new Wolfenstein did a pretty great job of it, I'd write something out but there's a thing on Polygon [http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/20/5734482/wolfenstein-sex] that puts it better than I could.

That whole game is way more well written and acted than it has any right to be. Not that I'm complaining.

 

[David Huff]

The sex scene in The Bourne Identity movie/book it showed that they were just on the run with emotions running high looking for something that the other might not have and letting all of that just flow out of them

 

[o_d]

Deadwood. While very rarely for story reasons, sex in Deadwood is often used to establish tone very well. There's nothing pornographic in the way the TV series displays its sex scenes, it simply uses them in much the same way it does its violence - as an illustration of the degeneracy and harshness of its world.

 

[You Can't Take the Sky From Me]

I found most of the sex scenes in The Wheel of Time books to be quite good, especially Rand and Aviendha's first time. I think it helped that we had already spent quite some time, several (very long) books, getting to know the characters involved and it seemed like a logical progression of their relationship. Also, I personally liked that it was neither graphic nor explicit in any way, more of a passionate kiss and a fade to black.

 

[VyseRogueKing]

Ride to Hell: Retribution... snrk.

Seriously though off the top of my head, the flying sex along-side an airplane between Arthur Dent and Fenchurch with a little old lady looking out the window to see two people suspended in the air while in the act. Had a nice sweetness to it and was completely hilarious. Par for course in the hitch-hiker's guide series.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Just about the only example I can think of is the sex scene between Guts and Casca in Berserk. It was a really well done, really sweet scene that showed how far their relationship had become and how strong their bond was. Granted a lot of the sex scenes in Berserk do add to the work, but most of them are...less pleasant and I am kind of aiming for more happy scenes with this thread.

It also revealed just how deep Guts' scars were. It wasn't just 'we love eachother, let's have sex', in a way it's not even that that gives rise to the occasion - It's both of them feeling unable to ever get close to Griffith to drives them into eachother's arms "to lick their wounds" as they themselves claim. But more than that it showed that even at his happiest, Guts can't escape his past. He even says that the previous year he didn't think about his father or anything that happend back then, but this one moment with Caska makes it all come rushing back.

Quoted for Truth. Berserk's the shit.

OT: I'mma go with Katawa Shoujo. Yeah, it depends on the route you're taking since the games a little inconsistent, but the sex scenes worked well as both characterization and some plot development. Hanako's one results in a really great wake-up call for the protagonist (and, consequently, the player). The rest at least tell us a little bit about the characters in some way via sex.