About a week ago I went to the library and checked out the 1st season of a show called Nip/Tuck. I have wanted to see the show since I first heard about it coming to the F/X channel four or five years ago. It is set around the lives of two plastic surgeons in Miami, and I was initially interested by the medical aspect of the show – the plastic surgery is often displayed quite graphically, and about half of the plot in each episode revolves around the character(s) getting the operation – who they are, why they want to change themselves, what their situations are. In fact, early in each episode we see the doctors’ consultations opened with the line, “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself.” And that kind of story fascinates me*.
But there is a problem, and the problem is this. The other half of each episode takes place in the personal lives of the doctors, and the majority of the substance of those plot lines deals with who they are flirting/sleeping with, who their friends and family are flirting/sleeping with, and consequently how each of them rationalizes and justifies these sexcapades. That kind of story does not fascinate me.
Generally, I am fine with sexual content in television shows and movies, however strong, as long as it benefits a story or a character’s development in some way. It always bothers me a little to hear people make statements wholly condemning sexual content in entertainment, arguing that it will inevitably affect the viewer in some negative way**. Because you know what? I enjoyed the movie Atonement, and I like going to the library, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s okay to bang my girlfriend against a bookshelf. I love Moulin Rouge in all its colorful musical candied-apple-of-my-eye-candy majesty (I’ve put some sort of pun there, I just know I did), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to find me a hooker and write sheet music for her after making music between the sheets with her (okay, I definitely made a pun there). And just because I’ve recently gotten into Battlestar Galactica doesn’t mean I plan on seeking out a planet from which mankind was recently eradicated and impregnating a robot disguised a human. I have morals, people! But that doesn’t mean the characters in the television shows and movies I watch have to as well.
Unless, of course, the sexual content stops contributing to the plot, and instead becomes the plot, because that’s when we’re left with little more than a glorified, illustrated romance novel. That is what I believe was happening in Nip/Tuck. It just wasn’t doing it for me (perhaps because the characters were only doing it for themselves) so I only got through 9 out of the 13 episodes in the first season. Which is unfortunate, because the surgery scenes were really cool.
*No promises, but maybe I’ll get into my opinions on people’s desires to change themselves (externally or internally) later on. I’ve been talking to some people a bit about that lately, and maybe once some more stuff gets talked about I can turn that into something on here. We’ll see.
**Yes, sexual content that is too graphic or simply too prevalent can negatively affect people’s hearts and minds. But not necessarily everyone’s. The point I’m trying to make here is about knowing yourself and being responsible – if you know something will cause you to stumble, stay away from it! But don’t assume that just because it is a problem for you then it is a problem for everyone.
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