Contextual Information - Kieran Panchal 9652

Nudity in Film

Nudity in film is "any presentation in films that involves people who are naked or wearing less clothing than contemporary norms consider modest." The appearance of nudity within cinema and the entertainment industry has been considered controversial ever since the appearance of american actress Adah Isaacs Menken wearing a flesh-coloured body stocking on stage during the performance of Byron's "Mazeppa". She also posed for nude photos after this show, causing further contention.

The first film productions containing aspects of nudity were erotic films, not long after the introduction of cinema in the 1890s. Most of these nude appearances were short sequences under 10 minutes, such as the 7-minute film La Coucher De La Maríee - a film showing Louise Willy performing a striptease in the bathroom. The first full-length film containing this variety of eroticism was After The Ball, a production by director George Melies in 1897. Around this time, many French directors discovered the potential profits that could be made from this kind of industry, and this became a popular film genre amongst the male, French audience.

Since the introduction of feature-length film in Hollywood in 1906, nude scenes have been present in cinema. In the 1910s in particular, there were many films that contained only brief nudity, however, they sparked a great deal of controversy. Various groups objected to these features on moral grounds, and several states set up film censorship boards, arguing that such content was obscene and should be banned. Subjected to significant pressure from these groups, the Motion Picture Association of America was forced to establish its own censorship agency, the Hays Code, putting an end to any risqué content involved in films produced by the main Hollywood studios. In line with this, the Catholic  Legion of Decency frequently monitored the morals displayed in films and indicated its disapproval by condemning films it considered morally objectionable.

Since this time period, social and cultural attitudes towards nudity have relaxed somewhat and in 1958, the New York Court of Appeals decided that in the context of film, moving image that contains scenes of nudity would not be considered obscene, and the code was abandoned in 1968 in favour of the MPAA film classification system.

Although more commonly accepted in the modern day, nudity within film and video is still certainly a culturally controversial issue, most commonly because it can be seen to be questioning of certain communities' standards of modesty. In addition to this, in the modern day, body image and acceptability   is a strong issue in relation to how the media can depict a certain image of the body that consumers (females in particular) may feel that they have to conform to - and nudity in media can exacerbate this societal issue. However, the level of controversy and offence caused by nudity is of course dependent upon many factors, as these standards vary by culture, and depend on the type of nudity, who is exposed, which parts of the body are exposed, the duration of the exposure, the pose, the context. 


In society the acceptability of nudity in terms of the gender of the subject differs. Up until around the 1980s, it was rare for male nudity to be shown in the media, whilst the appearance of a nude female was considered dignified. Eventually, when male nudity became more frequently materialised, it was treated as laughable and was generally used in a humorous context. This is an example of evidence for the argument that the media is still mostly dominated by the male gender, as females are often sexualised to a greater extent than males. Although this societal attitude is slowly changing, with the release of films such as "Magic Mike" - a feature-length about male strippers, aimed at a female audience. Today, although the appearance of male and female nudity is much more prevalent in the media, it may still be argued that levels of acceptability differ between the two genders - generally the consensus would be that it is more acceptable in society for a man to appear half naked than a woman, as they are less likely to be objectified. 

Why is nudity used in films?

Nudity in films is often justified to be significant to the natural and realistic aspects of a narrative. A film feels closer to reality if it portrays events as close as possible to how they would unfold in a real life context. In many cases it is especially important in the construction and development of a character. Nudity has many connotations and can help intensify feelings of nature, love, beauty, seduction and sex. There is a strong impression that nudity is often superfluous and gratuitous to a plot, and many people would suggest that it is used simply as a means of appealing to certain audiences, ultimately as a means of making profit.

Although planned, due to the unpracticality of using any elements of nudity within our music video and for the safety of our actor, we decided against doing this (Updated post-shoot).