Survey: Gen Z Wants Less Sex in Movies and TV Shows

These days, young moviegoers aren’t interested in films that rely on sex to seem daring or exciting.

According to a new study from UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers, Gen Z is losing interest in sex on screen. This could mean the end of overly sexualized teen comedies, as reported by Variety.

A new university report released on Wednesday, October 22nd, shows nearly half of Gen Z (48%) think movies and TV shows contain too much sexual content. The report, called “Teens & Screens,” was based on a survey of 1,500 young people conducted in August 2025.

I’ve noticed something really interesting about how Gen Z views romance in movies and TV. It’s not that they’re against showing intimacy, but a lot of them – over 60%, actually – are getting tired of stories where attraction is the main thing driving a relationship. They’re really craving something more! What they want to see is a deeper connection, like a strong friendship, being the heart of the romance. It’s refreshing, honestly – they want to see couples connect on a level beyond just physical attraction.

Younger audiences have moved past the love triangle storyline, which was popular in books like Twilight and The Hunger Games. They’re also looking for more positive and realistic relationships and aren’t interested in seeing unhealthy dynamics portrayed in media.

Actually, data shows that romance isn’t a very popular genre with younger viewers – it’s near the bottom of the list of things they want to see in films and TV shows.

Over half of those surveyed (54%) expressed a desire for characters who don’t focus on romantic relationships. Almost as many (55%) also want to see more examples of close, non-romantic friendships between people of different genders in movies and TV shows.

It might seem odd that Gen Z isn’t very interested in sex scenes in movies and TV shows, especially given how many popular teen and young adult titles – like Superbad, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Bottoms – have pushed boundaries. But this trend fits with what researchers are seeing in younger members of Gen Z, who appear to be more conservative than older Gen Z and millennials.

Sex Scenes People Thought Were Real

Antichrist (2009)

Lars von Trier’s 2009 film, Antichrist, immediately grabbed attention with its opening scene featuring explicit intimacy between Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. While it appeared very realistic, the director actually used adult film actors for the most graphic moments. This wouldn’t be the last time von Trier explored disturbing and explicit content in his work.

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

The film Blue Is the Warmest Color became well-known—and also controversial—for its long and explicit sex scenes. To emphasize the scenes’ raw nature, the actresses wore prosthetic genitalia. While the frank depiction of intimacy between Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos sparked conversation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival—where the film won the Palme d’Or—the actresses later revealed they had been mistreated on set by director Abdellatif Kechiche. Seydoux described the encounters as “humiliating” and feeling like exploitation. This led to a wider debate about whether striving for realism in sex scenes could cross the line into exploitation, harming both the performers and the audience.

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Even after 50 years, the sex scene in Don’t Look Now is considered one of the most memorable – and realistic – ever filmed, often leaving viewers wondering if it was actually real. This question resurfaced recently when a former studio executive, Peter Bart, claimed in his memoir that he witnessed Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie having sex during filming. He alleged it wasn’t acting. However, Sutherland strongly denied this, stating that Bart’s account was completely false and that only four people were present: himself, Christie, director Nic Roeg, and cinematographer Tony Richmond. The enduring speculation about the scene’s authenticity is a testament to the actors’ convincing performance and the power of suggestion. Director Roeg cleverly edited the sequence with shots of the couple getting dressed to minimize overtly suggestive content and satisfy censors.

Kids (1995)

The 1990s film Kids gained notoriety for its raw and honest portrayal of teenage sexuality. The film was so controversial – and involved actors who were minors – that any actual sexual acts would have been illegal. Because of its NC-17 rating (though it was eventually released without one) and explicit content, many questioned whether the sex depicted was real. Even now, people involved with the film maintain in interviews that all sexual acts were simulated. (For example, an oral history of the film features multiple individuals stating variations of “No real sex happened during filming.”)

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Marlon Brando wrote in his autobiography that the director of Last Tango in Paris, Bernardo Bertolucci, intended for him and co-star Maria Schneider to engage in sexual activity during filming. Though they both declined, the simulated scenes were still deeply affecting. When the film was released in 1972, audiences were shocked by the intensity of the scenes – one involving butter became particularly infamous – with critic Pauline Kael calling it “the most powerfully erotic movie ever made.” For decades, Schneider maintained that the butter scene wasn’t in the original script and left her feeling humiliated. In 2013, Bertolucci confirmed her account, admitting he and Brando had planned the scene in secret, aiming for a genuine, humiliated reaction from Schneider rather than an acted performance. His disturbing comments led to renewed scrutiny of the film’s sex scenes and Last Tango in Paris as a whole.

Nymphomaniac (2013)

Lars von Trier’s film Nymphomaniac featured even more explicit sexual content than his previous work, Antichrist. To achieve this, he used a combination of professional adult film actors and digital technology. The filmmakers digitally placed the faces of the lead actors onto the bodies of the adult film performers, creating the appearance of graphic sex acts. While rumors circulated during filming – particularly involving Shia LaBeouf – the actors confirmed that no actual sexual activity occurred between the non-pornographic performers.

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

For years, there’s been talk that the passionate love scene between Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in the 1981 film The Postman Always Rings Twice wasn’t acting – that it was genuine. Some have even analyzed the scene frame by frame, comparing it to the famous Zapruder film. However, both Nicholson and Lange have consistently said the scene was carefully planned and choreographed. To make them comfortable, only the director, Bob Rafelson, and the cinematographer, Sven Nykvist, were present during filming. It seems they were simply very skilled at portraying intimacy.

Queen & Slim (2019)

If you search for “sex scene” and “looked real” on Twitter, the movie Queen & Slim (2019) frequently appears in the results. People have often commented on the realism of the film’s intimate scenes, even though social media didn’t exist during the time of older films like The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Queen & Slim is a modern take on the Bonnie and Clyde story, following a couple (Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya) who go on the run after a tragic encounter during a traffic stop. The sex scene between the two actors takes place in a car and, notably, is edited alongside footage of police clashing with protestors supporting the couple. While the scene isn’t overly explicit in terms of nudity, it features long, slow close-ups of the actors’ faces, highlighting that truly realistic sex scenes don’t necessarily require showing a lot of skin.

365 Days (2020)

When Netflix started showing lists of its most popular movies and shows, a little-known Polish film called 365 Days quickly rose to the top. The reason? It was essentially a sexually explicit movie about a woman who develops a relationship with a man who holds her captive for a year.

Some viewers were surprised by how graphic 365 Days was, leading to articles about their shocked reactions. While the intimate scenes weren’t authentic, the viewing numbers were very real. The film proved popular enough that Netflix is now producing two follow-up movies.

Wild Orchid (1989)

Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis, who starred together in the erotic drama Wild Orchid, were actually a couple in real life when they filmed their intimate scenes. Director Zalman King was known for creating sensual cable programming in the 80s and 90s – he was the creator of Showtime’s Red Shoe Diaries. King’s style wasn’t always realistic, and some of the sex scenes in Wild Orchid are quite over-the-top – one even takes place in crumbling ruins under a leaking sewer pipe! However, Rourke and Otis clearly had chemistry, and King reportedly had to edit down the scene to get an R rating. In 1989, many people speculated the scene wasn’t acted, but Otis always denied it. It’s up to the audience to draw their own conclusions.

2025-10-22 20:27