Nudity Creep – by Liam Sweeny.
Nudity. Full frontal nudity. Male full-frontal nudity. Closeups of male full-frontal nudity. To some, the progression of what I just said further distaste with each sentence. For some, the progression got more exciting. But nudity, in all its forms, is a time honored touchpoint (all entendres and puns intended.)
Max, which until not too long ago was HBOMax, which not too long before that was just HBO, has a new show it grabbed from Channel 4 in the UK, a more lax market. Called Naked Attraction, is a dating show centered around potential dates in boxes that slowly, starting at the bottom, become ‘unboxed.’ We’re talking men in boxes revealing their, well, their mentionables.
Some people thing full frontal nudity on television is wrong, but those people are few and far between these days. But male full-frontal nudity is relatively new. Of course this is HBO, which gave us Game Of Thrones, the full-frontal nudity with bits of show around it. And let’s not forget HBO’s longstanding tendency to push the envelope with sex, like, say, the show Real Sex? And let’s not also forget that Cinemax, HBO’s sis, used to be monikered “Skin-e-max.”
Is nudity boring to us at this point? Yes and no. As far as what’s on television, we’re probably a bit less shocked about seeing a penis than we would’ve been in the 1950s. Male full frontal nudity might be an eye-opener for some, but mainly because it’s been a taboo for so long. But will it get to be old hat?
Ask Michaelangelo. He was sculpting male full frontal nudity way back in the Renaissance. You think he could’ve put David in a tunic or something? Sure, would’ve still looked cool. I saw a medieval engraving with the devil carting his massive, engorged penis in front of him with an actual cart.
Sex is going to be one of those things that’s always with us. And if we get bored of it now, give us a hundred years. We might find David in a tunic yet.