“When I went to the promotion of “Love” in America, I got the most stupid questions. Even good film critics were asking me, “Why did you need to show a penis in your movie? Why do you need to show the face of the devil?” Come on! I have a penis. The guys who were asking me those questions have a penis. Why is it in American culture, the penis is the face of all evil in this world? If your dad didn’t have one and didn’t use it with your mom, you wouldn’t be here. It’s the source of life. It’s not the source of death. Weapons are the source of death. In every American movie, there are machine guns, whatever. Even on Instagram, why can you not show an erect penis? It’s a nice part of the body, like my hand, like my nose.”Filmmaker Gaspar Noé speaking to Variety about male sexuality in movies.
Related: Full Frontal Nudity Is As Safe As Helmets For City Cyclists In PSA
Related: Hunger Games’ Josh Hutcherson goes full-frontal in Hulu’s new “Future Man” series
CastleSF
What an absurd statement from this director! “Penis is a nice part of a body, like my hand.” It’s so profound that it is literally beyond laughable.
Mandrake
Why is it laughable? I think his comments are right one the mark.
jjose712
What is laughable is that american critics are so obsessed with sex like they were preteen boys
jpcolter
Everything that director said is absolutely true. There’s nothing wrong with a penis.
mcflyer54
Rarely, if ever, do you hear these very same critics question, or complain about, female nudity in movies. And the irony is many of these critics are gay so maybe it envy because they aren’t “measuring up” to what they see on screen.
derek mcgillicuddy
It’s just a pose: Americans think about nothing but sex.
I am going now to the Krumme Lanke here in Berlin where I am going to join a crowd of sunbathers and take off my bikini swimsuit and then jump in the lake with everyone. In America, if you take your clothes off to go swimming you’ll be arrested and placed on the absurd “sex offenders” list.
What a nation. What a people!
Mandrake
You’re totally correct, but in America we feel best being hypocrites about sex. We want to have lots of it and watch lots of porn. Oh, but nobody’s supposed to know that, and we’ll become outcasts if we tell anybody. Better to regulate and shut it down from public view.
jasentylar
In Germany, you can be fined 150 euros for sticking out your tongue at a police officer. You could be fined up to 4000 for flipping them off. You can’t legally keep an urn in your home nor can you play drums for two hours a day or tune your piano at night.
WHAT A NATION! WHAT A PEOPLE!
Aires the Ram
Correct!!! And that’s coming from a life-long American.
It’s called ‘Puritanical Hypocrisy’.
Dawson
I agree that we have an issue in the United States when it comes to male nudity. It is just a dick. So what. Yet we can look at nudity in art and not have an issue. College men, nowadays are afraid to take showers in the locker room (Yale study on locker rooms with incoming freshmen). It is just unhealthy to be so concern about your dick size. There will always be someone bigger and smaller. As a Latin nudity was not something I was raised to be embarrassed by yet at the same time this didn’t mean that walking around nude was a normal practice. I didn’t know I was supposed to be concern about not taking a shower after gym class. I didn’t even think what the big deal was as I wanted to take the sweat off my body. I have always found this subject to be just weird.
unreligious
Well your wrong about Americans being O.K, with nudity in art.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/12/art-teacher-in-utah-fired-after-showing-students-classic-paintings-containing-nudity.html
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/balthus-therese-dreaming-met-museum-adolescent-sexual-exploitation
Not saying I agree with this, my thoughts are more inline with yours, just pointing out it’s worse than you think.
Goosecurls
Going by the preview, the movie looks terribly dull. Not to mention that it’s reminiscent of the film “Betty Blue” from 1986 (passionate and sexual affair with a crazy woman). One thing that did surprise and intrigue me is that the film is shown in 3D! Mercy, what a viewing experience that must be.
dali
I have not only seen the preview, I’ve seen the film. Surprised by the 3D, you say? Especially when the last scene is that of a penis ejaculating right in your face. Now that’s a viewing experience one might say.
Kangol
I’m not sure if anyone else has seen some of Noé’s films, but they’re among the most disturbing out there. I’ll Stand Alone tells the story of a frustrated maniac (putting it mildly), and includes a scene you won’t soon forget, while Irreversable, which is told backwards, includes an extended violent rape scene, and a brutal bashing in a gay club. I think he does a lot of this stuff to garner attention, whether it’s the over-the-top violence or the nudity. In general, though, I think there should be male frontal nudity if you have female frontal nudity.
Geeker
This from a man who seems to do his best to make sex seem either violent or just creepy in every film he makes.
Bob Scardino
Yes. It’s one of my favorite parts.
woodroad34
So they’re treating this like a gay movie, even though it’s about a straight couple. This all leaves me confused; are they against straight sex? The women I know have never been immaculately conceived.
phallictomato
I don’t understand why full frontal male nudity is frowned upon either. If both films, and in public, it’s ok for a guy to be shirtless, but not for women. This is a double standard.
On the other side, it’s deemed perfectly acceptable for women to be topless or completely nude in FILM, but men are somehow not allowed to be nude or show their dicks in film. It’s a stupid double standard that needs to end.
I like what Noel Alejandro is doing with his films, by mixing passionate tasteful porn/sex, with a story line. So many mainstream movies just have these meaningless sex scenes that add nothing to the film.
I don’t know this Gaspar Noe guy, but I do agree with him that we need more male full-frontal nudity. The penis is something to celebrate. It brings life into this world, and is celebrated in asian countries all the time.
phallictomato
IN*** both films, and in public, it’s ok for a guy to be shirtless, but not for women. This is a double standard.
GayEGO
>>CastleSF: So you would rather see derrieres?
GayEGO
If women show their boobs, men should show their penises. Perhaps that would reduce the sex only relationships and people would concentrate more on heart felt relationships – if they are attracted to one another.
Alejandro De La Garza
No one can really answer Noé’s question. Why do some people view the nude male form as obscene? Things are backward here in the U.S. Unlike other developed nations, we think nudity and sexuality are obscene, but that violence is socially acceptable. Or at least some people do. I don’t really have problems with nudity and sexuality. But there is a problem with violence, most of which is against males – both in real life and in entertainment. People who scream at the sight of a naked man are usually the same ones who laugh at the sight of men and boys getting struck in the groin in “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” In fact, AFHV made groin strikes wholesome family entertainment, even though they say they won’t display violence (even slap-stick violence) against children.
It all points to the overwhelming animosity towards the male physique in this politically-correct society. Our country seems to have no qualms about sending young men off to stupid wars and having them return in body bags and wheelchairs. But it suddenly draws the line with two men holding hands on television.
Kangol
You answered your own question, and it has nothing to do with political correctness. Toxic, misogynistic masculinity privileges demonstrations of machismo–men fighting, men dying, violence involving men against other men and women (who are considered to be weaker), jokes about male violence, etc.–and shows anxiety towards or harshly condemns anything that might suggest homoeroticism, effeminacy, same-sexual desire, etc., i.e., male nudity, especially male frontal nudity. It’s the source of crap like “gay” as a general derogatory term, “no homo” to protect male fragility, fear around transsexuality, and on and on.
So yes, people can answer Noé’s question, and hypermasculinity/toxic masculinity/gay-queer panic around male sexuality and homonormative fragility are all reasons why so many “straight” men, and even supposedly “gay” men like yourselves don’t grasp what’s right in front of your eyes, then run to condemn the Left and “political correctness.”
Casinoguy
I say “YES” to Noe