The Golden Globe nominations were announced Monday morning, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of a gay rancher in The Power of the Dog earned him a contending spot in the ‘Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama’ category.
Should Cumberbatch take home the Globe, it’ll be a big moment for… full-frontal male nudity.
Of course, the moment would really (and rightfully) belong to Cumberbatch and the filmmakers behind the masterful Netflix drama, but Hollywood has been historically reluctant to bestow awards to male actors who show it all on screen.
Related: NBC cancels the 2022 Golden Globes broadcast for one glaring reason
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In other words, we wouldn’t expect him to bring up the issue in his acceptance speech. And only time will tell if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will give him the more prestigious Oscar nomination.
As Variety points out, the same cannot be said for the Best Actress category — Halle Berry and Kate Winslet both won Oscars for roles that included full nudity, in Monster’s Ball” (2001) and “The Reader” (2008), respectively. By contrast, Michael Fassbender got no Oscars love when he bared all for his critically acclaimed performance in Shame (2011).
Is 2022 the year that’ll break the trend? Between Cumberbatch, Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley, and Simon Rex in Red Rocket, there are certainly some strong contenders.
The Power of the Dog, meet The Power of the D.
Sqwoah
I’m not a fan of nudity in movies. I have access to porn if it want that. Actual movies should clean it up.
Pistolo
Gosh, you’re a lot of fun.
Openminded
Nudity is natural. If nudity helps tell the story better, then I’m all for it. Nudity added just for the sake of creating buzz usually ends up looking out of place and unnecessary. Personally, I wish porn could be more like mainstream movies, just with the nudity and sex exposed.
Jaquelope
@Openminded : I think there are many people who feel the same way you do. I certainly do.
lmdoane55
ugh ?
nebskram
nudity does not equate sex
pull ur mind out of the gutter
SDR94103
(.)
metta
I disagree. Nudity should not necessarily be sexual. It should be viewed as natural.
Tim
Because art shouldn’t imitate life… I mean who takes their clothes off..ever?!!?
ckskr
so, let’s get to the root of your comment that you find “nudity” as dirty.
rangerwilcox
just display the whole package on IMAX for me!
Rich85
So Simon Rex has come full circle I see…
woodroad34
So I watched the movie and….full frontal? He’s standing in the river washing off dirt and the water comes up to his pubes…the “goods”, the “bits and bobs” were hidden by the water.
Openminded
Well, you just ruined it for all of us.
BigJohnSF
no there was definitely peen in there for a sec
Jaquelope
@BigJohnSF : The operative word is “sec”. So fast that you can barely see it, and then it’s only the root and pubes. (YAWN)
Joshooeerr
An achievement of sorts, I guess. But Benedict Cumberbatch wouldn’t even make my top 50 of actors I’d like to see naked.
mateo
I agree. Between Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne, I can’t decide which one bores me more. It’s odd to me that both of them seem to have so many gay fans. What are others seeing that I’m not?
emarell9
Commenter “Mateo”: My answer is: vulnerability. It’s in their eyes. A scarce commodity in adult males, well adult male movie stars.
Mostlikelytobedownvoted
I wouldn’t call Benedict’s cold flaccid floppy mud covered dick’s half a second flash on the screen “Oscar Worthy Full Frontal Male Nudity Moment” more like a blink and you’ll miss it moment if you ask me, but the scene of him masturbating with Bronco Henry’s scarf after watching the younger cowboys splashing each other naked in the river after a long day of ranching was quite a memorable one.
cc423
If that :01 shot of Cumberbatch covered in mud in a river is considered “full frontal” then we’ve got a long way to go in this category.
Mostlikelytobedownvoted
Amen brother!!! Ether that or Diavid Grant is seriously dick starved poor thing.
marshal phillips
This wasn’t a full Monty, just a teaser.
winemaker
About G damned time. Female stark nudity has been done and accepted forever yet why can’t men have the same thing? It’s like the last frontier. men’s asses have been seen for years yet it’s like society treats men like sexless hermaphrodites without reproductive organs. And as everybody’s built differently some better looking than others, some guys well built and endowed others average, some women more buxom than others etc.
lmdoane55
Great Movie and with about one second of full frontal yikes it’s almost 2022 what’s the big deal about full frontal male nudity in American FFS!!!
Urban Geezer
I agree if would be great if American male actors would get comfortable and on equal footing with female actors when it comes to nudity in film done in a non exploitational way. . But it’s click bait articles like this, constantly stirring the pot when some well known actor decides to take the plunge for his art and go full frontal, that makes other male actors think twice about doing it. To narrow talk about a great film like The Power of the Dog that has a lot to say for gay people down to the the subject of a micro second of male nudity is really to disrespect the art involved. imho.
Essie
I haven’t watched this thing yet because I would seriously like to see a real GAY man playing a gay character AND it would be nice if that GAY man was someone better looking and sexier than freaking Ben Cumberbatch. I’ve always thought he was creepy and really unattractive. However, the fact that he is nominated for a Golden Globe makes a lot of sense since the GGs are as low as you can go in the awards game.
CityguyUSA
I wish gay movies and series could look less like porn.
REDBEARD
Not a new thing for Jane Campion. I think it was Harvey Keitel who had a dick shot in the Piano.
azjeff17
Great movie! Not at all what I expected. The ending really makes you re-think what you just watched.
emarell9
For me too, in fact it was the best drama of 2021 in my list. [Best feature length documentaries: ‘Cured’ & ‘Moving San Francisco’ – both aired on PBS, the latter on station KQED & also steaming free on its website.]
My2CentsWorth
I agree with Openminded on porn. Not everyone is into backdoor sex. There should be more just front sex porn. Pornhub is the best porn site but is horrible. Despite the listed category such as solo male the content tends to be just as bad as the other sections [to one who doesn’t want to see backdoor ses].
ShaunNJ
Michael Fassbender was robbed! I’ll see everything in which he appears – from the sexy, sympathetic sex addict in Shame to the brutal, monstrous and conflicted slaveholder in Twelve Years a Slave – that man has range (doesn’t hurt that he’s also blessed).
Josiah Freshmount
Wait….so Bradley Cooper is doing MFN? Can’t wait to see that. W’ve all seen Simon and bless him for that.
JJinAus
Yanks need to discover what full frontal actually looks like.