Are the movies too sexy? Or not sexy enough?

A fascinating but flawed new study looks at the direction sex in the movies has gone

For quite a few years, the conventional wisdom was that the movies had no sex in them anymore. It’s common to hear cineastes lamenting the demise of whatever their favorite era of sex in film was, whether it was the Russ Meyer heyday of the 1960s, the erotic thrillers of the 1980s and 1990s, or the raunchy teen comedies of various eras. 

Not too long after that, I started to hear quite a bit of the opposite: The movies today have too much sex. Especially among the younger cohort, there emerged a discomfort with having to see sex on screen, with even some declaring that their consent had somehow been violated by having to watch some things. 

So, which one is right? Have the movies gotten sexier or less sexy over time? 

The Economist, of all publications, explored that subject last week in running the numbers about the changes in sex on screen over recent decades. 

Before diving in, the question depends on several other things: What year does the clock start and end? How is “sex” defined- an actual sex scene, nudity, or just a general air of sexiness? And perhaps most importantly, what movies are included? Only Hollywood releases? Indie and foreign films as well? And what about streaming?