I recently went to see Blue Is The Warmest Colour in a small cinema in Central London on a Thursday night to quite frankly, see what all the fuss was about. Being a film student (and cinephile) I was curious to if all the controversy surrounding the film was justified (the sexual content and nudity).

As I write this in 2013, it baffles me that nudity and sex cause more controversy in cinema and society than violence. Sex is naturally occuring between humans and takes place millions of times a day throughout the world in a variety of cultures and is 100% natural. In most cases, sex is a pain-free enjoyable experience between individuals who are in love, yet when seen on screen it is seen as wrong. Violence however is not natural between individuals and only occurs to inflict pain and cause harm yet on screen seeing a head being ripped off or a character being murdered is seen as perfectly acceptable and rarely generates hype due to the fact it is commonly seen in films. In most cases, an explicit shot of a vagina or penis would cause more offense than torture and blood.

Is this morally correct in 2013?

Blue Is The Warmest Colour features the most explicit sex and nudity featured in a mainstream cinema in the UK in history as we encounter close up shots of female genitals (although prosthetic) and a six minute long love-making scene that has become somewhat infamous. In 2013, films such as Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D have been released with both containing strong elements of horror and gore yet neither of these films have generate strong controversy.

Do the public fear that if sex and nudity is seen as acceptable in movies that people will start expressing themselves sexually in public? It is legal for 16 year olds to have sex in the UK, yet parents would much prefer their children to see violence on screen than nudity than explicit sexual content.