Sex Sells Movie Tickets
Don’t question your morals, just sit back and wave your money in support of an industry that believes women should be seen and not heard.
It may be because I’m older, but I’ve become tired of seeing how much film advertising can be, and is, based on sex. It seems many mainstream film advertisements follow the James Bond convention of providing minimal plot details, instead utilising clips of action and ludicrous opportunities to admire the female form. It’s all very degrading and juvenile, isn’t it? Surely we should be enticed because of the talent involved and premise of the film, not because of the poor scantily-clad character in the trailer.
This would be less of a problem if it were possible to avoid film advertisements, but they are literally everywhere. Bay Watch, Transformers, James Bond, these are all products that receive a mainstream release and so feature prominently on billboards, buses, TV, social media. Anyone with access to social media falls victim to the mass circulation of trailers and posters. And it’s becoming even more of an issue, considering social media platforms now feature advertisements which are harder to skip, and platforms such as Facebook even play advertisements automatically. And the worst part is, we are all accessories to the crime. Advertising companies don’t even need to try. They merely have to release a new trailer or poster and watch as everyone shares it to their Facebook feed. What’s going to happen next? Are we going to have images of teenagers in bikinis bent over a Ferrari beamed straight into our heads as we sleep?
Now I should make it clear I’m not attacking film advertising as a whole, because clearly not all is foul. When Paddington 2 was advertised we weren’t forced to watch the titular character pole dance to ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, but there is still an overwhelming amount of over-sexualised advertising and more people should be talking about it. It’s frustrating that certain films are still pitched specifically for a male heterosexual audience, and yet I can’t escape the feeling that this is a default setting. It’s become something we’re so accustomed to, and it definitely shouldn’t be the case. When it comes to topics such as sexual exploitation, or objectification in the media, the real killer is apathy. It may seem incredibly pedantic at times to examine film trailers and pick through each individual shot, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. These problems don’t just disappear because we ignore them.
Even if you look beyond the obvious choices of large action franchises, it seems to be a common choice for studios to capitalise on animalistic desires to see half naked women. There are newer franchises opting to utilise this frustrating advertising style. If you recall the trailer for Suicide Squad there is a moment in which the characters are seen “suiting up” into their costumes, which includes footage clearly displaying Harley Quinn shirtless, before revealing that everyone in the vicinity has stopped their various duties to watch her undress. It serves absolutely nothing to the character or the plot, so why on Earth does it feature in the film, and more importantly why was this clip chosen as part of the advertising campaign? Because beyond reducing a complex character to a sex object for Neanderthals to drool over, there is no achievement to boast. It is a distasteful move by a studio that should really be trying harder.
Inevitably this leaves us in a rather awkward situation. Is everyone brainwashed and sexually frustrated? Not necessarily, but it does have undeniable insidious implications. In the digital world of thumbnails, automatic videos and constant advertising on social media, content is available to people of all ages. And while it doesn’t necessarily have the power to directly turn children into sex crazed minions, it does reinforce the idea that it’s acceptable to view women exclusively as objects for the enjoyment of a heterosexual male audience. For instance, last year photos were posted to social media from the set of the upcoming Aquaman movie, including colourful images of Amber Heard in costume as Mera, which for a geek such as myself was incredibly exciting. To see the first live action depiction of one of the most interesting and three dimensional female characters is a huge deal. So it was disgusting to see fans sharing the photographs with juvenile comments about Heard’s cleavage, remarking “there are two reasons in this picture for why you should watch Aquaman.” And thus my blood continues to boil. If the studios continue to adopt an advertising style that reduces characters to their physical appearance then it encourages audiences to think that they can do the same.
Of course it is important to note that none of the films mentioned gained financial success solely through sexualised shots, but they were still included in the advertising for no other purpose than to sell a product. And if we’re living in a world where one of the most influential institutions is allowed to continue using humans as pieces of meat to increase their sales figures, anger is the only appropriate response. These clips are not chosen absent-mindedly, they are chosen in an attempt to play to the values of the mainstream audience. Evidently the films in question are not all ghastly pornographic nonsense, but the studios are still using sexualised images to their advantage with no concern for the implications, which leaves a sour taste in the mouth and an overbearing feeling of disappointment.
I am by no means suggesting that all is wrong in the world of cinema. One of the most wonderful aspects of film as an art form is that artists are able to explore an infinite number of topics and themes in any way possible. There are opportunities to explore sexuality and the human body in a tasteful and interesting manner, it’s just something that is seldom seen in the mainstream. Which is probably fine. These films have clearly found their audience, who are likely to blindly follow franchises and throw money at them regardless of how the film is advertised, so it’s best to leave them to it. If they wish to abandon rational thinking that is entirely up to them. I’m not trying to suggest that I or any other person is better than those that favour large franchises, I am merely suggesting that advertisements should move beyond primal levels of thought, and engage with what’s in our brains and our hearts, and not the contents of our pants.
