Oversexed TV

‘It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV. But where are those good old fashioned values on which we used to rely.’- Family Guy Theme Song

I think we've all had that moment at least once in all our lives where something inappropriate comes on TV and you’re sitting right next to your mum and dad and you wish you weren’t alive. A tad dramatic, I know, but a scenario many of you will be able to sympathise with.  Although we may be coming to an age where these moments seem to happen less, it still doesn't take away from the fact that recently you can’t escape the overwhelming amount of sex on TV.

I wouldn’t call myself a prude, I mean I love Game of Thrones as much as the next guy, but it really agitated me the other day when I was flicking through the channels and I saw at least 3 pairs of breasts in about 30 seconds. No it wasn’t 4am and no I wasn’t flicking through the indecent channels either. Since when did it become the norm for such exposure to be so casual on our TV screens?

Within the music industry it has almost become a given that we see superstars such as Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga in nothing more than a thong and nipple stickers and sometimes it feels like I’ve seen Rihanna’s naked body more than I’ve seen my own. However more recently, it seems that this theme has trickled down into many much-loved TV shows, which I think is such a shame. Series’ such as The Tudors, True Blood and indeed Game of Thrones use nudity as bait to draw an interest and a buzz around the shows rather than getting people intrigued in the stories of power play and the multi-faceted characters.

There has always been a relationship between nudity producing lower value viewing and actresses such as Sarah Jessica Parker and more recently Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys in GoT, have had clauses built into their contracts to rule out nude scenes in order to protect their credibility as artists. So if indeed this excessive use of nudity lowers the tone of a TV programme then the creators of such shows must believe audiences are far too unintelligent to find such storylines captivating without a bit of cheap sex thrown in for effect.

I think it is time TV producers trusted audiences to be able to appreciate shows without having to have a barrage of naked bodies appearing on our screens.  I’d like to think the average viewer is cultured enough to be able to enjoy a series like the ones I’ve named without the ubiquitous, over exaggerated sex scenes.