Tired of unnecessary film nudity
By David Reese
Skiff Staff

Have you ever noticed the amount of nudity in films has increased at a rapid speed of light?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a man, and I do not mind a little nakedness in film here or there. But it seems like Hollywood will not produce any movie unless it has at least a flash of skin somewhere within the film.

Let’s take for example this year’s Academy Award winning performances:
Denzel Washington won the Best Actor Oscar two weeks ago for “Training Day.”

The film, which depicts the life of a rookie cop on the narcotics beat with a corrupt partner, has its reasoning for the foul language and violence, but what about the scene when the character played by Ethan Hawke breaks into Washington’s house?

Hawke enters the apartment and Washington has just finished having sex with his girlfriend. Washington is fully dressed while the female actress was buck naked in all her glory.

The scene, which lasts about two minutes, is inappropriate and unnecessary. I do not even think the actress has a full line in the film.

Another instance of overexposure is the Best Actress winner Halle Berry who, within the last year, has bared all her assets in two films “Swordfish” and “Monster’s Ball.”

It had been reported that Berry earned an extra $500,000 to show her breasts in “Swordfish.”

In this film, Berry is sunbathing, and there is no rhyme or reason for her to expose herself.

The film, according to (imdb.com), earned $69.772 million at the box office by the end of the summer of 2001.

Berry also exposes herself in her Academy Award winning performance as the widow of an executed prisoner, Leticia Musgrove, in “Monster’s Ball.”

The performance, which is different from any other role she has portrayed, had a 5 to 10 minute nude sex scene between her and Billy Bob Thornton.

The saddest aspect of these three films is that they were considered decent films with good performances.

How can the world expect B-movies and cheap comedies not to have unnecessary use of nudity when these critically acclaimed films have it.
Another actress famous for appearing nude in films is Ashley Judd. Judd has a new film this week, “High Crimes” with Morgan Freeman.

Judd has established herself as a perfectly decent actress. She just seems to use her body too much in films.

Judd is smart in using her attractiveness to get roles. She is earning $4 million per movie, but how many times can she show her breasts in movies?

Since I have not seen “High Crimes,” I do not know if she bares her body once more, but taking a cue from her previous work in “Double Jeopardy” and “Eye of the Beholder,” I would not be surprised if we see another glimpse of skin.

I hope people do not assume that I am a prude or even against expression of art.

I believe people, including movie studios, can do whatever they please.
But this fan of movies is just a little tired of unneeded placement of nudity to make another buck.

David Reese is a junior news/editorial journalism and speech communication major from Oceanside, Ca. He can be reached at (d.w.reese@student.tcu.edu).

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