Innovative Film/TV Safer Sex Scenes
Portraying safer sex scenes in film and TV can pose a problem for the on-screen action. Do the characters stop the action to put on a condom? But if they don’t, what message is being sent to viewers about the need to practice safer sex?
I have written about this topic before (see below for the link to my Writer’s Digest article “Why Writers Should Consider Including Safer Sex in Fiction”) and I’m writing this post now because in the past days I’ve seen two innovative safer sex on-screen scenes.
The new Netflix original TV series RUSSIAN DOLL starring Natasha Lyonne:
From imdbpro.com: A cynical young woman in New York City keeps dying and returning to the party that’s being thrown in her honor on that same evening. She tries to find a way out of this strange time loop.
The 2019 feature film WHAT MEN WANT (I rented it via Amazon video) starring Taraji P. Henson:
From imdbpro.com: A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.
In episode 1 of RUSSIAN DOLL at first it appeared to me that Natasha’s character hooked up on the balcony of an apartment without using a condom. Then the following scene took place in a convenience store with Natasha’s character saying they had come for “provisions” and joking about lambskin compared to latex.
I realized that the apartment balcony scene had been only foreplay, and that Natasha’s character, no matter how risky the rest of her behavior, had indeed practiced safer sex.
In WHAT MEN WANT I was surprised that Taraji’s character, especially given her character setup, would sleep with a random guy without protection. And then the truly innovative safer sex scene followed as a humorous sequence.
Her character goes to work and her assistant warns her there’s a used condom stuck to the back of her jacket. He uses a tissue to take it off her back and put it in his pocket, and she makes him swear to take this secret to his grave.
What’s amazing is that, even though this was played for laughs, it worked as a safer sex message. Plus this made much more sense given Taraji’s film character than that she hadn’t insisted on protection being used.
I’ve shared these two innovative safer sex scenes to encourage other writers to come up with their own such scenes. As citizens of the world, we writers owe it to our viewers to entertain them while not losing sight of important public safety portrayals.
UPDATE: I just watched the Netflix original film THE KISSING BOOTH, a rom com with teen protagonists. What’s interesting is that there was no mention of protection when the romantic leads had unplanned sex for the first time. But later there was a montage of scenes and one was of the female protagonist buying condoms and then hiding the box behind her back when the male protagonist’s mother happened at that moment to pass by the open store door. So again humor was used to showcase a safer sex message.
Read my Writer’s Digest website article “Why Writers Should Consider Including Safer Sex in Fiction.”