{"id":22551,"date":"2020-10-25T06:56:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T06:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=22551"},"modified":"2020-10-31T14:32:31","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T14:32:31","slug":"more-penises-are-appearing-on-tv-and-in-film-but-why-are-nearly-all-of-them-prosthetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/more-penises-are-appearing-on-tv-and-in-film-but-why-are-nearly-all-of-them-prosthetic\/","title":{"rendered":"More penises are appearing on TV and in film \u2013 but why are nearly all of them prosthetic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Lehman<\/a>, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve noticed an uptick of male frontal nudity in TV and in movies in recent years, you\u2019re onto something.<\/p>\n

In 1993, I studied patterns of male nudity in my book \u201cRunning Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body<\/a>.\u201d After the old Motion Picture Production Code<\/a> was replaced by a new ratings system in 1968, frontal male nudity in Hollywood movies in certain contexts was permitted. \u201cDrive, He Said<\/a>,\u201d directed by Jack Nicholson in 1971, was an early film to include such a scene, while Richard Gere\u2019s nude scene<\/a> in 1980\u2019s \u201cAmerican Gigolo<\/a>\u201d helped to transform the young actor into an international sex symbol.<\/p>\n

Yet female nudity remained far more common in movies, and there was no frontal male nudity on mainstream television as of 1993.<\/p>\n

Since then, a lot has changed. Directors and audiences are becoming more and more comfortable showing male nudity.<\/p>\n

But nowadays, while we\u2019re much more likely to see penises in mainstream film and television, they\u2019re seldom real. Prosthetic penises \u2013 once used for exaggerated effect \u2013 have become the norm.<\/p>\n

To me, this says something about the unusual significance we continue to grant the penis, along with our cultural need to carefully regulate its representation. In a way, the use of prosthetic penises maintains a certain mystique about masculinity, preserving the power of the phallus.<\/p>\n

Skirting the production code<\/h2>\n

There are a number of factors fueling the current wave of frontal male nudity.<\/p>\n

In the 1990s, premium cable television channels like HBO became more popular, while streaming platforms like Amazon and Netflix took off in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

These channels and platforms aren\u2019t governed by the Motion Picture Association\u2019s ratings system<\/a>, which strictly limits the circumstances under which the penis can be shown.<\/p>\n

According to the ratings \u2013 which still regulate theater releases \u2013 penises can be shown in nonsexual situations, such as when they appear during a concentration camp scene in \u201cSchindler\u2019s List<\/a>.\u201d But if a scene involves sex and frontal male nudity, the actors have to be a certain distance apart. So when Bruce Willis\u2019 penis briefly appeared during an underwater swimming pool lovemaking scene in the \u201cThe Color of Night<\/a>,\u201d the MPAA objected, citing his proximity to the woman, and the shot had to be cut. Uncensored versions of the film are now available on DVD.<\/p>\n

Premium cable TV channels are not governed by these guidelines, and the HBO show \u201cOz<\/a>,\u201d which aired from 1997 to 2003, marked a major turning point. Set in a prison, it was notable for the sheer quantity of full frontal male nudity, with characters shown in a variety of contexts, including showering and in their cells, fully naked.<\/p>\n

Another reason for the trend in male nudity has to do with justifiable criticism of the ways women have been sexually objectified<\/a> on TV and in film. Female nudity has been much more common than male nudity, and most of it tends to involve young, attractive women being showcased in a variety of erotic contexts, with an emphasis on their breasts and buttocks.<\/p>\n

Some filmmakers, such as Judd Apatow<\/a> and Sam Levinson<\/a>, have said they\u2019ve wanted to level the playing field by featuring more male nudity.<\/p>\n

The proliferation of the prosthetic<\/h2>\n

Like \u201cOz,\u201d Starz\u2019s \u201cSpartacus<\/a>,\u201d which premiered in 2010, was full of frontal male nudity.<\/p>\n

However, there was a key difference: all the penises were prosthetic, which are made to be worn by the actors and look realistic when filmed.<\/p>\n

One of the most famous prosthetic penises appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s 1997 film \u201cBoogie Nights<\/a>,\u201d which is about a porn star, played by Mark Wahlberg. At the end of the film, viewers see a closeup shot of the actor\u2019s extremely large prosthetic penis.<\/p>\n

Prosthetics were used on and off through the years. But after \u201cSpartacus,\u201d their use became the norm. Now in shows like HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Deuce<\/a>\u201d and \u201cEuphoria<\/a>,\u201d they\u2019re everywhere. Sometimes they\u2019re even digital. In \u201cNymphomaniac: Vols. I and II<\/a>,\u201d director Lars von Trier digitally replaced the actors\u2019 penises with those from body doubles.<\/p>\n

Whether they\u2019re tangible or digital they tend to have one thing in common: they\u2019re big.<\/p>\n

The obsession with size<\/h2>\n

The prosthetic penis gives filmmakers total control over its representation, and some have used its flexibility to directly address this issue of size.<\/p>\n

Take the 2015 romantic comedy \u201cThe Overnight<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penis size is first introduced in the opening scene, when a couples has awkward sex due to the husband\u2019s small penis. Later at a dinner party with another couple, penis size becomes the big issue again when a wife swap between the two couples is discussed.<\/p>\n

The other man, played by Jason Schwartzman, has an extremely large one, while the man from the opening scene, played by Adam Scott, has a much smaller one, and becomes uncomfortable with the idea of being \u201cexposed.\u201d During a protracted skinny dipping scene, viewers get to see each actor\u2019s prosthetic penis. Within the conventions of the romantic comedy, both couples are united at the end and committed to saving their marriages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Overnight\u201d attempts to deflate the myth that penis size matters. But at the same time that it tackles the obsession with size, it ends up reinforcing the notion \u2013 in part because of the opening scene \u2013 that bigger is better.<\/p>\n

Similarly, \u201cEuphoria,\u201d a bold, experimental high school drama, also explores penis size, connecting the fixation on size to toxic masculinity. It shows how girls are also complicit by dwelling on size themselves \u2013 and assuming that it\u2019s linked to sexual performance and masculinity.<\/p>\n

Toward a more honest representation<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Overnight\u201d and \u201cEuphoria\u201d strive to critique our culture\u2019s obsession with the penis, as do movies like \u201cBoogie Nights\u201d and TV shows like \u201cThe Deuce,\u201d both of which are serious explorations of the pornography industry.<\/p>\n

Yet by making the penis a central theme, these films and TV shows continue to grant it an aura of mystique and power that existed long before prosthetics and weaker regulations.<\/p>\n

[Like what you\u2019ve read? Want more?<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s daily newsletter<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

In the end, the use of prosthetics comes at the expense of the most mature thing filmmakers could do: show diverse, real penises in a manner that holds no special meaning for the character or plot.<\/p>\n

While \u201cSpartacus\u201d would lead you to believe otherwise, all gladiators did not have big penises. Nor did their penis size and shape have anything to do with their strength, power, masculinity or sexuality.<\/p>\n

Although apocryphal<\/a>, Sigmund Freud supposedly remarked, \u201cSometimes a cigar is just a cigar,\u201d which was meant to suggest that cigars are not always phallic symbols.<\/p>\n

It\u2019d be nice if, on screen, sometimes a penis were just a penis.\"The<\/p>\n

Peter Lehman<\/a>, Emeritus Professor, Film and Media Studies in English, Arizona State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Lehman, Arizona State University If you\u2019ve noticed an uptick of male frontal nudity in TV and in movies in recent years, you\u2019re onto something. In 1993, I studied patterns of male nudity in my book \u201cRunning Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body.\u201d After the old Motion Picture Production Code was replaced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":22552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293],"tags":[2461,316,164,2225,1303,1264,7977,536],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22551"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22581,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22551\/revisions\/22581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}