It's a trompe-l'il, it can't even turn you on': Have on-screen bodies become too unrealistic?

"At a time when uninhibited sexual scenes seem omnipresent and are conquering previously untouched territories—from the testosterone-charged world of Canadian sports to the desolate moors of Yorkshire—critics argue that these portrayals, with their unattainable bodies and choreographed encounters, sit miles away from genuine eroticism."

"It's quasi-erotic, pseudo-romantic and then ersatz-sad, a club night of mock emotion, wrote Peter Bradshaw, critic for the British newspaper The Guardian, regarding Wuthering Heights' approach to sexuality and emotional authenticity."

"It's not how gay people fuck. There's so few things that actually show gay sex, he said in an interview with Vulture, highlighting the disconnect between choreographed intimate scenes and realistic representation."

February brought intense sexual content to screens through television's Heated Rivalry and cinema's Wuthering Heights adaptation, sparking critical debate about authenticity in portrayal. While these productions generated massive audiences, professional critics questioned their depiction of sexuality. Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw dismissed Wuthering Heights as emotionally hollow, while comedian Jordan Firstman criticized Heated Rivalry's intimate scenes as unrealistic representations of gay sex. This paradox reveals a fundamental tension: despite ubiquitous uninhibited sexual scenes expanding into previously untouched genres and settings, audiences and critics argue these portrayals remain distant from genuine eroticism. The idealized bodies and choreographed encounters create a disconnect between content abundance and authentic representation, raising questions about whether this idealization generates viewer fatigue, particularly among younger audiences.

Read at english.elpais.com