I can verify this is how all of that works. Although I never had to do a nude scene, I worked with plenty who did. Of course, you had to become a bit numb to it all since we were always changing costumes right in front of each other. It was the parties where people felt more comfortable being naked in front of each other. I suppose they thought since we've already pretty much exposed ourselves to each other for expediency's sake, who cares? But this is when you'd see the "pretty girls" get groomed for doing things they were taught not to do as a child. This is part of the reason I exited this profession. I knew too much about how it worked. If I had beautiful students who were serious about acting, I could tell you what their fate was. I didn't want to be party to that any more.
I thought your analysis of Psalm 1 was very interesting. I had never thought of that before. And this article was helpful for me to learn more about Margot Robbie. It is so sad that her beauty, rather than being cherished, is being misused.
Without establishing why nudity on screen is wrong, there is no slippery slope. Maybe you have the wrong idea about nudity, and if you just got over yourself, you might enjoy it too.
Admittedly, any blog post is going to leave a lot of things left unsaid. And on the topic of sexualized nudity in particular, I'm relying on years of previous writings I've done. But even in this post, Robbie herself expressed a firm commitment to avoid nudity--whether you or I would agree with her early-career convictions or not. In a very real sense, what we as an audience think (and whether we "might enjoy it" or not) is beside the point.
If her convictions were wrong, then she was right to test them and then abandon them. She did nudity and learned literally nothing happens. No harm to her career or lightening strikes from Heaven. Why should she have had those convictions in the first place when they are objectively useless?
I don't buy that "literally nothing happen[ed]." Robbie (along with other actresses in the film) was sexually debased. As I have written earlier, "The way actors Margot Robbie and Maria Di Angelis were cast; the way in which the screenplay itself dehumanized Naomi Lapaglia (Robbie’s character); the way certain actors were aroused by the sexually degrading acts being filmed; Robbie’s “nerve-wracking” experiences filming scenes of sexualized nudity—all these objectifying methods proved, by and large, to thrill and titillate (rather than horrify) audiences and critics" (https://tinyurl.com/yubhwdxb).
You can disagree with me if you like. But making arguments like, "No harm [came] to her career" represents a failure to engage with the points I'm actually making.
“Sexually debased is your opinion.” Objectively, nothing happened. It’s also your opinion that if you experience discomfort testing convictions, those convictions are obviously good/true.
Objectively, she set out to become an actress without doing nudity and acting like a sex object. She was objectively pressured to do just that, to the point where she completely broke down her own conscience about it to have a successful career.
This is an overt failure on her part. It is also a fairly damning indictment to the industry that women need to do soft-core pornography in Hollywood to be successful.
Just ask a mother who has given birth naturally a couple of times and she will say the same as Robbie...
I think it's also okay to change your position, once in possession of more information about the world and about one's own feeling.
This holds generally. Even with something as simple as deciding whether or not getting into a cold swimming pool is going to be a good idea after the fact.
It's a bit rough to pretend to see into this woman's psyche while bearing a scale with increments of subtle condemnation.
Hi, Frank! I am grateful for your humble and gentle approach to providing critique, and I appreciate your exhortation to avoid being judgmental. Generally speaking, I agree that it is okay to change one's position. And even in matters of conscience, growth might very well lead to a change in convictions. I would argue, however, that any acquiescence to porn culture is the result, not of a maturing conscience, but a compromised one.
Yes, I think that this happens. And this is probably one of the drivers of what you wrote. Fair enough.
However, one of the hallmarks (observable) is a gradual increase in life distress, and this is signalled by drug use (or another addictive behaviour) to cover over or relieve the inner discomfort/discord. The other sign can be a deterioration into more degrading roles, then outright porn industry work.
It's not clear yet whether that is what is developing, but I expect we will soon see. 5 to 10 years is all it takes. I hope it's not so.
I suppose the gradual slope of compromise *could* lead an actress to end up in outright porn work, although I'm not aware of any any such instance. Usually, it seems to take a less obviously drastic track: they end up just being numb to (or even perfectly fine with) that which once bothered them.
They caught one 'casting couch' villain in Weinstein, and now all you have the pay for fame is the low price of publicly degrading yourself, instead of privately!
I'm thankful for the greater spotlight on casting couch culture (as well as rape culture), but our society definitely needs to focus a more critical eye on porn culture.
I can verify this is how all of that works. Although I never had to do a nude scene, I worked with plenty who did. Of course, you had to become a bit numb to it all since we were always changing costumes right in front of each other. It was the parties where people felt more comfortable being naked in front of each other. I suppose they thought since we've already pretty much exposed ourselves to each other for expediency's sake, who cares? But this is when you'd see the "pretty girls" get groomed for doing things they were taught not to do as a child. This is part of the reason I exited this profession. I knew too much about how it worked. If I had beautiful students who were serious about acting, I could tell you what their fate was. I didn't want to be party to that any more.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Stacy. I've heard similar testimonies from other actresses as well.
Cap,
I thought your analysis of Psalm 1 was very interesting. I had never thought of that before. And this article was helpful for me to learn more about Margot Robbie. It is so sad that her beauty, rather than being cherished, is being misused.
Heart-aching. The Psalm 1 progression is a brilliant tie in, great work!
Thank you, Dakota!
Without establishing why nudity on screen is wrong, there is no slippery slope. Maybe you have the wrong idea about nudity, and if you just got over yourself, you might enjoy it too.
Admittedly, any blog post is going to leave a lot of things left unsaid. And on the topic of sexualized nudity in particular, I'm relying on years of previous writings I've done. But even in this post, Robbie herself expressed a firm commitment to avoid nudity--whether you or I would agree with her early-career convictions or not. In a very real sense, what we as an audience think (and whether we "might enjoy it" or not) is beside the point.
If her convictions were wrong, then she was right to test them and then abandon them. She did nudity and learned literally nothing happens. No harm to her career or lightening strikes from Heaven. Why should she have had those convictions in the first place when they are objectively useless?
I don't buy that "literally nothing happen[ed]." Robbie (along with other actresses in the film) was sexually debased. As I have written earlier, "The way actors Margot Robbie and Maria Di Angelis were cast; the way in which the screenplay itself dehumanized Naomi Lapaglia (Robbie’s character); the way certain actors were aroused by the sexually degrading acts being filmed; Robbie’s “nerve-wracking” experiences filming scenes of sexualized nudity—all these objectifying methods proved, by and large, to thrill and titillate (rather than horrify) audiences and critics" (https://tinyurl.com/yubhwdxb).
And Robbie's example is only one of many. The stories/testimonies from actresses in decades past point to how embarrassing and awkward and humiliating it is to the human psyche/conscience to film hypersexualized scenes. I've written elsewhere on the "quiet oppression" of simulated sex on our public entertainers (https://medium.com/@capjstewart/reductionist-sex-is-ruining-our-entertainment-and-our-entertainers-a1755856f927).
You can disagree with me if you like. But making arguments like, "No harm [came] to her career" represents a failure to engage with the points I'm actually making.
“Sexually debased is your opinion.” Objectively, nothing happened. It’s also your opinion that if you experience discomfort testing convictions, those convictions are obviously good/true.
Objectively, she set out to become an actress without doing nudity and acting like a sex object. She was objectively pressured to do just that, to the point where she completely broke down her own conscience about it to have a successful career.
This is an overt failure on her part. It is also a fairly damning indictment to the industry that women need to do soft-core pornography in Hollywood to be successful.
Just ask a mother who has given birth naturally a couple of times and she will say the same as Robbie...
I think it's also okay to change your position, once in possession of more information about the world and about one's own feeling.
This holds generally. Even with something as simple as deciding whether or not getting into a cold swimming pool is going to be a good idea after the fact.
It's a bit rough to pretend to see into this woman's psyche while bearing a scale with increments of subtle condemnation.
We don't know how she holds it.
Hi, Frank! I am grateful for your humble and gentle approach to providing critique, and I appreciate your exhortation to avoid being judgmental. Generally speaking, I agree that it is okay to change one's position. And even in matters of conscience, growth might very well lead to a change in convictions. I would argue, however, that any acquiescence to porn culture is the result, not of a maturing conscience, but a compromised one.
Yes, I think that this happens. And this is probably one of the drivers of what you wrote. Fair enough.
However, one of the hallmarks (observable) is a gradual increase in life distress, and this is signalled by drug use (or another addictive behaviour) to cover over or relieve the inner discomfort/discord. The other sign can be a deterioration into more degrading roles, then outright porn industry work.
It's not clear yet whether that is what is developing, but I expect we will soon see. 5 to 10 years is all it takes. I hope it's not so.
I suppose the gradual slope of compromise *could* lead an actress to end up in outright porn work, although I'm not aware of any any such instance. Usually, it seems to take a less obviously drastic track: they end up just being numb to (or even perfectly fine with) that which once bothered them.
They caught one 'casting couch' villain in Weinstein, and now all you have the pay for fame is the low price of publicly degrading yourself, instead of privately!
I'm thankful for the greater spotlight on casting couch culture (as well as rape culture), but our society definitely needs to focus a more critical eye on porn culture.