FILM 300Z - Sex on Film

Institution:

Westminster College (Salt Lake City)

Subject:

Film Studies

Description:

"Sex isn't for the squeamish. Sex is an exchange a semen, shit, sweat, microbes, bacteria. Or there is no sex. If it's just tenderness and ethereal spirituality, then it can never be more than a sterile parody of the real act" #NAME? With the release and subsequent popularity of Gerard Damiano's Deep Throat, the US film industry entered into a period of a new aesthetic development that created a bridge between mainstream and pornographic films. Actresses such as Linda Lovelace and Marilyn Chambers became household names after performing in films depicting graphic sexual acts (not simulated penetration). Norman Mailer describe this period in American film as "living in a world between crime and art." This brief, and some would argue, magical moment in the American film industry lasted from 1972 until1975 when the US Supreme Court began to effectively crack down on "obscene films." We will begin slightly before the release of Deep Throat and explore some of the sexploitation films from the 1960s, which simulated penetration, up until the envelope pushing films of the last couple of years, which demonstrate graphic sexual acts. This course has been designed to explore what pornography teach us about social conventions in relationship to law, science, politics and religion. The aim of this course is to learn how to critically engage various aspects of pornography such as censorship, obscenity, heteronormative sexuality, desire, race, gender identity and LGBTQ sexualities. WARNING: Many of the films we will watch in class have previously been banned because they depict graphic images of sexual acts.

Credits:

2.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.westminstercollege.edu

Phone Number:

(801) 484-7651

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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