1. I'm certainly not uncomfortable with female nudity at all, male nudity took a little getting used to for me the older I've gotten the cooler I am with it. Now watching a movie with my sister is a whole other deal, that's like watching a movie with one's grandmother. Eastern Promises was an uncomfortable shock for her. I love the movie and have seen it multiple times. I think nudity, male and female makes her cringe.

Of course the torture scene in Casino Royale makes a lot of guys squirm. When I watched that with my best friend ( who's a guy) and he saw poor Bond tied to the chair nude, he gasped "Oh no!". My dad was likewise unsettled. That's the only time I've seen male nudity make them uncomfortable. Given the circumstances of that scene it's understandable.

Posted at 2:24PM on Sep 30th 2008 by BondsBabe

2. To this day I can't believe the MPAA rated Casino Royale PG-13. Not because of the near-nudity of that scene, but because of the brutality of the torture. Just imagine that same scene in a non-Bond flick. It would have been rated R for sure. The MPAA is completely worthless.

Posted at 6:45PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Mike

3. I probably wouldn't be able to watch any movies with someone who's put off by the sight of genitalia - I'd probably start ridiculing, actually. Then again, I'm a pretty open guy and can be a prick at times too.

Still, how much of a prude (haven't used that word in a while) are you that just the projected vision of someone's goods sends you running? What, is it going to reach through the screen and poke you in the eye, or worse? Jebus.

Posted at 2:55PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Joseph Hsu

4. I wonder if there is a bit of homophobia involved perhaps. Maybe some guys gag, or run from the room, or squirm and get visibly uncomfortable because they are concerned that they need to make it very clear to others that their masculinity is not in question.

I'm not sure why the mere idea of being assumed gay is such a horrifying idea for so many men, even in this day and age, but it seems to be the case frequently.

Posted at 3:16PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Scott

5. I personally think a lot of the "squirming" over a guy seeing male nudity is for show. As you said, we see it every day. My view is that they don't want anyone to think they don't mind... cause that could lead to suspicions they're gay.

It could also be that it's shocking. You don't see male nudity like you do female.

I'm a straight guy, but it doesn't phase me at all.

Posted at 3:17PM on Sep 30th 2008 by uforeader

6. You got it. It's for show.

Posted at 5:14PM on Sep 30th 2008 by GL

7. Why would one expect (presumably heterosexual) men and women to respond similarly to same sex nudity?

For me, as a guy, seeing another man's junk is not pleasant. Even worse when it's blown up on the big screen. It's like walking in on your parents having sex. It's one to thing it happening, it's just something I don't need to see.

Posted at 3:22PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Robobagins

8. Actually, I heard about a brain scan study done that said that male brain has similar reactions (in terms of brain activity) to being exposed to gay pornography as it does to seeing someone's own parents having sex.

On a side note, where the hell do people get money to do this kind of research?

Maybe it all just falls back on the old "fight or flight" reflex that everyone has. Naked women = awesome, naked man = get the hell out quickly.

Posted at 3:53PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Hybridandy

9. Not projecting on your friend's history, but I've found that many people with some sexual victimization past commonly struggle with on screen nudity or sex. Not saying your friend has been abused, just saying many people who have been abused exhibit the same behavior that is typically hard for a person who has never had those experiences to empathize with or even understand.

Just saying.

Posted at 3:51PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Mike

10. I don't mind seeing a guy's ass (unless it's fat), and I certainly don't cringe and wet myself when I see some balls or a shaft or something, it's just that I think male genitals are gross. Hairy, wrinkly, fluid spitting things and flap about (I'm thinking of that fat guy in Borat). I don't know how that leads to being homophobic. I would rather not see a penis every time I watch a film, but I won't condemn a movie for it.

Posted at 4:00PM on Sep 30th 2008 by mezzanine

11. Couldn't agree more. The male dangus is ugly; I have one I know. The naked female form is exquisite and should be proudly displayed. I have no problem with nudity of either sex in film, if it's necessary or helps the movie (Eastern Promises is a great example). But gratuitous male junk for the sake of making adolescent boys squeemish (see Walk Hard) is frustrating.

In summation: naked women= goddesses; naked dudes= ugly bastard.

I guess that's why I am straight.

Posted at 5:35PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Harless?

12. Of course it's internalized homophobia. Many straight men are so uptight and panicky about being perceived as gay that they flip out if/when presented with male nudity. It's so pathetic, and also very stereotypically puritanical American.

"there's little question that most people enjoy a gander at the skin of the opposite sex"

Except that this and most points of the debate are completely heterocentrist.

To give a queer perspective, I don't bug out if I see a naked woman on screen. I'm not bothered by nudity of either kind and think it's ridiculous to be.

Posted at 4:12PM on Sep 30th 2008 by NP

13. First nude I ever saw in a movie was Excalibur, the guy was having sex with his armor on. Today it's actually funny to to look back on that. Saw it with my mom and I was terribly embarrassed but i still looked. Today I don't mind any form of nudity.

Posted at 5:50PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Mr. R

14. I don't really see a problem with it. I think its just the shock value because its not mainstream as female nudity. As more films use full frontal male nudity for whatever purpose the less people will notice.

I'd compare this to an old Simpsons episode where a convo between Bart and Lisa goes something like this:

Bart: Lisa, that wasn't scary, not even for a poem.
Lisa: Well, it was written in 1845. Maybe people were easier to scare back then.
Bart: Oh, yeah. Like when you look at Friday the 13th, part one. It's pretty tame by today's standards

Give it a few years, no one will even notice.

Posted at 6:50PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Chris @ Super U

15. It doesn't bother me (a straight, American male) but I've seen lots of other guys freak out at the sight. I walked in on my roommate getting out of the shower once and it was awkward, but I know him and I think it'd be awkward if I walked in on anybody (other than a girlfriend/wife in my situation) naked in person. In a movie it's just there, you don't know the guy, it's part of the story. "Man up" and deal with it. The second time I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall the scene where Segal drops trow was funnier than the first time, because I was paying attention to the audience waiting for their reaction to the shot. I used to think it was gross, but I just matured past it at one point and I came to realize that dick jokes have always and will always be funny.

Posted at 6:51PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Mike

16. Sorry but have any of these guys who cringe at naked men on the screen seen an porn. I would think that 99% of men have seen porn and around 80% see it on a regular basis. Why is it easier to see porn where men have erections and all than seeing it in a mainstream film? Sure, most men would get uncomfortable at seeing their best mate walk around the house in the nude but seeing it on screen or TV is surely a different matter altogether.

Posted at 7:40PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Marty

17. Gonna have to agree. I'm female and LOVE porn so I just don't see a prob with adult nudity at all. In mainstream movies, half of the it's just sooo ridiculous (i.e. Walk Hard) that there's no way most ppl couldn't/wouldn't laugh, except for my mother who's a prude.

Also, according to recent studies, 72% of porn viewers are men therefore 28% would have to be women. This leads me to believe that either 1) the men who run shrieking into another room are just fricking prudes; 2) they're just embarrassed; 3) possibly homophobic; 4) maybe their ashamed and think theirs is too small; 5) by seeing this nudity maybe they think they're admitting that they have watched porn and don't want anyone to know about it. Point being it could be any # of things.

But seriously guys, come on, 72%? How many of you are actually lying about getting the heebie jeebies from seeing another man's stuff? That's just utterly ridiculous.

Posted at 11:25AM on Oct 1st 2008 by Jennifer

18. Male nudity is funny. How funny was MC Gainey chasing Paul Giamatti with his "D*&k" swinging in Sideways? That would mean less than a full blown sex scene.

Posted at 6:41AM on Oct 1st 2008 by Christian M. Howell

19. RE: Hybridandy's remark- The study revealed striaght men have the same reaction to gay porn as they do to their parents having sex? Did they show them pictures of their parents having sex? Otherwise, how would they know?
Just asking.
For me, whether I find the nudity distracting depends on the level of engagement I have in the film. Remember Cillian Murphy's full-monty moment in "28 Days Later"? That was cool and shocking and totally worked. I didn't sit there thinking about his junk, because I was totally wrapped up in the film. Bruce Willis in "Color of Night" wanting to show his peen? That was awkward, because I couldn't give a crap about what was happening in the movie.
Penises are sometimes funny, if the scene's well-written and the actor is selling it. Same goes for breasts. Remember "Striptease"? Not one funny moment in that movie, the actors seemed uncomfortable, and boobies didn't help any punchlines.
All this rambling to my point: Nudity won't ruin an otherwise good film, or save an otherwise bad one. And as for audiences, if you've got issues with seeing your own gender or opposite gender's naughty parts, that's not just an issue for you in the movies. That's a problem for you everywhere.

Posted at 10:58AM on Oct 1st 2008 by Topher

20. Think about it: Male genitalia is still taboo in American society, for a multitude of reasons I won't go into here, but suffice it to say that if men weren't brainwashed from birth that the pee-pee is disgusting, vile, not to be touched, never to be shown, we wouldn't have that reaction. If that weren't the case, you'd see men's pants that couched the penis in such a way as to show off its outline, much like women's breasts protrude from their blouses. Why is it perfectly okay for women to accentuate the breast but borderline perverted for men to accentuate the penis? Other than some implanted knee-jerk reaction, that is.

Posted at 2:19PM on Oct 1st 2008 by Jon