Why Gen Z’s turned off by sex scenes in movies and TV

Nearly half of Gen Z-ers (43%) admit to turning off a movie after encountering a sex scene — more than any other generation.

That’s according to a spicy new survey of 2,000 Americans , conducted by Talker Research , which found that 33% of all those polled have stopped watching a movie during a sex scene.

Millennials were the least likely generation to let a sex scene get in the way of finishing the movie (26%).

Younger Americans and their tolerance of nudity and sex scenes in films have been a hot topic of discussion lately, and a recent study by The Economist found that nudity and sex scenes have dipped by nearly 40% since the year 2000.

But that’s not stopping every show from pushing the boundary. HBO’s House of the Dragon recently featured a full-frontal male nudity scene in its latest episode .

Over one in four of those polled (27%) believe that sex scenes and nudity have “no place” in movies and TV now. Baby boomers were found to be the most likely to feel this way (35%).

Forty-three percent of those polled believe that sex scenes are either always or mostly unnecessary and don’t add enjoyment or story enhancement — Gen Z was the most likely generation to agree with this sentiment.

Barely one in ten think sex scenes always add to the story or enhance the viewing experience.

From a gender standpoint, the results showed that women are nearly twice as likely to shut off a movie if a sex scene comes on than men (42% and 23% respectively).

Women are also less likely than men to believe that sex scenes still have a place in modern film (51% to 63%).

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 Americans was commissioned between June 21 and June 24, 2024. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research , whose team members are members of the Market Research Society ( MRS ) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research ( ESOMAR ).

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