Does Sex Really Sell? Apparently not!

I was just looking at a list of the Top 100 All-Time Grossing Movies and noticed that only one movie in the top ten had an "R" rating. That movie was The Passion Of The Christ! The next Movie with an "R" rating finally comes up at #24, Which is Matrix: Reloaded.

I can't go back and forth from here to my list, but I'm betting that "R" rated movies make up a small portion of the top 100. (MUCH smaller than the 1/3 you might get from the G/PG/R logic.) Which begs the question, "Does Sex really sell?" It doesn't seem to, in Filmland.

If it doesn't sell there, where else DOESN'T sex sell?

[edit on 30-4-2005 by Toelint]

Well, a link to the list would be nice..... But the Passion of Christ should have been NC-17 for violence, torture, blood/gore, and teaching hate.

A movie with an R rating doesn't do well with kids and family movie goers. Which is why a lot a current action films have been editted down to a pg 13, and why a nc 17 is the kiss of death, and will rarely be released nationwide.

I would tend to think part of the reason is the higher the rating of the movie the smaller the target audience.

A G rated move can be seen by anyyone.
A pg 13 can be seen by over 13
An r rated movie over 17

Every step up the ladder cuts out part of the audience limiting its earning power.

It no surprise that the larger earning films are ones you can take the whole family to.

and teaching hate.

I don't recall that message from the movie.

You don't need an "R" rating to have sex in a film. Gratuitous, yes. But you can also have insinuated sex, scantily clothed people, etc. for lesser rating.

I would like to see a link please.

Heres a site with the Top ten highest grossing movies. I dont know why titanic is number 1 but who knows www.soyouwanna.com...

I don't recall the Passion of the Christ teaching hate either, care to explain?

-wD

KILL THE JEWS!!!!!!! Gee, that's not hate? The whole story creates hate for jews, sure it is among the people who already hate the jews, but still, it would be like "The Passion of Hitler" except that movie would probably not be supported by the church, and probably more on the War in Europe then hating Jews.

Also, WTF? Titanic? You know how it ends! There is no guessing, there is no maybes, you know in the end it SINKS! Like a movie called The Hindenburg" You know how it ends, how the hell can something that is not predictable, BUT KNOWN, make so much money!!!!! Sad to see ET lose it's top spot. But Jurassic Park and ID4 still there, love those movies.

[edit on 30-4-2005 by James the Lesser]

Originally posted by James the Lesser
KILL THE JEWS!!!!!!! Gee, that's not hate? The whole story creates hate for jews, sure it is among the people who already hate the jews, but still, it would be like "The Passion of Hitler" except that movie would probably not be supported by the church, and probably more on the War in Europe then hating Jews.

I never got that from the movie. If anything, it made the Romans out to be bloodthirsty murderers (which, if you look at how they treated some conquered peoples, isn't too far from the truth. If you bowed to their rule, you were pretty much fine. Don't, and well....there's the story of 100 slaves being executed because one of them killed the master. And Christ wasn't the first or last person to be crucified by a long shot). Go look up where the word "decimate" comes from.

The only Jews being portrayed in a really bad light were the Pharisees. And religious leaders calling for the death (and inciting the public to agree) of an undermining influence also isn't unprecedented in history. Those were pretty deadly times for anyone who wasn't in power.

So, if you went into seeing TPOTC thinking that it was anti-semetic, that's what you saw. If you went in with an open mind, you didn't. I only personally know one person that thought the film portrayed hate, but he has a pathological hatred of all religion

Romans WERE Jews....... until the church controlled it and the EMpire feel the next day.....

Also, where is a top hundred list?

[edit on 30-4-2005 by James the Lesser]

KILL THE JEWS!!!!!!! Gee, that's not hate? The whole story creates hate for jews, sure it is among the people who already hate the jews, but still, it would be like "The Passion of Hitler" except that movie would probably not be supported by the church, and probably more on the War in Europe then hating Jews.

Looks like someone bought into the pre release hype that caused the film to bring in so much money.

Also, where is a top hundred list?

movies.go.com...

Originally posted by James the Lesser
Romans WERE Jews....... until the church controlled it and the EMpire feel the next day.....

Um....what?

Roman conscripts were prisoners, mostly, from the wars they fought. Few were Jewish. The Jews maintained their own police force, their own government, and their own laws.

For someone who saw the movie, you don't know an awful lot about it!

Some people thought the movie was anti-semitic because it depicts the Jewish elders in an unfavorable light..which is funny because Orthodox Jews depict those same elders in the same unfavorable light. Is that paradox the spawning ground of the stereotypical self-hating jew? The destruction of the temple was supposedly a sign of the error made by the elders.

Incidentally, Jesus wasn't the first prophet to be put to death on orders from the elders. There were 5 or 6 prominent men before him, if memory serves.

Anyway, the Romans were carrying out orders handed down from a Jewish court. They did so to prevent riots, and for all intents and purposes, to save good old Pontius from having to explain to the Emperor why he had to slaughter an entire city. The rebellion had to be quelled, whether by the blood of one, or the blood of thousands. The rebellion was of course seeded by the elders, who encouraged public outcry by bribes, extortion, and lies, all to various degrees.

Not that much seeding needed to be done. Rome had a bitch of a time controlling all its prefectures, the natives were for the most part restless. Mob mentality is very unstable.

Edit: Forgot to answer the posters question. I know it does sell in advertising, and as far as where else it doesn't sell, the only place I can think of is religious conversion. You never see churches using sexy posters or flyers or radio advertisments.



[edit on 30-4-2005 by WyrdeOne]

Skibum is correct--R-rated movies don't gross as high because the audience is limited.

However, if you want to go by a film's popularity (subjective, I know), on IMDB's top 250 list (www.imdb.com... ) the top 2 are rated R, with 6 of the top 10 rated R. #4 on the list, Kurasawa's The Seven Samurai, wasn't rated, but that probably would have gotten an R, so that would make 7 of 10 (although I wouldn't categorize The Seven Samurai as a sexy film....).

But sex does sell--why do you think Jessica Alba has a career? "Honey" made over $58 million worldwide--and that doesn't even include the DVD sales, which should almost double that number. I doubt that anyone is watching this film for the snappy dialogue and fascinating plot lines....

www.boxofficemojo.com...

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[edit on 4/30/2005 by Gools]

Yeah, if we could track all kids who are surfing for porn at any given minute, this "sex doesn't sell" argument would be shot right the hell out the window.

I went to see some movie, I forget what it was, but it was R rated and this father was going to drop his teenage daughters and her friends off at the movie, the theatre wouldn't sell the tickets to them unless he was going to go in with them. Seven movie sales lost right there. I was tempted to "help out" and chaperone the youngsters into the movie, but really didn't want to be responsible for a bunch of teen girls I didn't know.

Originally posted by James the Lesser
Well, a link to the list would be nice..... But the Passion of Christ should have been NC-17 for violence, torture, blood/gore, and teaching hate.

if you meant that it showed the hate the jews had for jesus c then i agree people who deny the fact that the jews disliked jc or treated him bad are in denial or ignorant or worst of all usefull idiots if they pay there taxes.

Does Sex sell?? I suggest strongly that you people look at the whole picture ..not just the provincial avenue of movies.
First off under public preasure the movie rating system has been changed to make it more difficult not easier to tell.
Second ..go to a department store like Wal Mart or target...drug store...and check out the magazines ...does sex sell??? good grief. Right there at the check out stands...read the subtitles on them Redbook..elle..cosmo..et al.
You have kids out here who know alot about procreation but not about having to make a living for themselves. Does sex sell.??? Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
Watch people dressing to go out on Friday and Saturday nights..not all but a noticable..bunch. lol lol what are they advertising ???
The woman I see is a professional in her field..she constantly has to mention to the other women to dress professionally ..they dress like they are going out "hunting and gathering"on Friday or Saturday night like a advertising billboard. They are so dumb they dont seem to know the difference...amazing.
Watch the tube....and the appeal of the commercials..since they are used to finance the programming. This is a indictation of the age and thinking of the target audience.
The women of this country are bombarded by some sexual subtilty ..24/7..in ways undetected by the average sports minded male...way to dumb to catch it . Talk about a dumb bunch of men..they think they are doing something watching the cheerleaders..and reading the swimsuit edition ...Wow!!
Wake up ..you guys..does sex sell?????

Orangetom