Why is there less sex in movies?
A new video from me, under The Film Data Scientist banner, examining the long-term decline of sexual content in mainstream cinema.
Never did I think studying film data would get me in trouble for being too sexy.
Last month, YouTube took offence to one of my Film Data Scientist videos on the decline in sex on movies. I got it up, but YouTube couldn’t last 10 minutes, and the video went down.
But, like a jilted lover, I’m back. I have recut the video to make it a little less sexy, and (so far) YouTube seems to be okay with it.
So here’s my explanation of why sex is disappearing from modern movies:
If the video has made you want to explore the topic a little deeper, here are some past research pieces I’ve conducted:
Why is sex in movies declining? This examines long-term trends in sexual content in mainstream cinema and examines how global markets, franchise economics, and changing audience incentives affect what gets financed.
Are erotic thrillers dying out? An analysis of the rise and fall of the erotic thriller, including production volume, box office performance, and the industrial conditions that once supported the genre.
Which countries care most about sex in movies? A comparison of international ratings systems and cultural responses to sexual content, and how these influence distribution and revenue potential.
What is replacing love as the dominant theme of movies? An exploration of shifting narrative motivations in mainstream cinema, and how romantic and sexual storytelling has lost ground to other emotional drivers.
Sexual violence in mainstream movies. A focused look at how sexual violence appears in commercial films, and how its treatment differs from consensual sexual content.
The sex, drugs and violence contained in MPAA ratings. A breakdown of how the US ratings board classifies sex versus violence, and what that means for studios trying to maximise audience reach.
I’ll be uploading new video essays every couple of weeks throughout 2026, so make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube to get notified when another drops (also, subscribing will really help me out with the Algorithm Gods, so it would mean a lot to me - thank you!).
And to help explain the channel, I also created a short channel trailer: