Changing Preferences: Young People Seek More Friendships and Platonic Relationships in Movies and TV

2023-10-27 15:06:59

A new study by the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has revealed that Young people aged 13 to 24 look for fewer sex scenes (ecchi) in movies and television. The Center’s “Teens and Screens” report points out that 51.5% of teens want to see more content that depicts friendships and platonic relationships.

The study surveyed 1,500 young people from different age groups between 10 and 24 years old, focusing on the 13-24 year old group to address topics related to sex and romance.. This matches the National Academy of Sciences’ definition for adolescence and the “Gen Z” generation.

The study also revealed that 44.3% of young people feel that “romance in the media is overused”. Around the 39% would like to see more representations of asexual and aromantic charactersand the 47.5% said sex is not necessary for most TV show and movie plots.

The young people who participated in the study spoke about stereotypes in the media and expressed a similar desire for sex and romance to be decoupled. A 17-year-old from Georgia said: “I don’t like that every time a man and woman are on screen together, studios feel the need to make them fall in love. There is a complete lack of platonic relationships in American cinema“.

A 23-year-old woman from New York mentioned another relationship stereotype: “The boy is usually a jerk to the woman, but in the end she ends up falling in love with him“. The founder and director of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers and co-author of the study, Yalda T. Uhls, commented: “While it is true that teenagers want less sex on television and movies, what the survey really says is that they want more and different types of relationships reflected in the media they consume.“.

Besides, Uhls added that recent studies indicate that young people have less sexual relations than their parents at their age and many prefer to be single.. Among other important data from the report:

56% of teenagers ages 10 to 24 prefer original content instead of franchises and remakes. Twice as many teenagers prefer full releases rather than weekly episode releases.
Teenagers want to see “lives like their own” represented on screen, compared to last year when they preferred to see “lives different from their own.”
This year, a majority of respondents would prefer a white man to be the hero of an episode or movie, while in the previous year, respondents favored a black man as the hero. Respondents value authenticity, and the largest group of 10- to 24-year-olds ranked MrBeast as the most authentic medium.

And of course, this information did not go unnoticed by the Japanese:

«American movies want to include family love, lovers, children, in short».
«Sex and ecchi are necessary if you look at boobs in the series. It is not if you do not look at anything, period».
«Sex is essential in horror movies».
«It seems that Westerners have developed an aversion to sexuality».
«I don’t want sex scenes in a movie or series that I will be watching with my family.».
«I didn’t like the sex scene in the first Terminator movie at all. I saw it with my family and it was extremely uncomfortable».
«It is the result of American brainwashing that they are increasingly afraid of sex, it is quite sad».
«I think it’s because we live in a time where you can already watch pornography on the Internet. In the past we would have appreciated ecchi scenes in the cinema, but now you don’t get turned on by that anymore».
«When I was a child, I was turned on by kissing and sex scenes in American movies. Nowadays I can watch all the porn I want on the Internet».
«Why is there a high rate of ecchi scenes in horror movies?».
«Don’t call yourself an actress without showing your nipples».
«If it is necessary for the story, it is necessary and it is concluded».
«The fear of death inevitably leads to an increase in libido and the desire to have sexual relations. Soldiers in real life go around raping women when they don’t know if they are going to die tomorrow».
«I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m more turned on by sudden eroticism outside of porn!».