This film to me was pornographic. I didnt laugh at anything in this film so im saying this wasnt a comedy. Its like seduction and then drama.
Its about a woman hitting on a teenager and then drama unfolds when she fakes her death. There was nothing funny about this film to make this a comedy and thats why it was a controversial movie.
Agreed. Major bonerage when I saw this as a kid.
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Im the Alpha and the Omoxus. The Omoxus and the Omega
Yes, it isn't much of a comedy, though some of the scenes where he is oh so naive and embarrassed are a bit funny -- like her ready to have sex with him, and him proposing to her. The overall idea is funny too given it is a bit ridiculous.
But, people don't watch the film for the laughs.
Pornography is defined as material the purpose of which is to appeal solely to prurient interests, without other redeeming qualities. Obviously, there is a lot more going on in PRIVATE LESSONS than Sylvia Kristel's naked breasts. Anyone who sees this film as pornography may also frown upon classic works of art from past centuries that also featured nudity. Nudity, and/or the depiction of having sex, obviously does not always equate to porn, and those who think so (usually those in a hurry to claim a superficially higher moral ground, in a transparent fashion to show off what they think is their own superiority) only reveal their own hang-ups and lack of maturity.
As far as the one who began this thread thinking that PRIVATE LESSONS was a controversial movie, no. Society's mores were different in 1981, and no one blinked an eye at what was regarded as another coming-of-age teen film. (Whose comedic value was on a par with other teen fare of the period. PORKY'S, for example, was not all that funny, either.) This film has only become controversial, given newer attitudes about a woman having sex with a teen-aged male.
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I would say it was more of a romance movie than anything else. I felt like the older woman and younger male really loved each other when I saw this.
shareThis movie would have been everything my friends and I as 13-year-olds did up until she invited him in (we just got yelled at and sent home). After she invited him in is what we dreamed about back in the late 80s...up until the faking death scene. This movie worked with some realistic situations up to a point, and then it worked with some realistic fantasies of 13-year-old friends that I grew up with. Can't speak for all 13-year-olds. Anyhow, my life would have been a lot simpler if I had a hot maid who took advantage of me like that. So even if the movie itself was not that great, some of the content was very realistic for me and worth watching.
shareThe genre is called "Teen Sexploitation". It is named that because the film makers are taking advantage of the sexual immaturity of their target audience (teens) who want to see films in which people their own age get to try out sex and other activities forbidden to them through the filter of fake Hollywood glitter.
Your criteria for what makes a porn must be a little on the naive side.
No sex actually happened, so it's certainly not porn.
The humor was at least funny enough for enough viewers not to take it very seriously as a film.
Anyone who saw this film as a teen (I guess I was 12, not 11 as I previously posted) would have come away with a sense that some adults will take advantage of your innocent sexual curiosity to make money or get something else they want. I know I was more suspicious of adults after watching this, not more likely to have sex with one as a kid.
You have an interesting way also of judging whether something is a comedy. YOU didn't laugh. Doesn't it make as much sense to say that YOU lack humor, not the film? Your conclusions are very shallow and self-centered, much as one might expect from an immature adolescent.
Seduction can be very humorous, especially when done wrong.
If there were an accurate description of the level of "comedy" in this film, it would have to be a "bitter-sweet" comedy since, as you accurately observe, it becomes very much like a drama toward the end. Not so much "Innocence Lost" as "Innocence Crushed" by betrayal.
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