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jsheridan (1)
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The appeal of movies like this was that they showed what mainstream Hollywood productions refused to. I think at least some directors were flipping off big studio censors as much as they were catering to their audience. At the time it was basically a choice between going independent and hardly making any money, or raking it in with the big studios but putting up with their often artistically stifling rules (called the Hays Code).
In my own personal opinion, nudity is so taboo in American culture it's comically absurd. The swimming scene in this movie wouldn't raise an eyebrow in most of Europe, Russia, or Latin America. There isn't the same assumption being made by the average person that all nudity is inherently sexual. I agree that putting actors so young in sexual situations is another thing entirely. That's crossing the line. But just showing a girl (or boy) naked? You can't convince me this is harmful all by itself. We used to go skinnydipping at their age too, my friends and I. Boys and girls together. We saw each other naked plenty of times. All they did in this movie was not go to extreme closeup at shoulder height, put the camera elsewhere, or time jump past it, like a studio film would have.
I'm sorry if the OP from 2 years ago would consider me a perverted deviant just for holding an opinion different from theirs. I'm guessing they're conservative Christians, whereas I'm a confirmed nonbeliever. That probably accounts for most of the difference in our perspective. I sometimes wonder what an alien anthropologist studying our society would think. Hmmm, a race that considers its own physical form shameful - how fascinating! It is a little strange when you stop and think about it. The way we hide our bodies from each other, not wanting anyone else to see, freaking out and getting all embarrassed if they do. Modesty is a silly cultural quirk we pick up through conditioning. That's all. It serves no particular purpose.
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