I noticed this when I watched "Raw" recently [0]. It was remarkable because it portrayed horny young students hazing each other and desiring each other and plenty of unselfconscious peer pressuring, which was itself depicted as covertly appreciated and desired by the girls, by way of a license to let go and have fun for a night (like how people often blame alcohol). I kept waiting for the turn or the emotional beat that called out these heinous, sexist, abusive behaviors, but it never came. I noticed something similar when watching Berlin Calling [1] where sex is used in several realistic ways, as both exciting transgression to expressing warmth, friendship and love. Raw is French; Berlin Calling German.
Americans still deal with a great deal of Puritanical shame around sex, I think, and as a very fat country (the fattest ever to exist) where huge numbers are on SSRIs (with sexual side-effects) plus a divisive political climate, you get Disney Marvel sexuality.
BTW if you think Disney doesn't do horny, think again. I mean, look at the "love story" in any classic animated picture. She looks at him, thinks he's hot, he looks at her, he thinks she's hot, and it's on. In at least two cases (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) that's "love's first kiss" that's given non-consentually -- and his transgression literally saves her life. The older I get the more I realize that this naive notion of what love is actually is the core of truth; the rest of what we add is risk mitigation. In big budget American cinema, the surest way to eliminate risk is to do exactly what they've done. They aren't stupid.
I definitely think SSRIs are a big problem, but the sex problem in general is also not just a US thing. I live in Germany and it is really bad here too. To have sex, first of all you need to meet new people, and it seems that much of the German youth have systematically eliminated all desire to meet new people.
Talking to a bunch of Germans. They all require weeks in advanced to plan any kind of social activity, and if you ask them they admit they would rather just stay at home, and they are really cold to you for a long time (even years). Granted this is mainly scientific people but it’s still way more extreme than anything I experienced in the UK, and all of them also say it’s a general problem with the German youth too. They all value their personal time more than social time
It may also be a money thing. The bars in Germany are either affordable and filled with old regulars waiting to die, or expensive. If you have an expense account, the clubs are great! But if you don't, they'll break the bank.
1. In Germany, alcohol at home is extremely cheap. We're talking, a great Bavarian beer at home is 1 euro per 500ml bottle, and at a bar here in Hamburg at least 5 euro. Similar for wine and spirits. Also, the bars are often low quality, and full of smokers, and have bad music, so the motivation to go to a bar is really poor. There are exceptions, perhaps if you live in Berlin or Mannheim, but in most cities the social drinking situation is not great.
2. In addition, there is no social taboo against drinking at home or alone like in other countries. Even at work, if you pull out a beer at 4pm, especially on a Friday, no one will bat an eyelid. Therefore drinking isn't really an activity in itself so much as a normal part of life.
3. Many of the newer generation are totally straight edge. There is a trend towards not drinking or taking drugs in general compared to older generations or even compared to millennials. They would much rather have a fritz kola or a mate drink
Even on the street its cheap! it's funny when you are choosing a drink its like "Well I'll save some money and get a beer" because Coke is more expensive at your typical Doner spot.
Another interesting effect of this is you see far, far more public drunkenness, especially on the U/Sbahn. But for the most part there are fewer gross-out incidents than on NY subways. Not none, but fewer. You still get the occasional screaming/urinating lunatic. But not as often as you'd expect given the price of beer.
It's all because of smartphones and social media. We stare at screens for hours a day, and rarely meet up in person anymore. It's a global problem though.
And 90% of the time I see young people together they're all on their phones. There's an arms race to prove who cares less about the person in front of you, by checking your phone, and we're all winning.
Not quite -- https://obesity.procon.org/global-obesity-levels/. Kuwait seems to be the only 'big' place that's ahead of the US, but your characterization is inaccurate -- there are many middle-eastern countries right around the US's percentage.
>Raw is an extreme case of a an extreme horror movie
I was only commenting on the setup, not the movie itself. I didn't know what it was and when the horror started I stopped watching it. The other poster who considered it a recommendation was wrong.
And in fact it may be possible to interpret the horror as punishment for licentiousness, which is a common horror trope and undermines my point.
Americans still deal with a great deal of Puritanical shame around sex, I think, and as a very fat country (the fattest ever to exist) where huge numbers are on SSRIs (with sexual side-effects) plus a divisive political climate, you get Disney Marvel sexuality.
BTW if you think Disney doesn't do horny, think again. I mean, look at the "love story" in any classic animated picture. She looks at him, thinks he's hot, he looks at her, he thinks she's hot, and it's on. In at least two cases (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) that's "love's first kiss" that's given non-consentually -- and his transgression literally saves her life. The older I get the more I realize that this naive notion of what love is actually is the core of truth; the rest of what we add is risk mitigation. In big budget American cinema, the surest way to eliminate risk is to do exactly what they've done. They aren't stupid.
0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_(film)
1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Calling