One of the most gripping TV clips of the year is a scene in a hotel bathroom where a woman is looking for sunscreen. In the second season opener of HBO’s The White Lotus, Aubrey Plaza’s lawyer Harper is determined not to be in Her husband’s finance brother college buddy and his bubbly trophy wife on a couples trip in Sicily. First, they don’t read books. Second, their ease with each other is irritating. But she was in her suite, begrudgingly handing Cameron (Theo James) a pair of swimming trunks to borrow, and half-heartedly accepting his gratitude for her making the trip, especially since, as he implied As she said, her husband was a nerd and couldn’t pull back girls back then.
As she stood in front of the mirror flicking lotion, she spotted Cameron’s reflection behind her – he quickly pulled off his shorts to reveal a muscular butt like italy Renaissance sculpture, even more eye-popping is his amazing sexual organs. A shocked Harper peeks at the subject, who still doesn’t seem to notice. Casually, he asked her to check that the trunks were not too tight. She could hardly answer clearly. The moment was certainly a violation, but not something she rejected outright.
The power dynamics in this scene are undeniably convincingly erotic, thanks in no small part to the understated performances of Plaza and James. Cameron is both a mute and a stallion, and his very existence is a curse on everything Harper holds dear. Harper wasn’t sure if he was flirting with her, intimidating her, or just unaware of his actions. He silences her with his body and the secret way he deploys and controls her with it. The trope of the grim bitch and the fake Adonis who rescued her from the ice castle is there for a reason: many people who have sealed themselves off behind brick walls not-so-secretly want to be dispossessed.
Mainstream TV’s recent return to pornography, sexual intrigue is one of the biggest success stories of the year. Sex has never really disappeared from television — racy, all-out sex scenes have always been a must for corset-rippers, bawdy comedies, and prestige dramas. But in 1402, a string of serial dramas transcend superficial thrills thanks to the complex acting behind them. Being able to craft a “sexy” character requires infinite skill. You can’t just have a pretty face or a strong body: you have to layer emotional and social power with a sexy charge, while your characters dance with cultural taboos like infidelity, incest, and paid sex.
Taboo Indoctrination HBO’s House of the Dragon with its captivating appeal. In its early episodes, the Game of Thrones prequel to the ruling dynasty of Westeros pitted the childish teenage Princess Rhaenyla (Millie Alcock) against her addicted Blood’s uncle, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith), as they vie for the title of heir to the throne. You can never be sure if their one-on-one conversations in Valyrian, their ancestral language, are heated by political rivalries, family intimacy, or disturbing sexual tension. But when the rogue demon leaves the palace and enters the city with a disguised Rhaenyla to meet misfortune at a local brothel, their friction leads to a furious affair that nearly ends with her falling. Later, the elder Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) seduces her uncle on the beach in broad daylight after his wife’s funeral.
Many straight men I know are outraged by Smith’s “boxy” face and tall, thin build, not understanding how a scarecrow man could be like Smoldering like an angry demon. But he didn’t do it alone. Both Alcock and Darcy play a royal who resembles her stepmother Queen Allison (played by Emily Kelly in early episodes and later Olivia Cooke) Flaunt her powerful sexuality, openly play a nurturing, dedicated wife, and burn with him. D’Arcy’s raw beauty and icy jaw contrast sharply with their character’s starkly hungry personality, heightening influence when she claims her various lovers.
Female Men Who Can’t Suppress Their Sexual Desires For Toxic Substances is HBO’s High School Drama Euphoria and some highlights from Netflix’s Regency Sophomore Romance Bridgeton . Euphoria Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), a pure teenager who has a one-night stand with her best friend’s abusive boyfriend, Nate (Jacob Elordi) Quickly turned into a chattering, willful ooze because of emotionally repressed love. Bridgerton Introverted Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) is reluctantly seduced by the slutty Viscount (Jonathan Bailey) her sister wants to marry; After the scene, Ashley had to balance Kate’s painful longings with her social fears. As Sweeney sinks into lustful frenzy, Ashley trudges through lustful shame.
My personal favorite from this year’s porn show is the busy working woman: Alice Englert is an ambitious ) French sex worker of the century plays Mississippi stripper Brandee Evans in Starz’s Dangerous Liaisons on Starz The P-Valley and Simona Tabasco as doe-eye Italian escorts in White Lotus . Every actress must go from scene to scene, portraying the true, intimate nature of her character, embody confidence in her visual mystique and physical skill, and finally, maintain a captivating, professional image to attract clients. Together, Englert, Evans, and Tabasco have pulled off the impossible: make viewers want to either sleep with them, or be them.
This story first appeared in the December independent issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe . 1402
