Why Gen Z’s turned off by sex scenes in movies

Nearly half of Gen Z-ers (43%) admit to turning off a movie after encountering a sex scene — more than any other generation. 

That’s according to a spicy new survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research, which found that 33% of all those polled have stopped watching a movie during a sex scene.

Millennials were the least likely generation to let a sex scene get in the way of finishing the movie (26%).

Younger Americans and their tolerance of nudity and sex scenes in films has been a hot topic of discussion lately, and a recent study by The Economist found that nudity and sex scenes has dipped by nearly 40% since the year 2000. 

But that’s not stopping every show from pushing the boundary. HBO’s House of the Dragon recently featured a full-frontal male nudity scene in its latest episode. 

Over one in four of those polled (27%) believe that sex scenes and nudity have “no place” in movies and TV now. Baby boomers were found to be the most likely to feel this way (35%).

Forty-three percent of those polled believe that sex scenes are either always or mostly unnecessary and don’t add enjoyment or story enhancement — Gen Z was the most likely generation to agree with this sentiment. 

Barely one in ten think sex scenes always add to the story or enhance the viewing experience. 

From a gender standpoint, the results showed that women are nearly twice as likely to shut off a movie if a sex scene comes on than men (42% and 23% respectively).

Women are also less likely than men to believe that sex scenes still have a place in modern film (51% to 63%).

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 Americans was commissioned between June 21 and June 24, 2024. It was conducted by market research company Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).