Bomba was a
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
film genre, characterized by its gratuitous use of sex scenes.
It was most popular in the late 1960s, and was a focal point of cultural debates around sex and sexuality.
History
Bomba emerged as a genre of film in the Philippines in the late 1960s. Bomba films featured nudity, albeit not full-frontal nudity, as well as simulated sex scenes that were often tangential to the plot. Films in the genre include a mix of
soft-core
Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Sof ...
and
hard-core pornography
Hardcore pornography, or hardcore porn, is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal or oral intercourse, fingering, anilingus, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast wit ...
, with new bomba films becoming more sexually explicit over time.
Despite their sexual content, bomba films were a mainstream phenomenon in the Philippines, and actresses associated with the genre, referred to as "bomba stars", appeared frequently in mainstream media.
Analysis
Bomba played a role in revitalizing
Filipino film
The Cinema of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Pelikulang Pilipino'' or ''Sine Pilipino'') began with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on August 31, 1897, at the ''Salón de Pertierra'' in Manila. The following year, local ...
at the end of the 1960s as one of the few local film genres that could draw audiences away from imported
American films. Beyond the commercial success of the films themselves, the provocative nature of the films' sexual content became a subject of extensive cultural debate.
Bomba films remain one of the only categories of 1960s Filipino film to have drawn extensive critical attention.
See also
*
Sex in film
Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or hav ...
*
Censorship in the Philippines
Censorship in the Philippines refers to the control of certain information in the Philippines.
History Spanish colonial period
There was government-sanctioned censorship in the Philippines as a Spanish colony which was perceived to be prevalent. ...
References
{{reflist
Film genres
Philippine pornography