In visual media such as television and film, sexposition is the technique of providing
exposition
Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to:
*Universal exposition or World's Fair
*Expository writing
**Exposition (narrative)
*Exposition (music)
*Trade fair
* ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio
*Exposi ...
against a backdrop of sex or nudity.
The ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' defined sexposition as "keeping viewers hooked by combining complex plot exposition with explicit sexual goings-on".
Its purpose, according to
James Poniewozik
James "Jim" Poniewozik (; born July 12, 1968) is an American journalist and television critic. He is the chief TV critic for ''The New York Times''. Earlier in his career, he wrote ''Time'' magazine's ''Tuned In'' column for 16 years.
Early life
...
, is to divert the audience and give characters something to do while exposition is being delivered, which is what distinguishes sexposition from merely gratuitous titillation.
Etymology
The term was coined by the blogger and critic Myles McNutt in his post on the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
TV series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' episode named "You Win or You Die", posted in May 2011;
see link in External Links section below.
In this blog post McNutt used the term to describe scenes in which characters reveal crucial information related to plot and character development during intimate scenes.
Author
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
said this technique is in line with the purpose of sexuality in the ''
A Song of Ice and Fire
''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
'' books, and acknowledged that this technique allows for the exposition of motivations and incentives not available to the TV show.
As the show has to convey details of many characters and backstories from the books, sexposition is useful to deliver the information to viewers in condensed form.
The term has since been retroactively applied to similar practices in earlier works, including the HBO shows ''
Deadwood'' and ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'' (frequently set in strip clubs), many older cop films (likewise), and the comic strip ''
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
''. According to
James Poniewozik
James "Jim" Poniewozik (; born July 12, 1968) is an American journalist and television critic. He is the chief TV critic for ''The New York Times''. Earlier in his career, he wrote ''Time'' magazine's ''Tuned In'' column for 16 years.
Early life
...
, the novelty of the practice is not the nudity, but the manner in which it accompanies exposition, for which older TV shows with less complex plots did not have as much need.
Criticism
Some critics have disapproved of sexposition because, in their view, it uses inappropriate tactics, insults the audience's intelligence by appealing and succumbing to carnality and covers up the screenwriter's failure to build cohesive narratives, having to rely on long drawn out sequences of exposition made watchable only through appeals to sexuality.
Some criticize sexposition for catering almost exclusively to heterosexual men. Director
Neil Marshall
Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films ''Dog Soldiers'' (2002) and ''The Descent'' (2005), the science fiction action film ''Doomsday'' (200 ...
recalled during the filming of the second-season ''Game of Thrones'' episode "
Blackwater" that one of the executive producers repeatedly urged him to add more full-frontal nudity. According to Marshall this executive producer explained to him: "
eryone else in the series is drama side. I represent the pervy side of the audience", an experience that Marshall described as "pretty surreal" to happen on the set of a major network production.
''Game of Thrones'' showrunner David Benioff admitted that he does "pay less attention to intricate plot points delivered during sex scenes", and co-creator
D. B. Weiss
Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. R ...
agreed, saying that "Sex grabs people's attention. But once it has their attention, it tends not to let go of it." While the effect is reportedly different for different directors, they say "Every one of those sex scenes is there because we wanted that particular scene in the show. There is not a sex scene quota from HBO."
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' reported before the seventh season in 2017 that "Even if Benioff and Weiss don’t always admit it, the show has changed. Scenes in which exposition is delivered in one brothel or another, for example, have been pared back."
''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' critic
Maureen Ryan
Maureen "Mo" Ryan (born in 1966) is an American film and television critic, writer and reporter. From 2000 to 2018, she was a TV critic at the ''Huffington Post'' and the ''Chicago Tribune''. From 2015 to 2018, Ryan was the chief TV critic for ''V ...
contrasted sexposition—which she said was useful if used to convey much information that would otherwise be boring—with "H.B." ("Hey, boobs!"), which she described as scenes that only exist to show (usually female) nudity.
Satire
Fan site Winter is Coming cited an April 2012 sketch on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' as a satire of sexposition when discussing Marshall's anecdote.
Aired before the Marshall interview was published, the skit purported to be an episode of ''
HBO First Look
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is bas ...
'' featuring Adam Friedberg, 13-year-old "creative consultant" to ''Game of Thrones''. Played by
Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...
, the teenage boy was proud of "mak
ngsure there are lots of boobs" and various sexual acts during expository scenes. Author Martin (
Bobby Moynihan
Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...
) called Friedberg "a visionary. He knows that even when I didn't write sex into a scene, I was definitely thinking about it".
The real Martin is aware of the skit, joking at
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
that Friedberg could not attend because "
ere was a scene in Belfast with no boobies in it" which he needed to fix.
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
original Myles McNutt blog post using the term for the first time
2010s neologisms
Narrative techniques
Sexuality in fiction