by Anthony John Mosby

Created on: August 03, 2009

It was Pat Benatar that wrote the hit single 'Sex as a Weapon' but if she were deciding on the lyrics today she might well replace that last word with 'marketing device'. It's been a long established fact that sex (or more accurately, the promise of it) sells and there's nary a product on the face of the planet that can't be made more viable by a little flash of flesh or a come-hither smile. It's a theme that can sell everything from toothpaste to automobiles and when it comes to selling TV programming - factual or fictional - it's one of the default positions.

But nowadays, the quantity of innuendo and explicitness, seems to have permeated every level of entertainment, even when it doesn't reflect the product. Fiction - explicit or otherwise - has often relied on romantic angst, spurned lovers and the tease of the unknown, but with the rise of the reality show - and in particular, the confessional format - the race is on to be more shocking than ever. It's both the willingness of participants and the complicity of viewers that drives it to be more shocking and more sensationally advertised. More than ever, the modern audience needs and wants (or ratings would seem to indicate they want) and feel they deserve, to know who's doing what to whom and preferably to have video proof. Dramas, already vastly more expensive to produce than their 'factual' cousins, often feel they have to raise/lower the bar just to keep up with the ratings and conversations around the water-cooler the following day. When news channels follow suit, even those using the self-same imagery and lack-of-nuance to warn you about the dangers of such (what we could call 'having your cake and eating it') then there's clear indication that we know from where they are really taking the public pulse.

But the agreement that there's probably too much bad and needless sex on television comes with an important caveat: it mustn't be confused with an argument for none at all, or a dictate of what kind. Long gone are the days when dramas couldn't even suggest married couples might share a bed and sitcoms rarely strayed out of the kitchen or living room. While some may flinch at the more explicit portrayal of lustful shenanigans on modern cable shows such as True Blood, The Sopranos, The Shield or Deadwood it would be wrong to write off such examples as bad television. Explicit though they may be, they are arguably some of the best. More coy and simplistic drama, devoid of anything remotely controversial

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