Thanks for the thoughtful entry, Kim. I think I arrived too late on the Hot Blog to get any reaction, so I hope you don't mind my copying my post here...

So far, the discussion has been about films that are obviously meant to be art, or have pretensions to artistry, or films that are working on a more consciously low-art or genre experiment level (zombie slapstick, anyone?). For me, the use of nudity in films that hover in between arthouse and exploitation is the hardest (ahem, most difficult) to parse.

Like Brian DePalma's films, for example, where the gratuitousness of the nudity is part of the point (the opening sequence of Blow Out, or the credit sequence of Body Double). On the other hand, he's also got scenes in movies where the blood is more gratuitous than the nudity, in which the nudity is absolutely essential for establishing character, motivation, etc. (Carrie and Dressed to Kill come to mind).

Or what about what I'm sure is one of LexG's favorites, The Hot Spot? Dennis Hopper doesn't ever seem to make up his mind whether he's making an arthouse or exploitation flick. In an exploitation movie, nobody would have to wonder why Jennifer Connelly and Virginia Madsen are naked in it. If it's arthouse, then everyone gets to ask why the director made the deliberate decision to be explicit about everything (as Kim Voynar is asking about Aronofsky's choice -- so clearly The Wrestler isn't exploitation).

All of these films are probably right up there on the list if you look up their lead actresses on Mr. Skin. That's only half of Kim's question, though -- the other half has to do with whether we are supposed to be titillated by Marisa Tomei's nudity, or if there is more going on that we should be reacting to. Are there really only two choices we have as viewers -- to feel either enthusiastic about the titillation, or indicted by it? What about actresses who aren't playing strippers or prostitutes in arthouse movies? Like, say, Tilda Swinton in Young Adam?

Sorry for the long post, but Kim raises a lot of issues.

NDB,

You raise a lot of valid points that merit further discussion. In particular, I'm interested in the point you raise about whether we as an audience are supposed to be titillated by Tomei's nudity in Wrestler. I would say, clearly, that's not the intent of the film or the nudity; for me, it serves primarily to better impact, as I said, that moment at the end when she clearly feels naked and exposed on stage for the first time. And partly, that change was driven by her desire to not keep living this duel life of good mother/stripper, but it's also implied that she's been supporting her kid that way for a long time, and up to this point she's had the ability to compartmentalize those sides of herself and convince herself that it's okay.

It was fairly evident from the storyline that, in part, it's the evolving nature of her relationship with Randy that is the impetus for the shift in her view of herself and how she's exploiting her body to make a living. Suddenly Randy, who's always been just a customer to her (although she was certainly more than that to him for a while) starts to feel like something else, and her struggle is in reconciling her feelings for him with her feelings about herself. Because it's one thing to let your inner slut loose in the privacy of your bedroom with a partner you trust, but it's another thing entirely to play the part of a slut for the benefit of a paying customer; she pushes Randy away because she can no longer be just the latter for him.

In a weird sort of way, I saw a bit of a parallel here to Julia Robert's role in Pretty Woman (pretty much a crappy, unrealistic movie, I know, but bear with me here). In that film, Vivian (Roberts) and her friend Kit (Laura San Giacomo) have this mantra that allows them to compartmentalize whoring their bodies for cash: We say who, we say when -- the point being, they're not as bad as women who whore for a pimp's benefit, they are the ones who choose their own customers, they choose what they'll do with them, they get all the money. And Vivian's one Big Rule is no kissing, because kissing implies a level of intimacy that's her line in the sand with paying customers, until she meets Prince Charming in the form of Edward Lewis.

Tomei's character basically follows the same template, in that her career as a stripper has afforded her relative financial independence and the ability to support her son, but Randy is no rich billionaire come to sweep the hooker with the heart of gold up out of the gutters; he's just a guy, as broken-down emotionally and otherwise as she is, who sees her in a way that none of her other customers do. And his honesty and the raw emotional need he has to connect with someone, anyone, breaks through the resolve she thought she had, that allowed her to do what she did.

I didn't feel there was any point in the film where Aronofsky's intent was to dehumanize either the character or the actress, nor was their any intent to titillate the pervs in the audience. The men who would find that performance titillating in any way, they are exactly the kind of men who frequent strip bars to begin with. They're getting off not just on a nude body, but on the idea of a woman debasing and exploiting herself for their benefit. It gives them a sense a power, that these women are taking off their clothes, shaking their tits, crawling half-naked across the floor for the sake of a dollar in a g-string, lap dancing implied sex.

Strippers and hookers are vessels for the uncomplicated sexual gratification of a warm female body without the responsibility of viewing the owner of that body as a person with thoughts, feelings and needs. And if a man finds Tomei's nudity in this film titillating, well, that says much more about him than it does about Tomei as an actress.

As for your point about bare male chests in Spider-Man, I'll have to ponder that and get back with you on that, because the difference between male and female nudity in a film is in large part about sexual power, and it will take a longer post to delve into that one.

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