Nudity

I recently read in a German newspaper that ABC had to pay 1.4 million dollars to the FCC for showing a naked woman on primetime TV. I wonder what the Germans are thinking, because the NYPD Blue clip doesn't reveal anymore than a typical ad for bathroom fixtures in the Obi (similar to Home Depot) catalog.

Nudity is taken for granted around here. You see it in television and print advertisements, in movies made for general audiences, on posters announcing the annual Erotic convention in Nürnberg, at the public pools where sunbathing topless is typical, and of course, the Englisher Garten in Munich (see my post from 7/13/2007).

And Germans don't "protect" their children from sex. Before children's movies in the theatre, we've often seen ads for AIDS prevention featuring talking condoms. In one, a young woman and a young man are passionately kissing in bed and they both reach over to pick up a condom. Another ad features Boris Becker emptying his pockets at airport security and saying something about being careful. I'm not ready to explain the depressing story of AIDS to the boys, but when they asked what condoms were, I told them that they keep you from having a baby before you are ready.

The way movies are rated here also demonstrates a greater tolerance for sex and nudity than in the US. Brokeback Mountain, for example, garnered an "R" rating in the US, but "ab 12 jahre (from 12 years old)" in Germany and "U," the equivalent of a "G" rating, in France, because two men kissing is not considered offensive, and the sex in the movie is only implied. The Devil Wears Prada earned a "PG-13" rating because Anne Hathaway's character spent the night with a man, and again, the sex was only implied. The same movie in Germany was considered mild enough for newborns, "ab 0 jahre (from 0 years old)."

Horror movies, on the other hand, are rated for adults only, the same as hardcore pornography, whereas in the US, they receive an "R," meaning children can see these movies as long as they go with their parents.

I was talking about this with a friend, who is originally from Canada but now lives in Erlangen, and she too doesn't understand why in North America we need to keep sex a secret from our children. As she put it, "Chances are good you will have sex in your lifetime, but what are the chances that you will be blown up?" Or chased by a masked man with a chainsaw, for that matter.