• Scenes of naked men and women fighting are becoming increasingly common in film and television, challenging traditional notions of vulnerability and sexualization.
  • Fight scenes in Borate, Righteous GemsAnd No hard feelings demonstrate the use of nudity as a symbol of freedom, liberation and empowerment.
  • These scenes demonstrate a shift in the entertainment industry towards embracing a wider range of body types and genders, leveling the playing field and eliminating the stigma surrounding body image.

She comes out at night, she’s ready to fight, and she’s naked. In short, she is an ogress. Jennifer Lawrence this summer attracted everyone’s attention by starring in a comedy blockbuster, No hard feelings. Since the film debuted on Netflix this week, one particular scene has stuck in people’s minds. Lawrence fights a group of kids on the beach completely naked and lands a brutal blow. Similarly, another scene in the third season of the HBO Max comedy caused a stir among viewers this year: Righteous Gems. When two men quarrel over the love of the same woman, one of them ends up naked. As they strangle and strangle each other, exposing their buttocks, one can’t help but wonder how film and television reached this point of liberating nudity. Getting naked in movies used to mean something different. This meant rose petals and declarations of love. This meant the sexualization of bodies, especially women. 2023 means it’s time to fight. Bodies are no longer seen as something desirable, they are constructed weapons used for comedic purposes in the strangest of circumstances. The entertainment world is working to eliminate the stigma surrounding body image one nude fight at a time, and it’s one hell of a journey to experience.

Go back to 2006. One film in particular created a sensation, and this film became Borate. Starring Sacha Baron Cohen starring a Kazakh reporter traveling across America, one scene that is still etched in viewers’ brains is the nude fight scene between Borat and his producer Azamat (Ken Davitian). The two have an extremely graphic fight and their naked bodies are shown without any detail. The two men are not ashamed of their naked bodies. Regardless of whether you found the scene vulgar or funny, two men finally appeared naked on screen—men who did not meet the beauty standards of Hollywood’s male body type.

No hard feelings

‘Borat’ influenced a generation of nude fight scenes

While Borate After its debut, audiences became so desensitized to the viewing and objectification of naked female bodies on screen that two male nudes were deemed to be going too far. But over time, the notorious naked fight scene in Borate has proven to be more influential in film and television than anyone could have imagined. Just last year Alexander Skarsgård starred in a critically acclaimed film Northerner (2022), and the film ends with a climactic battle on top of an erupting volcano. Skarsgård is naked, bleeding and exposed as he fights his equally chiseled foe, but finds freedom by shedding the clothes that bound him while fighting to the death. Nobility is found in nudity, and whether in comedy or drama, it becomes a symbol of freedom and emancipation.

‘Righteous Gems’ Stare Toxic Masculinity in the Face

Fast forward to 2023 and television has given us arguably the best fight scene of the year. IN Righteous Gemsweakened BJ (Tim Baltz) discovers that his wife Judy Gemstone (Edie Paterson), cheating on him. Instead of hiding from his problems, he faces them head on. Confronted with the other man in question, the vulgar Steven (Stephen Schneider), BJ breaks into his house and finds him unsuspecting and naked, but the show must go on. BJ is forced to confront not only the male anatomy, but also his masculinity as Steven brutally beats him. The fight that unfolds throughout Episode 6 of Season 3, titled “From the Heart Comes Evil Thoughts,” is a callback Borate while men fight for their bruised egos. Their toxic masculinity and pride can literally be the death of them when they fight for a woman, and Steven’s nudity is a prime example of how fragile the male ego is.

The fight scene is a perfect execution of slapstick, but it’s also a groundbreaking moment. Viewers are getting used to seeing naked male bodies in vulnerable poses on screen, and this is revolutionary. Over the past few years there has been a sharp increase in the number of naked men of all shapes and sizes on television, including generation V And Euphoria, and it leveled the playing field between the sexes. Women are no longer the only ones who take their clothes off, and men can be vulnerable with their bodies without it being seen as weakness. Scene in Righteous Gems is a highlight of season three as he cements his place among the growing list of men who fight naked and find freedom in vulnerability. But 2023 also asked itself the question: why should men have all the fun? Women should also free their nipples.

“No hard feelings” allows women to fight dirty too

Andrew Barth Feldman and Jennifer Lawrence play laser tag in the movie No Offences
Image via Sony Pictures

Jennifer Lawrence kicks a lot of ass No hard feelings. Playing a deceitful, scheming and promiscuous woman, Lawrence has never been more liberated on screen. Following her character, Maddie answers a Craiglist ad asking her to date shy 19-year-old Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) at her parents’ request, she finds freedom in behaving badly. The most liberating scene in the film occurs when a couple goes skinny dipping into the ocean and a crew of teenagers steal their clothes, thinking it’s a funny little prank. It turns out the joke is on them when Maddie runs out of the water, completely naked. She throws the first punch and the camera doesn’t shy away from showing her naked form as she throws punches and takes a few hits. The camera doesn’t care about her naked body, it cares about showing the fight, and it allows the oppressive construct of gender to disappear from the screen.

Since the film’s inception, attitudes towards women’s bodies in films have been very simple. They are looked at, and they are designed to please the eye not only of the men on the screen, but also of the men who are watching. No hard feelings begs to differ. The beach fight scene went viral after the film debuted on Netflix this week, and it would have lost much of its power if Maddie hadn’t been completely naked. Audiences are so conditioned to associate naked women on screen with vulnerability that when it’s used for something else, it’s a miracle. Maddie’s body is a weapon she uses to stand up for herself, and she doesn’t have an ounce of shame. It doesn’t matter what gender she is. It doesn’t matter whether she’s wearing clothes or not. She is strong and fearless, and wins battles by a landslide. It’s one of the best fight scenes in recent memory, and its staying power is turned up to 11 as the slapstick comedy of a 30-year-old woman fighting teenagers in the nude plays out.

Jennifer Lawrence is the naked fighter we deserve

Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman in the film No Offences
Image via Sony/Columbia Pictures

Jennifer Lawrence has always been outspoken, discussing the unfair beauty standards that women are held to, as well as sharing the personal challenges she has faced in the beauty industry. Since he starred in The Hunger Games series, she revealed how studios tried to control her body and the way she looked. Additionally, the media has been tirelessly reporting and commenting on her appearance for years. IN No hard feelings Lawrence takes control of her body, and the nude fight scene is a funny and shining gem of the film. At this moment, she really is an ogre, wandering along the beach at night. She is no longer the prey, she is the hunter. Women need more opportunities to be as mean and cruel as men, and this scene proves that the male gaze has no place in cinema. Her naked body is the whole point of the fight. It is no longer an object, it is a living, breathing fighting machine, and it belongs to her and hers alone.

Nudity usually signifies vulnerability, weakness, and something that needs to be hidden. In 2023, that means striking. How No hard feelings continues to trend on Netflix, and hopefully it’s a reminder that anything men can do, women can do too. Naked slapstick comedy isn’t just for male characters, so have more fights with angry, angry women. Both Righteous Gems And No hard feelings establish that nudity does not have to be sexualized to serve its purpose on the silver screen. Men’s and women’s bodies are more than just something to be looked at. It’s a weapon, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

No hard feelings is available to stream on Netflix in the US.

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