A recent UCLA survey found that young people, ages 13 to 24, want fewer sex scenes in movies and television shows. According to the “Teens and Screens” survey from the school’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers, 51.5% of teenagers want to see more media that shows camaraderie and platonic connections. For the whole report, 1,500 youth were polled, with 100 respondents from each age group (ages 10 to 24). However, questions about sex and romance were limited to those ages 13 to 24. (The National Academy of Sciences classifies teenagers as belonging to the 10–24 age range, which also happens to be the generational group known as “Gen Z.”).
44.3% of young people said in the study that they thought “romance in media is overused.” Approximately 39% of respondents expressed a desire to see more representations of aromantic and/or asexual characters, while 47.5% stated that most TV program and movie themes do not require sex. HBO’s “Euphoria” and “The Idol” are two contemporary shows with a strong youth demographic that are well-known for their often sexual sequences.
However, Olivia Rodrigo, who discussed whether or not she has seen ‘The Idol’ with NME, was described in the “Teens and Screens” report as saying, “I don’t have the desire to. I remember walking out of ‘Barbie’ and being like, ‘Wow, it’s so long since I’ve seen a movie that is female-centred in a way that isn’t sexual or about her pain or her being traumatised.’”
The study’s young participants discussed misconceptions about the media and shared a common wish for romance and sex to be less concentrated. “I don’t like [that] every time a male and female character are together on screen, studios feel the need to make them fall [in] love. There’s a complete lack of platonic relationships in American cinema,” a 17-year-old Black teen from Georgia stated.
Another romantic cliché was mentioned by a 23-year-old Asian lady from New York: “The guy would be a jerk to the woman but she would end up falling in love with him.” “While it’s true that adolescents want less sex on TV and in movies, what the survey is really saying is that they want more and different kinds of relationships reflected in the media they watch,” said Yalda T. Uhls, co-author of the report and the owner and director of CSS.
Uhls went on, “We know that young people are suffering an epidemic of loneliness and they’re seeking modelling in the art they consume,” adding that she is also a guest instructor in the psychology department at UCLA. “While some storytellers use sex and romance as a shortcut to character connection, it’s important for Hollywood to recognize that adolescents want stories that reflect the full spectrum of relationships.”
Amongst the report’s other important conclusions are:
— Racial stereotypes in shows were intensely disliked. In fact, just having a person of color portraying a villain, or portraying a character with negative traits, was also disliked.
— Gen Z considers social media to be “authentic media,” with TikTok considered the most authentic platform (even though its search feature delivers far more misinformation than, say, Google, according to a report).
— Their favorite theme in stories was “hopeful, uplifting content with people beating the odds” and “people with lives like my own.”
In actuality, there has been a long-term reduction in sexual activity rates, with Gen Z experiencing the greatest decline. According to Psychology Today, people are having fewer partners and having sex less frequently; this is especially prevalent for young men.