Heated Rivalry: Sex as a Tool for Narrative and Charater Work
As a viewer, I’m kind of over sex being shown on screen. And apparently, I’m not the only one. According to new research done by Talker Research, many Americans think sex scenes don’t add to a storyline, and more than 40 percent of Gen Z participants state they turn off a film once there’s a sex scene. Popular productions like Game of Thrones and The Wolf of Wall Street use sex as a shock factor. There’s rarely intentionality behind it, no love for the art of what sex can do for the narrative and characters. While I don’t turn off my TV when a sex scene hits my screen, if I’m not skipping it, I typically pull out my phone and mindlessly scroll. I’m not a prude, but like many viewers, when sex isn’t providing anything to the narrative or for the characters, I check out.
Surprisingly, Heated Rivalry takes a different approach to sex. Where other shows push past the sex scene to continue their narrative, this story is heightened by the vulnerability in its characters’ sexual encounters. To quote Heated Rivalry’s lead actor Hudson Williams, “If you skip the sex scenes, you miss the story.” And I agree – A good sex scene, coordinated and acted with as much seriousness and attention to detail as a classic emotional monologue, can produce captivating and illuminating work. Chala Hunter, the show’s intimacy coordinator, told The Hollywood Reporter that part of her job was to diagram each episode in a master spreadsheet to track “the narrative arc that plays throughout the intimacy.” The hockey in this sports romance is a fade-to-black situation – a technique often reserved for sex; there’s a lead-up, but then the screen cuts away to show the intimate moments right after.
As an audience, we watch the lead characters, Shane and Ilya, grow and interact sporadically over eight years. Heated Rivalry highlights how the characters’ profession impacts them on a deeply personal level; the hockey rink is a cage of exceptions built by hyper masculinity, misogyny, whiteness, and ableism. Though the most important moments in their relationship with themselves and others often happen off the ice. Whether it’s Ilya’s gentleness or Shane’s anxieties and desires, each sex scene gives the viewer a glimpse into the true character of these men. If I had scrolled on my phone or let myself drift off during these scenes, I would have missed so much. There’s only so much time within a movie or TV show to give the audience a good, well-rounded story. When that precious time is wasted on sex scenes that don’t add anything to the plot or character, it’s not only irrelevant, but those are minutes that could have been used in other areas to add depth. Thankfully, the Heated Rivalry team didn’t stop storytelling when the actors’ clothes came off.
