Well, this is your opinion. I suppose that nostalgia for the good old days can impact a little every "objective" judgement...
I like sex on a tv screen as the next guy, but usually If I want to watch it I prefer a honest porn. Sex scenes on a "mainstream" tv show seem to me just a waste of time.
Interesting. I feel just the opposite. I have little interest in sitting around watching people have sex for the hell of it, but sex (and nudity) as part of the broad palette of storytelling very much does-- sexuality enriches the arts at least as much as any other aspect of the human experience (and more than many).
Obviously sex is part of storytelling. What annoys me is its representation on the screen. If Mary and John are lovers, it's natural that they both enjoy physical intimacy. But you can imply sex with just an initial kiss and then a gentle fading. It's absolutely superfluous to see two half-naked actors who do push-ups and exercises on a bed for 5 minutes, pretending to be overwhelmed by an uncontrollable passion. Usually I just fast forward it. The last time I saw a sex scene that really contributed to the story was in American Gods (the scene with the jinn).
The problem is that American Media are more capable of depicting interesting fistfights and/or gun battles than, well, interesting sex. I mean, where is the American equivalent of Blue Is the Warmest Colour, Y tu mamá también or Last Tango in Paris?
You have a point....
I probably didn't explain myself well. I agree that sex is a powerful narrative device. The problem is, compared to the rest of the world), American media can't it handle very well. For example, I googled some list (between Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB) of the erotic movies considered the best. Well, the best American erotic movies are almost always same kind of thriller, where the main characters are entangled in some morbid and obsessive sexual relationships. It almost seems that the US movie industry is incapable to portray people engaged in a happy and sane sex and is eager to suggest to its viewers something like "See? Sex is PERVERSE. Only tormented people can really ENJOY IT.".
Anything can be done off screen ("What happened in sickbay, captain?" "Oh, Spock just died."), but it's usually been to show rather than tell-- especially in a visual medium. The demure fade out for sex is merely censorship for the sake of conforming to ancient religious tradition.
Which is part of the same tradition-- sex is forbidden and there will be consequences!
You are absolutely right. The problem is the execution. Using the examples cited by @Christopher, if you can't shoot a decent fiststfight or a gun battle, well, please don't overdo them and don't drag them for I-don't-know-how-many minutes. In those cases a single punch (or gun shoot) can convey the message. Sometimes action scenes can be exhilarating. sometimes they can be tedious and you want just to skip them. In the case of the sex scenes, well, with American filmmakers is almost always the latter...
It's the same with anything else. One prefers that it be done well rather than done badly.
You'll know you're old when the louder crackle pop you hear in the theater is your knees over the popcorn.
