The Carol Marcus scene stood out in comparison to all the other moments of people in their underwear, because the scene was ridiculous. She told Kirk to come into a shuttle with her, started stripping off, and then he turned around and stared at her. It didn't make either character look good, it didn't seem like something anyone would do in real life, and it was obviously transparently there just so they could film Alice Eve in her underwear. It's kind of cringy.
If it'd been put into a context that made sense a lot of people would've just accepted it. Like Kirk's in bed with undressed alien twins at the start of the film, but it makes sense there because they're in bed. Vina doing a sexy dance as an Orion slave girl in The Cage also makes 100% sense because the entire plot of the episode is about her trying to seduce Pike into staying with her.
If it'd been put into a context that made sense a lot of people would've just accepted it. Like Kirk's in bed with undressed alien twins at the start of the film, but it makes sense there because they're in bed. Vina doing a sexy dance as an Orion slave girl in The Cage also makes 100% sense because the entire plot of the episode is about her trying to seduce Pike into staying with her.