27 May 2003 - 8:27 p.m.

Do you ever watch a movie with a sex scene in it, and just start feeling really bad for the characters?

Like, "Man, I bet they wish I wasn't watching them have sex."

Or, "Man, that guy was so awkward, trying to get that lady's boots and pantyhose off. I bet he wishes all this hadn't been caught on tape."

Or, "Man, why did she have to wear pantyhose? Didn't she know there'd be an audience?

Well, whatever, I got through it okay.

But I still don't understand why you have to show sex in movies. I mean, porn is one thing, because it doesn't end up being a distraction. Ditto for something like Sex and the City, where there's lots of explicit stuff, but at least the sex scenes are actually about sex, and not just titillating some poor viewer.

I don't have a problem with naked people, just superfluous naked people.

I think I have a much bigger issue with sex scenes now that I've taken a bunch of screenwriting classes, because economy of pages and scene length are such gigantic areas of concern. I mean, when you can't have characters saying "hello" to one another because it takes up too much space/time, who has time to devote two minutes to characters sweating all over their sheets? I mean, for fuck's sake.

The only exception to this I can think of is that sequence in St. Elmo's Fire when Andrew McCarthy finally gets to do Ally Sheedy like, all over the apartment, and you just feel so happy for him, that your like, "Okay, we can watch you do it on the table. And in the bathroom. And on the bed. Wait, why does she still have her pearls on? Oh, you crazy kids, you broke the shower!"

Right.

What I'm wearing: Gray, like the weather.

What I'm reading: Hatbox giving herself one loud-ass bath.

What I'm doing after this: Talking to Gus on the phone and deciding what book to read next.