In the 1960s and 1970s there was an explosion of sex in the cinema as filmmakers, making the most of new-found freedoms, tried to compensate for decades of self-censorship in the industry. Much of the sex depicted on screen was pure exploitation, to be sure, but some of it was profound and resulted in the first truly adult looks at sexual relationships to be shown to mainstream audiences, at least since the silent and early sound era before the dreaded Hays Code of censorship was imposed. Films such as Last Tango in Paris, The Night Porter and The Devils were extremely controversial in their day with some critics acclaiming them as cinematic classics while others denounced them as high class pornography masquerading as art. Nevertheless, sexual content in films has traditionally pushed the envelope. However, in recent years- with a few exceptions primarily seen in art house releases- it has diminished in major studio releases. Ann Hornaday, film critic for the Washington Post, is not happy about it. She posits that studios are concentrating on big blockbusters that present sex in a pure vanilla, watered-down manner that is calculated not to offend. She misses films such as Body Heat and Fatal Attraction that combined compelling plots with sensuality. She says that when filmed with skill, sex scenes can play a key role in making movies not only memorable but artistic as well. Click here to read.