Revolutionary Desires: The Political Power of the Sex Scene

404 Inklings #27

by Xuanlin Tham

Cinema is becoming less and less sexy; yet more and more people are rallying against sex on screen. What could explain this growing anti-sex sentiment among the producers and consumers of screen culture? The sex scene’s intimacies, transgressions, and dedication to pleasure can be uniquely poised to rupture dominant narratives of capitalism and the violences that flow from it. Why is the sex scene, demonised as it is, therefore more politically important and subversive than ever? Revolutionary Desires seeks to answer that question.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Sexuality, Feminism, Essays, Queer

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2025

Reviews

[rhian · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes. a thousand times yes.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good: short, sharp and convincing on what sex scenes can and can't do - it wisely doesn't go the full Wilhelm Reich, and instead makes a well-argued and timely case both against the Junior Anti-Sex League and for the use of fictional sex as a political and personal commentary.

[👜 · Rating 5 out of 5]

so extremely grateful for all my cultural/social lighthouses calling me back to my body. i cannot describe the feeling of reading this while listening to “off with her head” (banks’ own exclamation for us to “get out of our heads and into your present moment”) and finishing it right before i headed off to see “on falling” at the bfi (i won’t spoil cus it’s so new but very on topic). it’s no coincidence that my last few months have been led by kelela’s lulling words “starting to feel my body now” and the gentle push/grip of the collar from my flatmate to divest from disembodiment, to let the lorde into my life and move towards the erotic. the fight has hurt me the most when i haven’t been reached for, when i haven’t reached for others and when i’ve acted like that is acceptable. that was when my body was at its most broken. no longer will that be my everyday. i’ve been moved to move and find ways of making myself move (thinking of berjé’s love letter to dancing, in a book about lesbian sacred sexuality). thank you so much, xuanlin. love will never cover the impact of queerness to my life. revolutionary desires are following me everywhere. i’m ready to fuck the system

[Ambrose (Aco) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been using "polymorphous" excessively ever since finishing this probably the best essay I read all year go get it ✨

[grace]

xuanlin is as brilliant in their writing as they are meticulous in their research, i expected nothing less! they also briefly (but fairly) critiqued my favorite batman movie, so matt reeves, in the unlikely case that you read this: add a fucking sex scene or two!!!!

[Georgia Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

so brilliant! so many pages marked to come back to.
a really inspiring book

[Isaac Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
These inklings just don’t miss

[Dena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Showgirls shout out, hell yeah

[effie allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

to be honest, i am not sure how much more this book adds to the conversation if you have already read the carlee gomes article. i did appreciate the examples of films, which was something distinct from the article-- im excited to watch the ones i haven't seen! and really, i think the author is really on to something in connecting the lack of sensuality and eroticism in modern american cinema to larger issues, including my main concern w this, which is the growing disconnection of people from their bodies and organic desires. it would have been interesting to see more scholarship in this area, but maybe that's a different book than this. overall, worth a read if this is a subject that interests you at all, but also you should read the carlee gomes article and probably erotism by bataille (who got a brief shout out in this but i feel like could really add more to this conversation)

[bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
i enjoyed this so much! pro-sex-scene brigade up 400 points.

    ”One of the most visceral ways an art form can instantaneously bring us back to sensing in our bodies (just think about the blood rush it instigates, maybe the held breath; the heightened awareness of other people in the room, the way you might begin to feel your clothes against your skin), the sex scene is, by nature, an interruption: a moment of pause in the otherwise smooth automatism of our disembodied media consumption.”

    not in a bad way, but at times this almost read like internet (read: twitter) discourse in novelized form. it honestly just made for a clear and concise way to understand the conversations people have about sex scenes online, which was really helpful considering the cyclical nature that those conversations typically take online.

    i’ve always been drawn to imaginative/inventive depictions of sex on screen, but have never really had the language to describe why that is. i definitely have a lot more to think about in regards to that now.

    i found the pushback on the way people use “male gaze” today really insightful. as well as the argument against representation for representations’ sake. anyways, i’m gonna go watch a movie mentioned in the book now.

    side note: what’s the deal with movies with sexual themes not streaming anywhere? kanopy, thanks for saving me from that.

[Lola Stocking · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and interesting analysis! Some really good points and directions for further reading although I’m not completely convinced by the idea that this can be related to anti capitalism in such a clear way. Obviously sex and its representations are highly political but at times this felt a little shoe horned (or too hopeful). And a couple of the film analyses felt somewhat contradictory or simplistic when describing the desire of their female protagonists as essentially expressions of the “male gaze” just after the author critiques the idea of an oversimplified gendered gaze and discusses how UN-simplistic shifting etc desire is. Still great though (and the conclusion reads as somewhat of a softening of the anti capitalist stance which I think was more convincing)

[Jack Birrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The sex scenes in this book critique capitalism and find the energy to break past it; they experiment with risking and reinventing pleasure under patriarchy; most crucially, they refuse to surrender to the violence of the present, and they refuse to leave anyone behind. Feel it: that outward-reaching ecstasy, the way it senses so much more possibility than the here and now. Follow it into the future.’

Inspiring, expansive, educational. Viva the revolution of desires and the freedom of expression that is being a human and sharing thoughts, feelings and intimacy. We are all here. All connected. And we aren’t going anywhere so let’s embrace it rather than degrade it.

[Jimmy Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I thoroughly loved every page of this book, I just wanted more, more and more, and less than 100 pages wasn’t enough.

This is the exact sort of book I was missing and craving when I was in university (I even referenced the same sex scene in Sense8 which blew my mind as a young queer person). But, I wish there were opportunity to branch out on sex scenes in other forms of media beyond film (and the brief foray into television.)

I completely understand the authors dilemma of writing what feels like such a ‘frivolous’ book in our current year of political turmoil, but I would given *anything* for a much deeper dive on this topic that I can sink my teeth into.

[elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doesn’t really tread new ground to those that take up space online/on social media where discourse like this happens on a cyclical, almost weekly basis, but this is a great, condensed argument for the sublimation of the erotic into quotidian life on the basis of building a circuitry of sexual, physical bodies that open up possibilities to move towards queerness— that is, not necessarily in terms of strictly sexuality, but against a de-eroticized surveillance state of policed bodies where the only viable future is an atomized, cisheteronormative one. Best as a companion piece to Jose Esteban Munoz, Katherine Angel, and Linda Williams.

[chlotatoreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed and read it in one day.
I have a few things that couldn't quite make it a 5* for me personally.

1) Sometimes felt the language was way to overcomplicated to sound smart.
2) I wish this was longer!
3) I don't know whether if I read this in 1-5 years time if it would still be relevant, as it mentioned very current/recent topics. The war in Gaza came up which through me off a bit- I understand the need to talk about it of course, but felt out of place in this book.

Despite all of that, I would still recommend and I'm glad I read it.

[Enea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vote: 5/5

This was a surprise. I was expecting an ok book on representation of sex in cinema, but this was wildely political, sexy and erotically charge. There are cinematic examples throughout the book, but they are almost an excuse to develop a quick, smart, easy essay on how desire is the drive for change and how owning your own body and use it for pleasure, it’s a revolutionary act related to liberation. Seriously impressed. Highly recommended.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent deep-dive into the mechanisms behind the increasing scarcity of sex scenes in Western movies; the author’s analysis of late-stage capitalism as a hurdle for the expression of desire is particularly well-articulated and compelling. I would recommend this read to anyone interested in cinema or concerned about the rise of conservatism and its implications for sexual freedom.

[Algirdas Kraunaitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something odd about reading a book about a movie (I am not very likely to ever watch). But this book made some very interesting points, that extend beyond the movies and explore a particular social trend - that of the de-sexualisation - that is worth exploring today. Also, I am always surprised how academic these little books are, so don't be fooled by the lovely cover!

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always feels like a bit of a cop out to call pieces of work “urgent” or “important” but this absolutely is. A wonderfully constructed bit of writing that is crucial for understanding the importance of sex scenes outside of their immediate context.

[Eve]

a must read for anybody who cares about sex in cinema and wants to die every time they read a post about the ‘necessity’ of pleasure on screen <3 a perfect little book

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible

[connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

makes you think

[Toby Crime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was nice, recommended some interested sex scenes for my letterboxed, haven't actually watched any since but here's to hoping. Sometimes walked on the line of too pomo but never crossed it

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative.
I'm glad there was a part about Sense8.

[Lew Dominey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally. A good inkling again. Really insightful and really widely referenced. I loved it.

[Jake Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick read part of 404 Ink's Inkling series of big ideas on pocket sized books. Found chapter 2 on The sex scene and capitalism particularly enlightening!

[Eleanor James Sharpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

hell yeah dude

[Ash Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book. Holy shit.

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read! Not too sure on the conclusion, but i found this all very interesting nonetheless. Especially the debate on are sex scenes ‘necessary’.

[Mike Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredible read about the dire state of the sex scene in these horrendous days and times we live in, and posits a look at how powerful and essential they can actually be in powering us toward new futures by helping us expand our political imaginations. I ate this up, and loved it. Thank you for this, Xuanlin Tham.