I was listening to In Bed with Susie Bright the other week (oh, I love her!), in which Susie was interviewing Jennifer Lyon Bell about her erotic film, Headshot, which is changing the face of erotica. In short, the sex-scene shows a man being pleasured by a woman, but the viewer never sees below the waist. Apparently, the scene is intensely erotic while also showing nothing explicit whatsoever. The vulnerability on the male actor's face and the situation are apparently so intense that the scene is feeling-driven. Hence the fireworks.
The old cliche that the most important sexual organ is the brain certainly stands true here. Lyon Bell's film was inspired by an Andy Warhol movie in which a similar scene was shot, but it was a silent film that gave the viewer little relationship to the protagonists. In Headshot, Lyon Bell wanted to provide a narrative -- characters and story that would add intimacy and stakes. She speaks of her love of Story -- how opening us to characters makes our experience closer and deeper; in effect, more enjoyable.
I believe the closer we are to human emotion, the more connected we feel; and I reckon that's the same in any story, no matter what its aim!
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