Sex and nudity are extremely taboo subjects, especially in America. An entire industry thrives on the glorification of sex, and it has partly contributed to the paradigm that any nudity is inherently sexual, and that any depiction of sex is supposed to be pornographic. But nudity and sex can be used in cinema and literature, even prominently, without it being pornography in the same way that Renaissance art is not considered to be pornography.

First, let us define porn. Pornography is media (visual, audible, etc.) that’s sole purpose is to sexually arouse the viewer/reader. Since the sexual acts are what the audience is looking for, the rest of the experience is usually comical, even satirical. That is why many porn videos have ridiculous titles like “Husband gets home early from work to find maid naked in the bedroom,” (I just made that up on the spot, by the way).

It is usually easy to spot porn when you see it because it is classically known for its bad acting and ridiculous premises, but it is not always so easy to see art in a movie or book that uses nudity or sex when we as a people have been trained to write off any sort of piece with such material in it as a simple pornographic pleasure trip.

I am going to talk about one of my favorite movies, Stanley Kubrick’s final film "Eyes Wide Shut." Now if you have not made the connection already, let me tell you, "Eyes Wide Shut" has a lot of nudity and sex in it, but it couldn’t be farther from pornography!

How can that be? Well, let us unpack the film.

Remember that porn’s sole aim is to sexually arouse the viewer; this isn’t even a goal of "Eyes Wide Shut." Granted, it is possible that there are people who will only use the movie for pornographic purposes, but it is awfully sad that they are missing so much of what Kubrick is trying to communicate! Essentially, it would be like a thirteen year old boy Google-searching for “Diana and Callisto” for the sole purpose of seeing breasts, rather than trying to understand the deeper meaning of the painting. In fact, the film itself mocks people who would use it purely for sexual gratification, but more on that later.

Let’s get a quick synopsis of "Eyes Wide Shut." Bill Harford is a medical doctor, and has a wife (Alice) and daughter (Helena). Bill and Alice are faithful to each other, but Bill’s trust in his wife is shaken when one night, after smoking some obviously horrible pot, Alice tells Bill about a naval officer that she saw one time in a hotel lobby. The officer only gave her one, insignificant glance, but she admits that at that moment she would have given up her husband and daughter for one night of shallow lust with the sailor (sort of sounds like the start of bad porn doesn’t it? “Wife cheats on husband with commanding military officer in hotel room”).

Bill is incredibly hurt by his wife’s revelation, and he goes out for a night on the town where he tries (and fails) to cheat on his wife several times. His sexual encounters (or whatever you want to call them) become more and more extreme as the night progresses. Bill eventually finds himself in the midst of a grotesque, nightmarish cult sex orgy that leaves the viewer thinking “How the f- did he get here?” That is a very legitimate question! Even Bill wonders what possessed him to go this deep into his attempted infidelity (because he still hasn’t yet cheated on his wife). What started out as an attempt to reconcile his wife’s confession with his own insecurities has suddenly put him in way over his head and in mortal danger.

Throughout the movie, Bill and Alice never actually cheat on each other, but their feelings of guilt still drive them to confess their personal, unfulfilled sexual fantasies to each other, which hurts them, but may have ultimately saved their marriage. Honest communication was the determining factor in the preservation of Bill and Alice’s relationship. A couple must be completely honest with each other, even when it may hurt. After all, Bill thought everything was fine until his wife’s revelation; then he began questioning his own desires.

So if "Eyes Wide Shut" is not meant to be pornographic, then why in the world is there so much nudity and sex? As it turns out, there are a countless number of reasons why Kubrick focused so heavily on sexual aspects of the film. Partly, it is because "Eyes Wide Shut" is an almost faithful retelling of the book it’s based off of, and Stanley Kubrick was in the business of picking artfully written works that didn’t require much alteration to convey his own themes and messages.

So what are the other reasons why this “non-pornographic” movie employs so many aspects of porn? Remember, first of all, that porn usually has a very ridiculous premise; the atmosphere of "Eyes Wide Shut" is very heavy and serious, clearly indicating that this is a movie that is meant to be taken seriously, while porn usually is not.

Kubrick also uses our cultural disposition against nudity and sex to his advantage. Within the first fifteen seconds of the film, the audience sees Nicole Kidman’s naked backside. From that alone, the audience should know exactly what this movie is going to include. As mentioned before, Americans usually associate any kind of nudity with sexuality, which is why public breastfeeding has been so frowned upon, even though there is nothing sexual about it…perverts.

Kubrick understood that many people freak out when they see a naked body because they have been conditioned to react that way from a young age; although it is interesting to note that we don’t usually freak out at nudity in Renaissance paintings, because we have been conditioned to see that that nudity has an artistic meaning.

So, why is "Eyes Wide Shut" any different from a Renaissance painting when it clearly employs many of the same characteristics?

Now, not all nudity is associated with sexual themes, but the two are obviously connected in "Eyes Wide Shut." Knowing that most people are going to feel uncomfortable during certain parts of the film, Kubrick uses that discomfort to his advantage in conveying the deeper meanings of his film. Seeing naked bodies on screen makes the audience feel vulnerable, and even naked themselves, especially when others are in the audience with you. Through this discomfort, the audience is put into Bill’s shoes as he finds himself in progressively greater and greater uncomfortable, yet unrealized, sexual situations: first with a patient’s adult daughter, then a prostitute, then in the midst of a “what the f-” cult ritual.

Another reason why there are such pervasive nude and sexual themes in "Eyes Wide Shut" is because there is strong evidence to support that the majority of the film is actually a dream that Bill is experiencing. Often times, our dreams are where our deepest, darkest desires lurk, desires we would never enlighten anybody with. It also wouldn't make sense for all of these sexual happenings to be occurring one right after the other as if planned out by the subconscious. Hence the name “Eyes Wide Shut,” as if the protagonist is asleep and vividly dreaming.

This would clearly explain the dream-like Renaissance feel throughout the majority of the film, and also why it comes to a nightmarish catharsis in the ritual orgy scene. The cult sequence is supposed to disturb us; it’s supposed to make us cringe and want to look away because it acts out the filthiest form of our darkest thoughts, and we, along with Bill, feel disgusted by it, as we should! Bill has dug so deep within his own subconscious that he is horrified by what he finds.

Sex is often a very personal experience between monogamous couples. "Eyes Wide Shut" shows how sex itself can become twisted and perverted very quickly. It begins with exploring sexual infidelity with someone the protagonist is acquainted with. Then it removes the acquaintance aspect by bringing in a prostitute, who sells sex for a living. Then, the movie dehumanizes sex by making a number of masked individuals engage in sexual activity like animals.

Through his journey, Bill ends up destroying or perverting anyone he comes in contact with, even though he himself never actually engages in any of these activities.

The daughter of the owner of the tux shop where Bill gets his costume for the “Masquerade Party” (aka cult gathering) is at first admonished by her father who catches her sleeping with two men, but then ends up pimping her out for extra money, much to her delight. The pianist who gave Bill the password to the cult house is either killed or sent away, while the woman who saved Bill from the hands of the Satanic group ends up dead, although it is unclear if she died on her own, or was murdered. Alice also begins to have nightmares where she cheats on her husband just to spite him, which she feels terrible about. As he explores these dark, perverted thoughts and desires within his own subconscious, Bill has begun to corrupt everything around him, and everything he holds dear. It only stops when he finally “wakes up” and communicates his desires with his wife.

So, is there a lot of nudity and sex in "Eyes Wide Shut?" Well, it doesn’t take 20/20 vision to confirm that it obviously does, but sex and nudity are not used for pornographic purposes in this movie.

You could make the argument that the cult sequence objectifies people who only use sex for carnal purposes; isn’t this in itself pornographic? Yes, of course it’s pornographic, but at the same time, that does not make the movie porn. You see, the masquerade scene is not designed to sexually arouse the viewer like porn is; rather, it is designed to mock people who objectify others as sexual objects, and who only use sex as a means of superficial, carnal pleasure by painting them in a grotesque, evil light.

This scene itself is objectionably grotesque, but that’s the entire point; the scene is supposed to be objectionable because such behavior itself is objectionable! This is also why the orgy occurs under the pretense of a masked, secret-society-type ritual, because it is supposed to make this behavior feel alien, Satanic, and dangerous to the audience.

Stanley Kubrick was not uncovering the sacrilegious rituals of a secret society, but he used a fictional secret society type group to drive home the point that the human subconscious is a dark, dangerous place with thoughts that should never be acted upon, but should only ever be discussed in a safe environment with the right people, and only when absolutely necessary.

Hopefully, I have driven home the point that just because a film has sex/nudity in it (even pervasively), that does not automatically make it porn, just as much as a painting filled with naked people doesn’t make it porn. If you’re still uncomfortable watching these types of movies, then by all means, skip them. Do not, however, write these movies off as “artsy pornography,” and don’t bash on those of us who can see the deeper meaning within such masterpiece films.

Appreciators of art do not cower at a striking image or idea; rather, they attempt to understand why the creator used what they did to achieve a higher artistic purpose. I know that I, for one, can see the sex/nudity in "Eyes Wide Shut" for the artistic intention it was meant, like a Renaissance painting. I do not love "Eyes Wide Shut" because there are breasts and sex in it; I love the movie because it says something very invaluable about the human subconscious and about the sex taboos of our culture.