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Buzz Feed
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Films And Shows That Awakened Viewers' Sexuality
We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the TV show, movie, or other piece of media they consider responsible for their sexual awakening. Some of the results really made me giggle. Here's what folks revealed: "The Hex Girls. Dusk, the angsty drummer, just did something for me." —monikap6 "Val Kilmer as Madmartigan in Willow. The hair, the declaration of love to Sorsha, holding Princess Elora Danan…Top shelf Daikini, that one." —luxahoy "Leah Remini on The King of Queens. She's still gorgeous, but in those early seasons, she was my first celebrity crush, and I realized what I wanted my wife to look like even when I was just a child. Now, that's still my type." —edgysealion411 "David Bowie in Labyrinth. I'm sure I really don't have to say much more than that." —padawanryan "The Bangles' video for 'Walk Like an Egyptian' was the first time I remember getting the tingle feeling. Susanna Hoffs' eyes and Debbi Peterson dancing with the tambourine. It still gets me!" —theplunger10 "Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. And Alan Rickman in anything else. But that was the start." —pastelbutterfly37 "Possibly a bit weird, but Lola Bunny in Space Jam has to be up there. The eyes, the voice, the athleticism were —Anonymous "Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro. Especially when they spar in the stable and he slices off her clothes!" —Anonymous "Vanilla Ice, when he first came on the scene." —pepperopigeon "I must have been about 10 when I watched The Thorn Birds. I tried to watch it anytime it came on, just so I could watch Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward slow burn until they finally had sex. That was the only thing I cared about through the whole movie!" —ssstege11573 "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Both the horse and Little Creek. But I think mostly Spirit and Rain's 'romance' really did it for me." —Anonymous "The Rocky Horror Picture Show exposed me to bisexuality AND introduced me to Tim Curry. Perfection!" —Anonymous "Walking past Le Senza in the mall (I'm Canadian) had me wanting to kiss girls, so I was then pretty confused when Don Juan DeMarco came out and got me wanting to kiss boys. Turns out, I'm bi!" —Anonymous "The Phantom of the Opera film." —Anonymous "I saw the movie Hellraiser at a slumber party when I was around 13, and DID NOT expect the wild sexual energy that this movie has. In retrospect, it's a pretty well-known fact that Hellraiser explores a lot of pain/pleasure dynamics, but at the time, I was just really confused about why this random horror movie was making me feel so many THINGS. Also, I had an immediate hard crush on both Pinhead AND Kirsty, so there's the added bonus of realizing I was bi." —mcrivellokhan "Jasmine and Aladdin kissing on the magic carpet." —Anonymous "I was watching Hackers with Angelina Jolie. She was so tough, cool, and sexy. I didn't even notice the guys in that movie. My fiancé commented on her beauty and then tried to pressure me into a threesome with another woman. I said I'd rather break up with him and just date a girl like Angelina. I still think about her in that film in ways I never think of my ex. That's when I knew I was not only bisexual, but also not into assholes." —Anonymous "Jacob Black from New Moon. To this day, I'm still Team Jacob. Those abs, man, SWOON!" —Anonymous "Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic." —Anonymous "It was an early TV show called T.H.E. Cat. The leading man was a handsome cat burglar and wore lots of black turtlenecks and black leather gloves and was always tying up bad guys. I wanted him to tie me up because it made me feel funny. I found out later that the leading man was Robert Loggia, who was the 'dancing boss' in Big." —Anonymous "Seeing Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully in The X-Files being a badass medical doctor and even more badass FBI agent when women in male fields weren't nearly as common. She was sassy, smart, and a bad bitch! She is also still one of the hottest women alive. Scully forever!" —Anonymous "Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3, with Eliza Dushku as Faith. I already knew I was straight and attracted to women, but seeing Faith kick ass in leather pants cemented the type of woman I'm interested in. And I am now married to one." —Anonymous "Jim from Treasure Planet. At the start of the movie, when he's flying on the hoverboard, something about the ponytail and ear piercing had me obsessed for years." —Anonymous "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark." —Anonymous "'Cecilia' by Simon & Garfunkel has a line, 'Making love in the afternoon with Cecelia up in my bedroom.' As a 12-year-old, I was shocked to learn that people had sex during the day. Everything I had been told up until then said it was a nighttime affair." —Anonymous "Star Trek: Voyager. Jeri Ryan joined the cast just before my 12th birthday. That was the first time I felt the stirrings of sexual attraction. No nudity, no sex scenes. Just a beautiful woman in a suggestively tight body suit. That was the first twinge." —Anonymous And: "Sting semi-naked in Dune. Lean but a little muscular guys are still my type!" —Anonymous What do you think is responsible for your sexual awakening? Was it a suggestive movie scene? A swoon-worthy TV character? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form. Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
I hate to be the scowling lesbian at the feast – but here's what worries me about the new Austen adaptations
What is the main lesson we take away from Jane Austen? I know novels aren't manuals, but the Austen industry encourages a certain self-help approach to its products – and Austen herself was full of what we no longer call bossy opinions. From the books, there are endless shrewd judgments about how to be a woman of substance. From the screen adaptations, we learn just how nice it would be to have a big house in Derbyshire. There is the general rule of true love overcoming all obstacles. But there is also this: that there is no worse fate to befall a woman than to fail to lock down a man. Two new Austen adaptations are heading our way: a Netflix miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, and a new movie version of Sense and Sensibility. They join Too Much, Lena Dunham's new show that riffs on our relationship with romcoms – how we use them as templates and ideals – a clear nod to Sleepless in Seattle, except with Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility as its urtext rather than An Affair to Remember. In Dunham's show, Jessica, played by Megan Stalter, sits around with her family discussing the relative merits of Greg Wise v Alan Rickman while the 1995 movie airs in the background, ensuring that when the heroine moves to England, her experiences unfold in tension with what has come to be seen as Austen's platonic ideal. It's a meta-treatment of the genre, while the two forthcoming adaptations are typical period pieces; but while these projects differ, what remains curious, more than 200 years after Austen was writing, is that the underlying assumption remains the same: effectively, that there is no better story for a woman than one that ends in a marriage. Before I go further, I should say that, per the unwritten constitution of Britain – which mandates the holding of strong feelings about Austen by all citizens – I loved Lee's Sense and Sensibility and have opinions about all the other adaptations that are the only correct opinions to have. For example, it hardly needs saying that Gwyneth Paltrow was terrible as Emma in the 1996 movie, and also that we have that particular adaptation to thank for the perfection of Sophie Thompson's Miss Bates (specifically, the scene where she is insulted on Box Hill). It is also true that romcoms, particularly Austen adaptations, hit you differently when you're more interested in Jennifer Ehle than Colin Firth. There are no gays in Austen, obviously – although Mr Bingley is quite the fancy little gent and half of Austen's women are cranky enough to have made excellent lesbians – but when you look at Austen from the point of view of someone not really implicated in the goals of the story, you see things slightly differently. That we still cleave to this model of marriage as a woman's crowning achievement makes for excellent drama and who doesn't love a love story? But at the risk of being the scowling lesbian at the feast, the sheer, centuries-long uniformity of the emphasis has a cost at the back end that we don't really talk about. Which brings me to another TV show, one that examines, in brilliant, horrifying, anxiety-inducing detail, a strange side-effect of the assumptions underpinning the romcom. Fake is an Australian drama based on Stephanie Wood's 2017 viral piece in the Sydney Morning Herald that she turned into a bestselling memoir, and in which Birdie Bell, her alter ego, falls in love with Joe, a man she meets on an online dating site. Wood/Bell dates him for over a year, during which time he presents himself as a brilliant businessman and property developer. It is only later, and after a series of sadistic deceptions, that Joe is revealed to be a lying grifter living under a piece of tarpaulin by a creek. And here's the point: the reason the heroine ignores the red flags is because she is 49 years old and everyone – everyone – in her life is telling her, directly and otherwise, that she is defective until she gets married. I am not a straight woman but I found myself identifying hard with Birdie and, through her, Stephanie Wood, particularly on the subject of being uncomfortable at weddings. In Wood's case, the experience was one of being made to feel like shit as the only single straight woman with no children; and for me and every gay person I know, there are memories of all those weddings we went to in the 1990s and early 2000s at which it never struck anyone present as remotely weird, or grotesque, that we were participating in an event from which we were legally barred. (Marriage, which entails hundreds of rights, privileges and financial benefits, became legal for same-sex couples in 2014 in England and Wales, and a year later was legalised in the US by the supreme court.) Not very romantic, huh. None of this is Austen's fault, or Dunham's, and in fact I would say that Dunham's engagement with romcom history is shot through with a sensibility I'd call gay-adjacent. (This in stark contrast to most writer/directors in the Austen film and TV space who – how to put this – are so straight they probably enjoy the window displays in Oliver Bonas.) Meanwhile, the greatest irony of all is that Austen, who remained unmarried, intended her novels to espouse a philosophy of only-marry-for-love, not marry-at-all-costs. Then, as now, that message buckles under a different value system, one that balances a woman's worth on whether she has kids or is married. But as we look forward to a bunch more products driven by Regency-era values that are also our own, it's worth remembering the flipside to the insistence that every good story ends with a wedding. In Wood's case, the greater deception was not that she was taken in by a conman, but that, because of the excessive pressure on her to find a man, and in defiance of every instinct in her body telling her to run, she happened across a dangerous loser and – romcom-primed – conned herself into falling for him. Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
I hate to be the scowling lesbian at the feast – but here's what worries me about the new Austen adaptations
What is the main lesson we take away from Jane Austen? I know novels aren't manuals, but the Austen industry encourages a certain self-help approach to its products – and Austen herself was full of what we no longer call bossy opinions. From the books, there are endless shrewd judgments about how to be a woman of substance. From the screen adaptations, we learn just how nice it would be to have a big house in Derbyshire. There is the general rule of true love overcoming all obstacles. But there is also this: that there is no worse fate to befall a woman than to fail to lock down a man. Two new Austen adaptations are heading our way: a Netflix miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, and a new movie version of Sense and Sensibility. They join Too Much, Lena Dunham's new show that riffs on our relationship with romcoms – how we use them as templates and ideals – a clear nod to Sleepless in Seattle, except with Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility as its urtext rather than An Affair to Remember. In Dunham's show, Jessica, played by Megan Stalter, sits around with her family discussing the relative merits of Greg Wise v Alan Rickman while the 1995 movie airs in the background, ensuring that when the heroine moves to England, her experiences unfold in tension with what has come to be seen as Austen's platonic ideal. It's a meta-treatment of the genre, while the two forthcoming adaptations are typical period pieces; but while these projects differ, what remains curious, more than 200 years after Austen was writing, is that the underlying assumption remains the same: effectively, that there is no better story for a woman than one that ends in a marriage. Before I go further, I should say that, per the unwritten constitution of Britain – which mandates the holding of strong feelings about Austen by all citizens – I loved Lee's Sense and Sensibility and have opinions about all the other adaptations that are the only correct opinions to have. For example, it hardly needs saying that Gwyneth Paltrow was terrible as Emma in the 1996 movie, and also that we have that particular adaptation to thank for the perfection of Sophie Thompson's Miss Bates (specifically, the scene where she is insulted on Box Hill). It is also true that romcoms, particularly Austen adaptations, hit you differently when you're more interested in Jennifer Ehle than Colin Firth. There are no gays in Austen, obviously – although Mr Bingley is quite the fancy little gent and half of Austen's women are cranky enough to have made excellent lesbians – but when you look at Austen from the point of view of someone not really implicated in the goals of the story, you see things slightly differently. That we still cleave to this model of marriage as a woman's crowning achievement makes for excellent drama and who doesn't love a love story? But at the risk of being the scowling lesbian at the feast, the sheer, centuries-long uniformity of the emphasis has a cost at the back end that we don't really talk about. Which brings me to another TV show, one that examines, in brilliant, horrifying, anxiety-inducing detail, a strange side-effect of the assumptions underpinning the romcom. Fake is an Australian drama based on Stephanie Wood's 2017 viral piece in the Sydney Morning Herald that she turned into a bestselling memoir, and in which Birdie Bell, her alter ego, falls in love with Joe, a man she meets on an online dating site. Wood/Bell dates him for over a year, during which time he presents himself as a brilliant businessman and property developer. It is only later, and after a series of sadistic deceptions, that Joe is revealed to be a lying grifter living under a piece of tarpaulin by a creek. And here's the point: the reason the heroine ignores the red flags is because she is 49 years old and everyone – everyone – in her life is telling her, directly and otherwise, that she is defective until she gets married. I am not a straight woman but I found myself identifying hard with Birdie and, through her, Stephanie Wood, particularly on the subject of being uncomfortable at weddings. In Wood's case, the experience was one of being made to feel like shit as the only single straight woman with no children; and for me and every gay person I know, there are memories of all those weddings we went to in the 1990s and early 2000s at which it never struck anyone present as remotely weird, or grotesque, that we were participating in an event from which we were legally barred. (Marriage, which entails hundreds of rights, privileges and financial benefits, became legal for same-sex couples in 2014 in England and Wales, and a year later was legalised in the US by the supreme court.) Not very romantic, huh. None of this is Austen's fault, or Dunham's, and in fact I would say that Dunham's engagement with romcom history is shot through with a sensibility I'd call gay-adjacent. (This in stark contrast to most writer/directors in the Austen film and TV space who – how to put this – are so straight they probably enjoy the window displays in Oliver Bonas.) Meanwhile, the greatest irony of all is that Austen, who remained unmarried, intended her novels to espouse a philosophy of only-marry-for-love, not marry-at-all-costs. Then, as now, that message buckles under a different value system, one that balances a woman's worth on whether she has kids or is married. But as we look forward to a bunch more products driven by Regency-era values that are also our own, it's worth remembering the flipside to the insistence that every good story ends with a wedding. In Wood's case, the greater deception was not that she was taken in by a conman, but that, because of the excessive pressure on her to find a man, and in defiance of every instinct in her body telling her to run, she happened across a dangerous loser and – romcom-primed – conned herself into falling for him. Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist
Screen Geek
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Screen Geek
Jason Isaacs Calls Out "Racist" 'Harry Potter' Fans Over Paapa Essiedu Complaints
Actor Jason Isaacs starred in the Harry Potter movie franchise as Lucius Malfoy. Now the iconic story is being retold once again, albeit for television, and with a new cast attached. One of these cast members, Paapa Essiedu, has been the subject of backlash for being a black actor playing Severus Snape, a character formerly played by white actor Alan Rickman. Now Jason Isaacs is calling out these 'racist' Harry Potter fans in defense of Essiedu. As mentioned, Alan Rickman previously played the part of Snape throughout every Harry Potter feature film, and some fans are hesitant about Paapa Essiedu playing the part. Of course, it's going to be difficult for any actor to live up to Rickman, but Isaacs is confident that Essiedu is perfect for the role. He expressed as much while speaking with Collider at Fans Expo. Here's what Isaacs shared while discussing the actor and calling out the fans that have criticized his involvement: 'Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors I've ever seen in my life. I've seen some people online who are being rude about him. What they're being is racist,' Isaacs said. 'All the cast of the new ' Harry Potter ' TV series are amazing. They will be swallowing their tongues, hopefully — you know, their digital tongues — when they see what [Paapa] does on screen.' Of course, this isn't the only reason Essiedu has been a subject of conversation. He has also illustrated support for the transgender community, which Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has consistently found herself at odds with in recent years. Some fans even suspected that Rowling would have Essiedu removed from the television series as a result of his support, though that has yet to happen and Rowling has been adamant that she wouldn't have anyone fired for their personal beliefs. The new Harry Potter television series is currently scheduled to premiere in 2026. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding this highly-anticipated project as we have them. It's a big undertaking to once again adapt the iconic books by J.K. Rowling, especially after the feature films became such iconic works themselves, but we'll have to see how this endeavor turns out.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Beloved Harry Potter star fiercely defends Paapa Essiedu's casting as Snape in reboot amid 'racist' backlash
An original Harry Potter star has come to the defense of Paapa Essiedu's casting as Severus Snape in the upcoming TV reboot amid 'racist' online backlash. It was confirmed earlier this year that Essiedu, an acclaimed English actor who is of Ghanaian descent, would star in HBO 's new Harry Potter series as Hogwarts professor Snape, a role originated by the late Alan Rickman, a white man. The news of Essiedu's casting received mixed reactions from Harry Potter fans, with some left 'disappointed' due to his lack of resemblance to the beloved character, who is described as having 'a large hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth' in J.K. Rowling 's iconic novels. But during a recent appearance at FanExpo Denver, Jason Isaacs, who famously portrayed Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, passionately shared his support for Essiedu while slamming the 'rude' response to his casting. 'Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors I've ever seen in my life. I've seen some people online who are being rude about him. What they're being is racist,' he said during a panel moderated by Collider. Isaacs, 62, continued: 'They will be swallowing their tongues when they see what [Essiedu] does on screen.' Essiedu's involvement in the TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling's book series was first confirmed in April by the show's producers. It came after months of speculation that the Emmy nominee had landed the iconic Harry Potter role, which Rickman notably portrayed throughout the film franchise from 2001 through 2011. When the rumors first swirled last year, many Harry Potter fans were prompted to share their thoughts on X (formerly known as Twitter) — with some branding the casting as 'woke.' One penned, 'I'm sorry but there is only one man who can be Professor Snape. Shame on HBO for going near this. It's just going to ruin something that should be left well alone.' Another typed, 'Paapa Essiedu shouldn't take this role for his own benefit. He could be the best actor in the world but he doesn't fit the characteristics of Snape from the book.' 'I don't understand the push to change everything from the original context,' they added. Another wrote, 'Paapa Essiedu is being eyed for the role of Professor Severus Snape in the upcoming 'Harry Potter' TV series. Another classic that goes woke.' However, many HP fans came to the star's defense as they argued that 'Snape's physical appearance is not vital to his character.' It was also announced in April that Emmy winner John Lithgow will play Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, while Janet McTeer will take on the role of Professor Minerva McGonagall, and Nick Frost will play Rubeus Hagrid. All four of them, including Essiedu, will star as regulars in the upcoming series, THR reported. In statement to the outlet, Francesca Gardiner, the showrunner and executive producer, and Mark Mylod, the director of several episodes and the executive producer, said they were 'delighted to have such extraordinary talent' in the show. 'We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch,' they said. 'We're delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can't wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.' In reference to Rickman's famous portrayal of Professor Snape, Mylod said: 'Nobody can replace Alan Rickman, but we can find the next Alan Rickman.' Some fans were also upset with Lithgow's being cast as Albus Dumbledore due to him being an American actor playing a British character, particularly given JK Rowling's insistance that the cast of the original films be British. Taking to X, fans wrote: 'I can't understand why John Lithgow is the new Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter HBO series. Dumbledore is British, Lithgow is from the USA.' 'Nothing against John Lithgow, but Dumbledore and the whole Harry Potter franchise is British.' The series' main three characters - Harry, Ron and Hermione - were finally announced in May after months of anticipation and rumors. Dominic McLaughlin bagged the role of Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton is set to play Hermoine Granger and Alastair Stout will portray Ron Weasley. The lucky three kids are set to start filming the TV reboot this summer and were picked from more than 32,000 audition tapes from across the UK and Ireland. JK Rowling's seven hit books — which were originally made into films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint — will be made into seven seasons on HBO. Rowling is listed as an executive producer despite the controversy and backlash surrounding her views on transgender issues. The HBO TV show is said to be costing £75million an episode and the three child actors could land themselves even bigger fortunes than the original stars. Producers Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod praised the 'wonderful' talent of the three newcomers. They said: 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. 'The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. 'We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.' The talented youngsters are used to acting and all have various experiences on stage or behind the camera. British actor-comedian Nick Frost will play half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, originally embodied by the late Robbie Coltrane John Lithgow (left) was been picked to play the new Professor Albus Dumbledore, a role originally played by Michael Gambon in the last six of eight Harry Potter films Following in Daniel Radcliffe's footsteps, Dominic played Oliver Gregory in a film titled Grow, also starring Alan Carr, Golda Rosheuvel and Nick Frost. Alastair, who will be taking on the role of Ron Weasley, featured in an advert for albert Bartlett's Jersey Royal potatoes. While Arabella has been on the West End and starred as Matilda in Matilda The Musical back in 2023. The young star also played Control in Starlight Express last year. More English actors were confirmed to star in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, which will hit screens in 2027, in an announcement made in June. It was revealed that Katherine Parkinson, 47, will be playing Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny's mum Molly Weasley. The actress has played roles in various shows and films such as The IT Crowd, Doc Martin, Humans, St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold and Casualty. Molly was played by Julie Walters in the popular franchise. Johnny Flynn, 42, will play Draco Malfoy's dad Lucius - who was played by Jason Isaacs in the beloved Warner Bros. movies. The actor has appeared in various films and TV shows over the years. English actress Bel Powel has reportedly signed up to play Petunia Dursley in the TV adaption after shooting to fame in 2015 Some include Lotus Eaters, Cordelia, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, Holby City, Les Miserables, Ripley and The Lovers. Bel Powley and Daniel Rigby have reportedly signed up to play Harry Potter's aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Dursley, according to Variety. Last month, Harry Potter creator Rowling confirmed that she worked closely with the writers on the upcoming series. She did so in a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which she raved about the first two episodes after reading them for the first time. 'I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!' the author wrote. When one follower enquired: 'So you are not doing the writing for the show?' she replied: 'No, but I've worked closely with the extremely talented writers'. In regards to filming, it was reported in May that the big-budget new series will be filmed in a £1 billion mini-centre, complete with its own school and medical centre. Producers have poured money into the vast new studio at Leavesden, just outside Watford, Hertfordshire. The site will include a school for the hundreds of young actors who are committed to filming the show, while another facility is being erected for the large numbers of animals expected to feature. A source told The Sun at the time: 'Warner Bros are making a huge commitment to the new TV show, looking at making multiple, lengthy series over the next decade. 'So they see pumping a huge amount of cash in upfront to construct this infrastructure as a worthwhile investment which they'll eventually get a return on.
