Here is an interesting question:
Do you think nudity and graphic (depictions of) sex in a film like "Basic Instinct" is necessary to create the kind of atmosphere it was going for (decadant abandon) and tell the story it was trying to tell (a well-told murder mystery)?
I say, yes because a part of the story it is trying to tell and explore is the darker side of the human psyche -- the sexual psyche -- And that is part of the characters who inhabit the film and make them a lot more interesting as a result.
Also, I think the real "test" as to whether a scene of gratuitous violence of nudity is really gratuitous or not is for film makers to ask themselves...
Would the same, emotional effect of the story be felt if the scene(s) were not there?
A lot of film makers like to use this an excuse to always answer "no" so they can put gratuitious sex and violence in films...
But honestly, I am a firm believer in using this test as because if film makers really have a strong story that can stand on its own without them...
Then they shouldn't worry about this too much as these kinds of scenes will come naturally and as a bi-product of telling a realistic and compelling story versus trying to consciously build a shallow story around such scenes.
I speak from frist hand experience writing screenplays as well as getting paid by production companies to write screenplays as the general perception is more-is-better is what Hollywood lives by... But that doesn't necessarily make them correct
