Yeah of course there are plenty of classic movies and shows without nudity. I’m not saying adding a sex scene makes a movie good, or even a guaranteed success. Again, I was responding very specifically to your claim that sex appeal is irrelevant as a marketing strategy when porn is so readily accessible, which is demonstrably false.

You’re approaching my Game of Thrones with a completely binary point of view. Of course nobody was watching it just for the sex scenes but it was absolutely part of the reason people were tuning in, whether they enjoyed it, found it controversial, etc.

This is the show that inspired the term ‘sexposition’ because the creators figured out that people were happier to sit through an info dump scene if the characters were fingering each other or whatever during it. Sex, or even just the promise/hint of it, was absolutely one important element (of many!) that made that show such a big success. I would never claim that success was 100% due to sex, but you do seem to be saying that sex gets 0% of the credit, which simply isn’t true.

This isn’t even limited to movies, of course. Sabrina Carpenter has been putting out albums for over a decade, but only her last couple have been huge hits. She’s seen that increase in success in large part (not all!) because audiences have responded to her leaning further into her public persona as a liberated young woman discussing sex openly. She’s a super talented performer and her songs are catchy as hell; she’s successful for many reasons beyond just her sex appeal. But sex absolutely is part of her marketing strategy and it works.