A sex scene in Amazon Prime’s Red, White and Royal Blue has caused fans to praise the film for reflecting the reality of sex, due to the decision to have condom wrappers in shot.
It’s refreshing for so many reasons, not least because movie and TV sex scenes can feel unrealistic and devoid of the messier, authentic elements of sexual acts. This is why sex on screen is a big deal for so many of us – we not only want to see it, we want to see it reflected as how we experience it in real life.
The decision to promote safe, relatable sex by including the use of condoms in First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz and His Royal Highness Prince Henry (the show’s central international, high-profile, transatlantic romance)’s sexual journey has been called a “subtle, but important message” as well as a “positive story about gay love”.
One fan tweeted: “Everything in a film frame is there for a reason. The condom wrappers send a subtle, but important message. On a larger scale, stories plant the seeds in our collective consciousness about what is possible.
“This is a positive story about gay love, and it comes at a time when gay love is being delegitimized around the world. This is an important story coming at a significant moment. Let’s celebrate this.”
Like with any decision about what stories are included on screen, the inclusion of condoms in a gay sex scene – or any sex scene, for that matter – reflects not only a safe sexual dynamic, but one that we should be seeing in real life, instead of a squeaky clean, sanitised version made specifically for screen.
Prime
The show is adapted from the book, which also describes the use of condoms during sex scenes. And seeing as Red, White & Royal Blue director Matthew López has spoken about wanting fans to feel “exactly the way they felt when they finished the book”, this makes all the sense in the world.