Home

Seductive Simulations

image by Veronica V. Jones

Beowulf’s New Age of Synthetic Sexuality

Angelina Jolie as Mother, the nude gold-painted dragon woman. Ray Winstone as Beowulf, the naked swordsman. The seductive influence of an attractive woman wearing gold paint.

The most enduring tales from our earliest history are brimming with ghastly violence and wanton sexual conquest. Hollywood has been reminded of the raw origins of heroism by Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary, and Robert Zemeckis, through their visceral retelling of the epic tale of Beowulf.

The visual effects crew have metamorphosed a middle-aged thespian into a Nordic demigod who does battle with gibbering giants in the nude, and transformed a reasonably attractive member of Hollywood royalty into a luminous goddess clothed only in golden fire and azure waters. They are both perfect specimens of inhuman grace and beauty on the movie screen, subtlety — but recognizably — unreal.

How long has it been since such a solidly mainstream film has been steeped in so much blood and lust? Could it be that this thin veneer of digital fantasy is all that is necessary to herald a new golden age of sex and violence in American cinema?

Written by in November of 2007. Last edited May 2017.

Related Features

Jessica Douglas

A koi mermaid adorned with pearls stretches her arms behind her head. A dark-skinned woman sits with colorful feathers. A bare-breasted woman holds a large red canine mask over her head. A pale woman with large metallic wings looks at a white bird resting on her outstretched hand. A mermaid woman with octopus tentacles and red hair A woman loosley clothed in fabric strips stretches her arms above her head, wearing a large owl mask.

Charmed, I’m Sure!

An bare-breasted snake-woman wearing an elaborate headdress and wielding a large spear. An bare-breasted snake-woman wearing an elaborate headdress and wielding a large spear.

Sean Gallimore

A muscular armored woman with large, angry breasts. A blond superhero is chained with her huge breasts visible under her tattered costume. A blond is losing her shirt to a tentacle, revealing her large firm breasts.

José del Nido

A pale woman with long black hair sits stretching in an open gauzy robe. A naked woman with red hair and large wings holds a staff to her chest. A naked man with a long hair and a tribal tattoo on his shoulder stands next to a giant wolf. A naked woman is surrounded by a large green serpent and glowing mist. A young woman with revealing ornamental armor stands with a sword on her shoulder. A man with long black hair, a bare chest and large black wings leans against a rooftop railing

Tyler James

A shapely nude woman with long, curled horns stands with a gazelle. A muscular man with gills on his broad chest and a large fin on his back glowers. A beautiful naked woman with wings and an ornate headdress holds a white bird. A pale blue woman with a glowing third eye in an open dress holds an amber orb.

Comments

Be the first to comment!