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Survey of
Hollywood movies shows unsafe sex is common

Survey of
Hollywood movies shows unsafe sex is common

A survey of 200 films from the past 20 years shows that unsafe sex is commonly shown, as is smoking, marijuana use, and other drug use, U.K. newspaper The Guardian reports. Of the list of the 200 most popular films from the Internet Movie Database's March 2004 list, researchers eliminated those made in the pre-AIDS era, animated films, movies rated acceptable for children, and those with nonhuman characters. In the 87 movies remaining, there were a total of 53 sex scenes, only one of which included the use of a condom, and that was mentioned only to prevent pregnancy, not to prevent HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

None of the characters who engaged in unsafe sex in the films ended up becoming pregnant or acquiring an STD, the researchers say.

Smoking appeared in 68% of the films, characters got drunk in 32% of the movies, marijuana use appeared in 8%, and other illegal drug use was featured in 7% of the films, according to the survey, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

"The study showed there were no references to the important consequences of unsafe sex such as HIV transmission, spread of STDs, or unwanted pregnancy," the researchers told The Guardian. "The social norm being presented in movies is concerning, given the HIV and illicit drug pandemics in developing and industrialized nations." (Advocate.com)

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