‘They Call Us Misfits’: The first mainstream film to feature unsimulated sex
Sex scenes are a common fixture in both mainstream and avant-garde cinema, often enticing audiences with the promise of pornographic imagery that can otherwise only be found on explicit websites. The first ever sex scene in a non-pornographic film dates back to 1933’s Ecstasy, directed by Gustav Machatý. The erotic romantic drama starred Hedy Lamarr (then Hedy Kiesler) as a young woman who, after marrying a wealthy older man, begins an affair with a younger engineer. Ecstasy features the first recorded instance of on-screen sex. However, only Lamarr’s face is shown as she pretends to orgasm.
Since then, countless sex scenes have been featured in cinema, some ostensibly more controversial than others. Although most sex scenes don’t contain real intercourse, there are certain instances where the events are genuine. Whether that be between actors in fiction films or people in documentaries, unsimulated sex scenes never fail to attract significant attention. For example, when Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2003, which featured Chloë Sevigny giving Gallo a real blowjob, iconic film critic Roger Ebert declared it the worst film to have ever played at the event. Similarly, provocateur Gaspar Noé shocked audiences with his 2015 film Love, which featured many scenes of the characters having sex, all of which were unsimulated. It even featured a 3D cumshot that launched at the camera, making for interesting viewing, to say the least.
Although unsimulated sex scenes have appeared much more frequently in films and documentaries from the past two decades, they have existed for many more. The first known scene of unsimulated sex appeared in a 1968 Swedish documentary – They Call Us Misfits. Directed by Stefan Jarl and Jan Lindqvist, the film follows the lives of two ‘outsider’ teenagers, Kenneth ‘Kenta’ Gustafsson and Gustav ‘Stoffe’ Svensson, who indulge in Stockholm’s mod and ‘junkie’ street culture. They beg for food, alcohol and cigarettes from people in the streets, talk about their childhood, perform a song by The Zombies, and engage in sexual relations with girls.
The film depicts a moment of intimacy between Gustav and a girl, Eva, one of many girls he sleeps with. Yet, midway through the film, he tells her he wants her for himself. In a rather revolutionary turn, the directors film Gustav and Eva having sex, officially making it the first real sexual act to appear in a mainstream film. However, compared to the explicit nature of the work of Lars von Trier or Noé, They Call Us Misfits is relatively tame. The pair kiss for a while before Gustav undoes Eva’s trousers, eventually pulling off her underwear, although her private area remains concealed. Instead, Gustav’s naked behind fills the screen as the couple begin to have sex, cutting between close-ups of Eva’s hand on his back or her face over his shoulder.
Despite its comparative mildness, They Call Us Misfits was a stepping stone towards the development of sex in cinema, helping to establish limits that are continually pushed today. Only a few years later would John Waters’ Pink Flamingos shock audiences with its unsimulated fellatio performed by Divine in 1972.
