Earlier this week I went to the dollar movie theater to see Superbad. This is the latest teen sex comedy, and it did pretty good business this summer. So much it helped to solidify one of its producers as the go-to comedy guy in Hollywood. The same guy who directed 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. He wasn't a writer or director on Superbad, but his clout helped bring it to the screen.

There were a few other people in the theater that afternoon, although most of them were adults. School is still in session, I think. A couple of drunks had wandered across the parking lot from Hooters to check it out, and I was sitting in the row in front of them. We were the most vocal in our laughs, but there were reactions from the rest of the crowd as well--which is always good when watching a comedy.

The story revolves around a group of teens trying to score liquor for a high school party. Nerds trying to move up the social ladder. There are a couple of wacky cops involved as well. It's funny, there is pervasive use of language any parent of a high school kid would cringe at (if not just run away screaming), and, yes, the kids get drunk. I'm pretty sure that's against the law in most municipalities of the U.S.

But there is no nudity. There's cleavage and the camera moves up and down tightly clothed bodies of young girls (high school-aged in the film), but no actual nudity. There are, however, tons of drawings of the male organ, which, I think, is supposed to imply that all us guys are a little bit gay. They may be right on this point, but I still want to see breasts in a teenage sex comedy.

Last weekend the one independent movie theatre in town (seats about 60 people with only one screen) had something called Pornotopia. They rented out the theater to a local sexual aide shop and showed movies about sex, and even a 3D version of a 70s porn movie featuring the legendary John Holmes. The festival got tons of press and pretty much sold out for the weekend. It also got harassed by the city and threatened with thousands of dollars of fines.

Apparently the press got a couple people up in arms, and the city started going over its zoning laws and the meaning of a "penis in a turgid state." The compromise was a warning about showing the films, but no fines. And there might not be another Pornotopia next year.

So you can make over a hundred million dollars with a movie that shows dozens of drawings of a "penis in a turgid state," but you can't make a few thousand dollars in a small local theater by showing movies about sex with nudity and probably a few of those turgid thingies.

Back in the 80s, teen sex comedies became a kind of rage. There were dozens of them. And they all featured nakedness. Some were great movies (Fast Times At Ridgemont High), some were good (Valley Girl), some were bad (The Last American Virgin) and many were straight to video (School Spirit). And then, during the 90s, they went out of fashion. It wasn't until 1999's American Pie that teens were able to, once again, have sex on screen without being eviscerated by a psychopathic killer.

But there's still a stigma about showing naked women on the movie screen, and American Pie didn't show any of the main group of teens (the girlfriends) naked. It did, however, shoot Shannon Elizabeth to sudden stardom for her turn as a very sexual and naked foreign exchange student who tries to bed the flick's hero (she is punished and sent home for this, by the way). In its subsequent sequels (which, naturally, were pretty horrible), the only naked women were strippers or porn actors who looked about forty and had fake breasts.

Before you get to thinking that I'm some horn dog who wants to get all hot and bothered in the theater, please understand something. Movies are supposed to be about showing things. It's one of the most important things they tell you about writing a screenplay. Show, don't tell. Movies are not about making the audience imagine in their minds what something might look like. Try imagining what Transformers would have been like if it had just been a bunch of guys running around and pointing up to something you never get to see visualized onscreen.

Now, however, it seems as though everyone has sex with their clothes on. Which, yes, I've done from time to time, but usually I get naked and so does my partner. And I'm not sure if I've ever had sex with a girl who kept her bra on for the duration. Never has a girl told me she won't get naked because it wasn't in her contract.

Having said that, Superbad wasn't bad. And I did have a few belly laughs burst forth during the proceedings. The drunk duo (at least a decade older than me) behind me were somewhat disappointed, and it was pretty much because of the lack of nudity (and maybe, a bit, because of those penis drawings). Slowly (and somewhat precariously for one of them), they made their way back to Hooters. You don't get nudity at Hooters either, but you can drink and imagine. That's why those t-shirts are so tight.

Matt Worley was reminded this weekend that women don't get to see many penises onscreen (turgid or not), and he shouldn't get so worked up about seeing (purportedly) teenage breasts on the silver screen.