The twist-filled erotic thriller “Wild Things” is the type of sleazy, campy film that forces you to suspend your disbelief in more ways than one. Not only do you have to believe an outcast high school student is capable of orchestrating an intricate scheme involving blackmail, manipulation, and even murder — including her own — but in the movie’s infamous threesome scene, there’s also the challenge of accepting that while Denise Richards’ character is fully exposed, the only man in the mix doesn’t show a single inch below the waist.
Instead, the most male full-frontal nudity you get in a movie that has no problem objectifying its female characters is a brief shower scene where Kevin Bacon’s character, Ray, lets the towel slip for a little peek. “I honestly really didn’t think about it. I said, ‘If that’s the shot, that’s the shot that works, it’s [okay].’ I just didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal,” Bacon admitted to HuffPost.
In another instance of the film’s skewed portrayal of nudity, the original screenplay featured another element of the shower scene that hinted at a homosexual relationship involving Ray and Sam (Matt Dillon) that mirrored the manipulative dynamics seen between the female characters. However, Bacon disclosed to Total Film that this scene was removed from the script before filming due to objections from the financiers, who deemed it too controversial. “They felt it went too far. They felt it wasn’t right,” he stated, highlighting the irony of the situation.
