Scott's World -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

HOLLYWOOD, May 29 (UPI) -- The current hit "Unfaithful" contains enough nude scenes to have created indignant cries for censorship not long ago.

But the new century has brought with it a somewhat indifferent attitude toward both sex and nudity in movies and television.

One need look no further than TV commercials for acres of bare feminine flesh selling everything from cosmetics and undergarments to fertilizers.

Shapely young females adorn magazines wearing little more than thong swimsuits, underwear and skimpy bras.

J-Lo, Britney, Cameron and others are seen on screen and in the flesh (literally), adorned in low-riding shorts or jeans displaying abdomen, navel and ribcage, not to mention cleavage both fore and aft.

It comes as no shock, then, to see an older but sexier Diane Lane, 37, starkers in several scenes from "Unfaithful" -- some with newcomer Oliver Martinez and others with Richard Gere.

The script calls for Lane to undulate through passionate shots with her screen husband (Gere) and sexual acrobatics with her lover (Martinez).

Perhaps their roles were stimulating for the actors -- even with a full movie crew looking on -- but actress Lane says she was just doing her job, although losing her inhibitions in the process.

"I was naked in a bathtub with curlers in my hair waiting to do another sex scene," she recalled in a somewhat bored voice.

What differentiates "Unfaithful" from porn is a dexterous cinematographer and director Adrian Lyne who pushed the envelope to its extremity without dwelling overlong on specific body parts, although all of Lane's feminine treasures are captured in brief cuts.

In the last century "Unfaithful" undoubtedly would have earned an X rating, but this millennium has encouraged a nonchalant shrug from most Americans of both sexes, accustomed as they are to seeing female anatomy sell everything from automobiles to hygiene applications.

Is the current attitude toward sex and nudity a manifestation of savoir-faire, sophistication or a natural reaction to consistent over-exposure?

Let it be said on behalf of 20th Century Fox that the ad campaign and poster art do not stress the libidinous aspects of the film.

Neither does the story itself absolve the cheating wife, Connie Sumner, who throws herself joyously into the illicit and passionate love affair.

Her husband, Edward, is a perfectly nice guy. The Sumner marriage is happy and affluent. Both parents love their young son.

Historically, the erring wife would be made to pay for her moral laxity by an act of a vengeful God or an unforgiving Providence.

Not in this millennium.

In the end the Sumners are back together prepared to solve a dilemma without interference from official authorities nor the Deity.

"Unfaithful" is a gripping, entertaining movie that has earned more than $30 million and still going strong.

No watch and ward societies, church groups or Bible-thumping politicians have uttered a peep of outrage.

Thanks to literature, social and sexual freedom and modern morality, "Unfaithful" apparently is an unremarkable, if not respectable, manifestation of today's family life.

The old Will Hays censorship arm of the Motion Picture Producers Association would have banned the film.

But over the past 70 years, movie standards regarding sex and nudity seem to be accepted as normal conditions of the human animal.

After all, people do take off their clothes, and worldwide population growth suggests sex is an overpoweringly popular activity in or out of wedlock.

Both, therefore, play an important part in society and are suitable subjects for art and literature as are sports, science, medicine, commerce and other activities.

Recent stepping-stone films that paved the way for "Unfaithful's" lustful scenes include "Basic Instinct," "Body Heat" and "Fatal Attraction."

Other memorable production code nightmares were "Last Tango in Paris," "Blow Up," "Alfie," "Tom Jones," "The Big Easy" and "Tattoo" to name a few.

The alleviation of traditional movie taboos has been a slow, gradual relaxation of old standards, just as the shrinking of swimsuits has progressed with caution.

Audiences are finding gross scenes of mayhem, vulgar violence and fatal fireballs more objectionable than the unclothed human body.

The prevalence of porn in video cassettes and the proliferation of girlie magazines and such theatrical presentations as "The Full Monty," "The Vagina Monologues" and "Oh Calcutta" tend to substantiate growing interest in sex and nudity in entertainment.

Their shock value is seemingly waning while public morality appears to be losing its appeal as an appropriate subject for fictional stories.

Observers of ever-changing moral concepts, freedom of speech and artistic license are often confused with the rise of political correctness.

There is a growing attitude abroad that posits the wisdom: "If you don't like it, don't go to see it in theaters, don't buy the books or tune in the TV programs."

The success of "Unfaithful" is contra-indicative of public dissatisfaction with frankly sexual entertainment.