(To the tune of Pete Seeger): Where have all the female orgasms gone? It’s a question Olivia Wilde seems dead set on interrogating with her new Don’t Worry Darling, a ‘60s-style mind-bender with an Iceberg Problem of behind-the-scenes drama. Wilde’s dedication to the film has been stalwart—she has said she took an onscreen role in the film because production “basically ran out of money” and needed someone who could both work for cheap and in line with the film’s ethos (unlike a certain actor, reportedly).
But Wilde’s pleasure-first feminist vision for the project wasn’t necessarily shared in full by the Motion Pictures Association. In a new interview with the Associated Press, Wilde has a clear answer when asked if she struggled to get that dining room oral sex scene in the teaser: “Oh, yeah.”
“There’s a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer,” Wilde tells AP. “The MPA came down hard on me and the trailer at the last second and I had to cut some shots, which I was upset about because I thought they it took it up another notch. But of course we still live in a really puritanical society.”
Wilde has spoken out previously about her frustration with the lack of divine feminine present in modern media depictions of sexuality. The way Wilde sees it: queer films are historically the ones who’ve gotten it consistently right.
“I do think the lack of eroticism in American film is kind of new. Then when it comes to female pleasure, it’s something that we just don’t see very often unless you’re talking about queer cinema,” she shares. “You know, it’s interesting because in a lot of queer films, the female characters are allowed to have more pleasure. Audiences aren’t as puritanical as corporations think they are. And yet people get upset.”
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But Wilde digresses. “I mean, people are upset with me already over this. I think it’s a testament to the film,” she concludes. “We want to be provocative. The idea is not to make you feel safe.”
Don’t Worry Darling hits theaters on September 23.