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The sex scenes in the movie "Shortbus" are real. The ones in "Little Children" aren't. But they feel real.

That's something both movies, now playing in Atlanta, share. They make sexuality a crucial part of the plot and a key to understanding the movies' characters. It's a fusion of art and realistic sensuality that's historically avoided in Hollywood films — which usually skip over sex scenes with a discreet fadeout.

New Line Cinema (ENLARGE)
A stay-at-home mother (Kate Winslet) and a Mr. Mom (Patrick Wilson) steal away for extramarital release in "Little Children," in which sex was feigned. It and "Shortbus," a fictional tale of New Yorkers in which actors actually have sex, endured scrutiny from the Motion Picture Association of America for a matter-of-fact presentation of intimacy.
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But for the makers of "Shortbus" and "Little Children," that sort of discretion means the movies are missing a big part of real life.

"We want to remind people that sex is a powerful, complicated, often fun appetite that's attached to all parts of our lives," "Shortbus" writer-director John Cameron Mitchell says. "We're not trying to titillate or shock."

Mitchell worked with his cast for two-and a-half years to create a romantic comedy about a group of young people — straight, gay and somewhere in between — trying to find love (and good sex) in New York.

Instead of scandal, the movie, being released gradually across the country, has earned mainly positive reviews. Meanwhile, "Little Children," a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival that expanded from two cities to nine on Friday, already has Oscar buzz for star Kate Winslet.

Both movies use their sex scenes as a way to deepen the story and reveal the characters' inner lives and emotions.

"Those scenes involve characters in a physically intimate way, but ultimately they're scenes that have to be acted," says "Little Children" director Todd Field, whose 2001 film "In the Bedroom" earned five Oscar nominations.

Movies that include real sex — narrative features, not porn — aren't unheard of. But typically they've come from Europe. The past few years have brought French directors Patrice Chéreau's "Intimacy," Catherine Breillat's "Romance" and "Fat Girl," and Leos Carax's "Pola X."

"But they were all unrelentingly bleak," says Mitchell, whose first film, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," won Sundance Film Festival's audience and director awards. "They were tied to negativity and suffused with guilt and horror."

He wanted to show sex in a more positive light in "Shortbus."

Guilt and an awakening

There's guilt to the sex scenes in "Little Children," but there's also a sense of discovery and awakening as the characters risk upending their status-quo lives. Winslet plays stay-at-home mother Sarah, who becomes friends with a Mr. Mom (Patrick Wilson). But then, they launch an affair that changes and redefines their lives.

The actress wanted to be sure the lovemaking scenes (though simulated) looked realistic, showing "my stretch marks, and my not-perfect skin," she says.

"There were no special filters or special beauty lighting," says director Field, who dismissed the film's crew and handled the camera himself, alone with Winslet and Wilson.

Filmmaker Kirby Dick, whose documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" focuses on the Motion Picture Association of America's squeamishness when it comes to rating sex scenes, applauds what the films are attempting.

In typical Hollywood movies, he says, sexuality is used as a simple plot point, not a way to flesh out a person's character. Or it's a tease, followed by punishment. "Any kind of sex that appears illicit or especially enjoyable usually has negative consequences," he says. That's one reason he likes "Shortbus." It views sex as just another part of life: "It's just very refreshing to see that."

It's a longtime complaint that Hollywood films can be chock-full of bloody violence and still get away with a PG or PG-13 rating. But include nudity or frank sex scenes, and the rating leaps to R or even the dread NC-17.

Filmmaker Dick, whose "Not Yet Rated" opens in Atlanta Nov. 17, thinks there's a basic monetary reason behind the sex vs. violence division in the ratings game. Hollywood is responsible for making big-budget, blow-'em-up movies. Films with mature or sexual content usually come from outside the studio system, from foreign or independent moviemakers. Or in the case of "Little Children," from a midsize studio (New Line) but filmed on an indie-scale budget.

Director Field experienced problems with the MPAA just in cutting the trailer for his film. One sequence included a shot of Patrick Wilson stroking Winslet's side, from below the waist.

"Nothing was exposed that could possibly offend anyone," Field says. "But the MPAA would not let me have that shot. They said, 'You have to have him start above her waist, because we know what's underneath.' "

He sighs. "We know what's underneath Barbie's skirt, too," he adds. "In this country the way we deal with sexuality is so grotesque and overt — people who look like they're all on steroids ...," Field says. "There's nothing erotic or sensual about it — it's like a sporting event."

Both "Little Children" and "Shortbus" were made cheaply (in the Hollywood scale of things). "Shortbus" cost around $2 million. "Little Children" had a budget reportedly around $14 million. But the bottom line is that they only have to do moderately well at the box office to make back their investment.

Over the Oct. 13-15 weekend, "Shortbus" was on only 25 screens, with a per-screen average of $7,879. After two weeks in release, it's already grossed close to $400,000. "Little Children," on only five screens (with its full national release still to come), averaged $16,910 per venue. Compare that to the No. 1 film, "The Grudge 2," which averaged $6,851 per screen (in 3,211 theaters).

If the films continue to do well with audiences, their approach to sexuality could challenge the Hollywood status quo.

"As far as opening doors, it will stimulate some other filmmakers to try to work in this arena," Dick says. "But if these films open doors in a bigger way depends on whether or not they make money. That's what it always comes down to."