The Rule Of Ten

There are certain rules that movie makers abide by. Sometimes it's consciously. Sometimes it's just by sheer accident. In slasher movies there is "Sin" rule that was pointed out so well in the movie Scream. Drinking, drugs, sex - they are the things that make you a murder target. In action movies there is the 10 page rule - every ten pages of the script needs some sort of action or explosion, something to keep the audience awake and alert.

But there is a lesser known rule, one that is not observed as much anymore thanks to PG-13. It's another rule of ten. During the 70's and 80's it happened quite often. The last movie released in theaters that observed this rule was Rise: The Blood Hunter with Lucy Liu. The rule is simple - nudity, lots of it, every ten minutes or less to ensure that even if your movie isn't good men will keep watching. Growing up in the 80's I saw plenty of that rule on HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. Today we see this rule more on cable and internet series, not film. Watch Orange Is The New Black some time, season 2 especially. Use a stop watch if you want. Game Of Thrones is pretty close to following that rule most of the time. Season 2 of Dexter did it. One of the greatest examples of two of the rules of ten is the Transporter TV series - explosions and/or nudity every ten minutes or your money back. True Blood held pretty true to the rule as well.

Now, don't get wrong. I'm not complaining about the rule. I'm a heterosexual man. I like breasts and the beautiful soft form of a woman's naked body. She could even have three breasts. Who didn't think about that after seeing Total Recall.

But why dies it have to be that the rule of ten only seems to apply to movies trying desperately to keep our attention with flesh? Couldn't they invest a little more time in creating characters we care about and don't want to see die? Then, if the actress still wants to show a little skin so be it. The filmmaker earned that by keeping us entertained with a good story and characters first. 

In episode 3 of The Gorram Nerd Hour Jeremy and will be addressing this issue. Hopefully we'll have a friend stop by to discuss it with us. One week to go!