Industry showrunner calls out "puritanism" of sex scene critics

Not to beat a dead horse, but doesn’t it seem today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV? Over on HBO, an uncle is romancing his niece and everybody on Industry is romancing everyone else. Even the intimacy coordinator David Thackeray agrees that filming the latter series “was pretty full-on.” But is that so wrong? Showrunners Konrad Kay and Mickey Down don’t think so!

Although Industry was recently derided by The New Statesman as “porn posing as prestige TV,” Kay and Down used to actually work in finance, so they know that which they speak. And, to Kay’s mind, “I find the puritanism about it really strange. I don’t understand why people find sex on screen so weird. It’s as human as breathing,” he tells The Sunday Times.

Fair enough. And in an era that has more television than ever but also a complete dearth of sensuality in Hollywood (at least, to some minds), why shouldn’t a few shows be unapologetically horny? “We wanted to make an authentic, youthful show, and part of being young, in the early flush of your life, is all the fun you have doing stuff behind closed doors,” Kay says.

Apparently, it’s also realistic and standard for the world of investment banking. “They are driven by the hunt for dopamine,” Kay explains. “You get a neurological response to earning money, which is the same as having an orgasm.” The more you know!

Anyway, series don’t have to be strictly realistic in order to throw some steamy scenes in the mix. (House Of The Dragon has also pledged itself to be realistic in its medieval portrayal of sexual violence, despite being a literal fantasy–but that’s a whole other story.) Even if the New Statesman is correct in labeling Industry “outlandishly exaggerated view of the sex lives of young people,” there’s plenty of room in the television landscape for all sorts of views of the sex lives of young people.