6 Movies From the 90s That Shaped My Sexuality

Yeah, baby!

Heads up: this post contains nudity (you’re welcome!)

I never had the guts to go behind behind the curtain at the back of the video store.

Except for the Blockbuster, most of the rental places in my hometown had one. And I knew exactly what it was hiding. Nasty, filthy, smutty hardcore porn.

All the stuff I really, really wanted to watch.

That curtain really fired up my curiosity. I wanted to step right through it and walk confidently into the forbidden section. The “Adults Only” sign posted at the top of it was practically calling to me while I was browsing the new releases.

If I knew I could get away with it, I would’ve spent hours in there, examining every box cover carefully, and walking home with an armful of X-rated movies.

But I wasn’t eighteen yet and there was a decent chance the cashier would know one of my aunts, so I didn’t even try.

Instead, I rented other movies that might satisfy my constant urge for something naughty.

There were steamy erotic thrillers. I never hesitated to bring those up to the counter because they looked like they were about murder more than sex. And as long as I’m just watching committing homicide in a fit of desperation, then it’s all innocent.

The raunchy comedies were easy too. They were clearly marketed to teens, even if they would’ve made a lot of parents clutch their pearls.

And then there were direct-to-video Lifetime-style movies about bad teens getting into sexy trouble. I think those were supposed to teach me lessons and scare me out of being too slutty and doing drugs or whatever. I dunno, I just wanted to see the sexy trouble.

Those all flew under the radar. They were on the right side of the curtain and I could rent them as often as I wanted to.

But I watched them the same way I would’ve watched the porn movies I wished I could get instead. To get a peek at all the different kinds of sex there was. To blast my eyeballs with sexy images until I figure out exactly what turns me on. And to give me plenty of material to masturbate to.

And it worked. So many movies titillated me, aroused me, and gave me really strong feelings I didn’t always understand.

Most of them came and went. The titles might ring a bell, but I barely remember them or how they affected me.

But there are a handful that have a really special place in my heart. They’re the ones that woke something in me, that taught me something about myself, and that I couldn’t resist watching multiple times.

Titanic

I would’ve watched Titanic even if there was no chance of anything sexy going down. Because I know the ship goes down and that’s enough for me.

I love a good disaster movie. When I run out of things to watch, it’s the first word I type into the Netflix search bar. And I love watching ship launch fail videos on YouTube. So yeah, I was plenty excited to watch the movie about a giant ship sinking, even though it was an intimidating two-VHS tape epic.

Ooh she thick (Image from Home Video History)

It delivered on the disaster. But like every other woman my age, it’s the romance between Jack and Rose that really won me over.

A working class bad boy with a soft side meets an upper class girl who wants to follow her heart instead of her family’s wishes. I mean, come on. That’s a winning formula if there ever was one.

They fuck, too. That’s something that’s missing from a lot of romantic movies, but not this one. And it was such a good sex scene that I watched Titanic way more often than I would’ve watched any other three-hour movie.

If you’re reading this, you probably remember the scene really well.

You remember how it starts - with Rose asking Jack to sketch her while she reclines fully nude.

There she is, tits out and looking gorgeous as can be. And there I was, watching the movie for the - I don’t know, eleventh time maybe. Didn’t matter, because it was still having a very strong effect on me.

Not just because I was being shown a lovely pair of boobs and those really have a way of making me feel something. But because every single other thing about the scene felt incredibly sexy to me.

There’s the way Rose is so comfortable and confident in her body. It made her seem so much more attractive, but it also made me incredibly jealous. I wanted to be just like her - free with my body, letting others watch me, and enjoying all of that attention.

It made me feel like an exhibitionist who was too shy to show herself off - and that’s a feeling that stayed with me for a really long time.

But more than anything, it made me feel like a voyeur - and that excited the hell out of me.

I didn’t just want to be like Rose - I also wanted to be in Jack’s shoes. The thought of having someone showing themselves off for me and I don’t have to do anything but watch and appreciate every moment of it - that spoke to me in a way that I had not expected at all.

The voyeur in me also appreciated what came next.

You remember how this scene ends too - we all do. With a sex scene that’s literally steamy - and Rose’s hand pressed into the foggy car window.

That just screamed passion. It really sold me on the idea that watching, admiring, and patiently worshiping a lady’s body with your eyes is so hot that it’ll have to end in some hard action.

Cruel Intentions

If Titanic is the movie that turned me into a voyeur, Cruel Intentions is the movie that’s responsible for some of my dirtier kinks.

It’s the movie that showed me that sex might be incredibly hot - but breaking taboos could be even hotter. Because that’s pretty much what the movie does. It presents you lots of problematic sex - and makes it look incredibly appealing.

The movie is about Sebastian, a fuckboi who has zero hesitation lying and manipulating his way into a girl’s panties. But all that pussy has become so boring that there’s only one girl he really wants to fuck - his stepsister, Kathryn.

And luckily for Sebastian, she’s willing to use that to her advantage. She promises to let him fuck her ass, but only if he manages to seduce her ex’s new girlfriend and take her virginity before he has a chance to do it himself.

So, just in the premise alone we’ve got fauxcest, we have a proper and prim lady teasing access to her ass, and we have innocence getting corrupted. Not to mention the whole sexual manipulation and revenge angle.

It felt like so many rules were being broken, and I didn’t want it any other way. I didn’t want it to be less problematic. I didn’t want Sebastian to have the hots for someone he wasn’t related to. Because I knew it wouldn’t be as titillating if he did.

It’s not just the storyline, though. There are also a few specific moments that seared themselves deep into my brain.

This is the movie with Ryan Philippe’s bare ass on full display, but that’s not really one of them. Because as much as I appreciate a hot slab of beef, it’s the women who made Cruel Intentions such a meaningful film for me.

It’s the way Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Kathryn. She’s the villain, and I guess I knew she was meant to be evil. But to me, she just seemed perfectly sexy. Confident, sure of herself, and pushy and demanding in a way that made me wish she was bossing me around.

I’m not sure I knew exactly what a domme was back then, but that’s the vibe I got from Kathryn. And it made me feel all sorts of things it would take me years to unpack.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the way she rubbed herself up against Sebastian, knowing she has the power to get anything she wants from him. And seeing how helpless he was - so visibly tempted and incapable of doing anything about it.

The horniness was off the charts - his and mine.

But it’s the makeout scene that really got me going. Seeing girls locking lips would’ve activated all the suppressed bisexual energy in my bones no matter how it played out. There was more to it than that, though.

Cecile is innocent and easily manipulated. She’s putty in Kathryn’s hands. It’s not up to her whether they kiss - it’s up to Kathryn. And that soft domination is why that scene was basically foreplay for dozens of masturbation sessions.

When I watched the movie again in my thirties, it hit me just how much Cecile probably influenced me too. There’s a hundred ways to play an innocent virgin, but Selma Blair chose to make her naive as can be.

Cecile isn’t just innocent - she’s practically childish. She doesn’t act like she hasn’t had sex yet - she acts like she’s never heard of it. That makes her playful, bratty, and the perfect girl to toy with and corrupt.

That description might as well be a porn search term for me. I’ve got a DDlg kink that maps perfectly onto Cecile’s whole deal.

I want to be bratty and defiant. I want to be fucked like I’m innocent but curious. I want to be led and taught.

And it’s entirely possible I wouldn’t have that kink at all if it wasn’t for the countless horny thoughts I had about Cecile and everything that could be done to her.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

If you don’t remember Austin Powers as a sexy movie, I’ve got one word for you. Fembots.

I caught the jokes, too. I learned all the catchphrases. Hearing the theme song practically gives me flashbacks.

But it’s the fembots really stood out for me. They’re sexy 60s style pinup girls with updos and skimpy clothes. They’re deadly weapons with even deadlier boobs.

When Austin Powers encounters them, they’re wearing soft, fluffy teddies with panties showing through the sheer material. They all end up on a big soft bed and I suddenly found myself wishing I had a sexbot harem.

And that’s a really uncomfortable thought for a girl who is totally and completely convinced she’s straight. Why would a straight girl want a half-dozen glammed up robots she can control? And why does she feel like she’d rather obey them than give them commands?

It would still be a few years before I let my very obvious bisexuality sink in. Then all my fantasies about harems full of intimidating women in soft pinks made perfect sense.

And now I’m a grown-ass woman who plays with sex dolls and gets off with machines. Because it only took one scene to turn me into a fembot lover for life.

Wild Things

Wild Things is one of those movies most people probably remember even if they half-forget what it was about.

Everyone knows it’s got Neve Campbell and Denise Richards in a pool. Maybe you remember it as a threesome movie.

It’s a lot more complex than that. But yeah, that’s why I watched it too.

And watching it is how I found out that it wasn’t just about pretty, wet girls. It was about a girl who’s really into her school guidance counselor - and acts on those feelings.

Like Cruel Intentions, it’s a dark movie. It breaks taboos. It’s about being tempted by things that should be forbidden.

Two girls kissing is just the tip of the iceberg. When I think of it, it’s all the flirting and tension that stands out. I remember thinking that this movie gets it - that wanting something can be so much better than getting it.

That’s true even if getting it doesn’t lead to anyone getting murdered.

Plus, being hot for a teacher is something I’ve experienced at several points in my life. Never a guidance counselor, but it’s more or less the same thing - pretty sure you’re not supposed to fuck them either.

Bound

Bound is a movie I have a hard time remembering.

I know I’ve seen it. I know I’ve watched it at least two or three times. But if you ask me what it’s about, I’ll just shrug. Fuck if I know.

But I have no trouble remembering Gina Gershon’s whole vibe in it. She was tough, rough around the edges, and didn’t worry about breaking a sweat.

I’m really into masc women but I don’t think I realized that until I watched Bound. Thanks to porn, I’d seen my share of femme-on-femme action before. But this was the first time I saw girl-on-girl sexual tension, fucking, and romance involving a gal with a more masculine presentation and attitude. And I really, really liked what I saw.

I’ve drooled over lots of masc women since then. But it all started with this movie.

Eyes Wide Shut

This is another movie that I don’t remember very clearly.

I remember flashes - little snippets here and there. But I don’t know how all those snippets fit together.

I just knew it was a sex movie. And that’s why I watched it and rewatched it - purely for the thrills.

And it definitely has some of those. There was enough nudity to keep me from blinking. There were orgy scenes at a time when I didn’t get to see a whole lot of those.

Masks, too. That made it feel kinkier, but also helped me hone in on my specific little perversions.

The voyeur in me loved the idea of walking through a sex party. I want to watch people at their most uninhibited. I want to see what people do when they’re letting themselves be as nasty as they want to be.

And those masks made me realize that I didn’t just want to watch - I wanted to watch without being seen.

Groupsex seemed like such a hot idea to me. But Eyes Wide Shut made me realize that peeping from the shadows might be just as good, if not better.

Sex Movies Are the Best Movies

There’s kind of a chicken and egg thing going on here. I’m not entirely sure if these movies influenced my sexuality or if my sexuality affected the way I watched them.

There’s no way for me to know if I’d have the same kinks and sexual preferences if I hadn’t seen the right movies at the right time.

Either way, it felt the same. Watching these movies gave me so many sexual awakenings and big realizations about myself - though it still took me a shockingly long time to clue in that I really wanted to fuck women.

And I managed to experience it all without even taking a peek behind the curtain at the back of the store. Because there was more than enough sexy stuff hiding in plain sight.

They don’t make sexy movies like they used to, but Adult Time has plenty of amazing porn to make up for it! That’s an affiliate link, by the way. If you click on it and treat yourself to a membership, I earn a small commission and you’ll be getting off to the hottest porn online! Be sure to use the code LOVEEMMA when you sign up to get a great deal!

If you liked this article, you should totally check out the Sk8er Boi (Summer Shorts, Sleazy Sex, and Buttstuff by the Pool) episode of my dirty and intimate sex podcast, Pillow Talk With Emma Austin!