For today's Nudity Was Necessary series, we are going to take a look at the famous Peter Bogdanovich film The Last Picture Show and the nude scene that put Cybill Shepherd on the map.
The story behind The Last Picture Show is largely producer Polly Platt's story. She was director Peter Bogdanovich's wife and she was the one who suggested his next film be an adaptation of the novel The Last Picture Show. It was also she who "discovered" the young model Cybill Shepherd on the cover of a magazine.
Legendarily, Bogdanovich began sleeping with his leading lady during production of the film - right in front of Polly who had essentially brought the two of them together. And what thanks does she get? Luckily, most people in Hollywood know that Polly was behind most of Bogdanovich's greatest films - including this one.
That's the truth behind the movie and knowing that might make you assume that Cybill's nude scene in the film was due to the director's leering eye. That's not the case. Cybill's undressing scene which was also her nude debut is very important to her character's development in this film.
The young Cybill Shephard played Jacy Farrow in the film who is sought over by every man in town, but she has her eyes on only one man. She tries to do what she can to impress him and to impress her peers who all think that she's a prudish virgin. She wants to be anything but!
In this scene, Jacy is invited to a pool party, but she doesn't know that it is a naked pool party. She is trying to buck the conceptions of her as a goodie-two-shoes (even though she still is that), so she decides to act up in order to earn her peers' respect and to get the host of the party's attention.
So what does this nude scene mean for the film? It means a few things. In a coming-of-age movie, this is Jacy's coming-of-age moment. The straight-lace, blonde, country girl succombs to peer pressure from her already naked classmates and takes everything off to join them. By taking off her clothes, she is becoming one of them and her nudity is cheered because it means that they accept her.
When she finally completely undresses - after over a minute and a half - she dives into the water with the others. Triumphant music plays. She comes up for air and she's smiling. She's happy that she went nude.
You can watch the long scene where she undresses here which takes place 39 minutes into the movie:
Her scene is incredibly relatable to anyone who has had to consider giving in to peer pressure. What's more is that the film shows us just how awkward of a moment this is. The camera does not turn away from Cybill undressing. We see every buckle unbuckle and every strap strewn off. We are focused on her character layer by layer until she is wearing nothing at all. It is awkward and freeing all at once.
