Panties are a very important part of our society, whether one chooses to wear them or not. Many films have taken note of the power of a pair of panties, or lack thereof, which has made for some very sexy, funny, and even frightening movie moments. This is a list of some of the most creative and memorable uses of panties in film, and it’s really amazing what kind of power such a tiny piece of fabric can have:
Alien (1979)
Originally Sigourney Weaver was going to be nude during the last sequence of the film to show just how vulnerable her character really was, but that didn’t fly with the production company. However, after seeing a badass Ripley outsmart the aliens and manage to stay alive when the rest of her crew couldn’t, seeing her battle the alien in a very flimsy tank top and a tiny pair of panties still reminded you that she was only a woman and made for one of the most climatic scenes in sci-fi film history.
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Any geek during the 80’s would have loved to have in their possession a pair of Molly Ringwald’s panties. John Hughes’ teen films always took less of a gross-out, oversexed approach at comedy, and the scene where the geek holds the pair of polka dot panties over his head in front of a gawking group of guys in the bathroom is one of the greatest in teen filmdom. What always got me about the film is that Sam gives the geek her panties, then goes the whole night wearing a flimsy dress and acting as if she never took them off, and she doesn’t realize they are gone until the next morning (which kind of makes her freak out.) I guess she just got too excited and forgot they were gone. Anyway, it’s definitely one of the most memorable scenes involving panties in a film, and you can even buy a shirt that quotes the film: “I can’t believe I gave my panties to a GEEK!”
Black Snake Moan (2006)
There’s nothing special about the tiny pair of white panties Christina Ricci wears almost the entire film, but when you look at her waist and realize there’s a chain around it that runs to a radiator where it’s locked in place, you realize she’s not playing your average, white trash slut in this film. This tiny, blonde nymphomaniac spends a lot of the movie in nothing but her panties and a short, torn t-shirt with a confederate flag on it, while a black man with a good heart tries to “cure” of her obsession with sex. It’s a very good film, and it’s a shame that Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson both didn’t get nominated for Academy Awards for their performances.
Lost in Translation (2003)
It’s the panties scene that launched Scarlett Johansson’s career! Sophia Coppola really grabs your attention from the start of this film, when Scarlett Johansson’s ample rear end fills the title scene in a pair of see-through panties. Scarlett stated that she was very nervous about the shot, and who wouldn’t be? I couldn’t imagine having my butt blown up to movie-screen size! But this scene (as well of the rest of the film) got the young actress a lot of attention for her acting as well as her curves and helped turn her into the sex symbol she is today.
100 Girls (2000)
Well, you can’t find a film that’s more about panties than this one! The film revolves around a college guy who has sex with a girl in an elevator during a black out. When it’s over, however, the girl disappears, and all he has left are her panties. All he knows is that she lives in a dorm with a lot of other girls, and he goes on a mission to find the girl in that dorm that the panties belong to. He tries to unsuccessfully find the bra that matches the panties by finding clever ways to get the girls to leave their rooms so he can search through their underwear drawers (but most girls don’t buy matching bras and panties!). A lot of craziness ensues before he finds his mystery maiden, but it all comically works out in the end. If you’re a Katherine Heigl fan, she stars in the film, so you can see her before she became Izzie on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and the comedy film queen she is today.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
This film showcases one of those little problems many plus-size women face: look good with clothing on, or look sexy with clothing off. It’s a pretty great moment when High Grant’s asshole of a character Daniel Cleaver finds Bridget’s tummy squeezing, gigantic undergaments and says, “Hello, Mummy”, at which point Bridget is horribly embarrassed (as most women would be). In this case, it has no effect on her shot at getting laid, and, really, would most guys turn down sex with a girl they were already planning on having sex with because they wear granny panties? They might tell their friends the tale of aforesaid panties later, but sex is sex, no matter what kind of panties a woman is wearing.
Thirteen (2003)
It’s one the most horrifying things that could happen to a boy: he sees his sister from far away or behind and thinks she’s hot. In this case, Evan Rachel Wood’s character Tracy’s black thong is hanging out and her brother says, “Oh baby, back that ass up!” This would be a rather mortifying experience for any guy that would probably screw with their head quite badly. There’s also a scene where Tracy is wearing pants that are falling off with her thong pulled way up high, which she reveals to her mom during a confrontational moment and states, “Would you like me to model my new thong? Great for pooping on the go!” This film really shows just how important panties are to teen girls, and if your teen likes to buy a lot of sexy and skimpy underwear, you should probably be a little worried.
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
This is another favorite panties scene of many, because it involves beloved actress Cameron Diaz. In this horrible movie, Cameron Diaz has a sexy but way too cutesy scene where she dances around to the tune of “Heaven Must be Missing an Angel” in a pair of Spiderman underwear that look like they could have been bought in the children’s husky boy clothing section. She does her thing, shaking her ass all the way to the door where she happily signs for a UPS package (and makes the UPS guy a little happy, himself.) Everyone loves Cameron, and this scene is exactly what she is famous for: mixing goofiness with sex appeal.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
I’m sure it’s hard for a lot of men to forget the scene in this film when the sexy female lieutenant reveals to a roomful of men that ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’ by showing them the back of her/his panties, where everyone sees what was tucked between his/her legs. This, of course, causes everyone in the room to almost become physically ill (because they’d all apparently ‘been there’ with the lieutenant, or at least fantasized about it). You have to feel a little sorry for sexy actress Sean Young for being able to get the role of a crossdresser for this film, but she’s still definitely all woman, even if it’s hard for some men to look at her that way now.
Body Double (1984)
This Brian De Palma take on the Alfred Hitchcock classic ‘Vertigo’ has a very notable scene involving panties, where the stalker of Melanie Griffith’s character watches her through a slit in some dressing room curtains. She changes into a new pair of panties and throws her old ones into a trash can, where they are promptly retrieved by her stalker. I’m just not really sure what the allure is with used panties, but some guys just can’t seem to get enough of them (nor can they get enough of trashy films like this one).
So whether they’re starring in frightening, funny, or disturbing film scenes, panties can always make a great statement and get the viewer’s attention. Most young actresses today may not like to wear panties (at least when they’re getting out of cars), but they have made for some great moments in film history.
