"if it doesn't propel the plot forward, nuke it".
An extreme application of Chekov's Gun principle. Which is only a guideline, not a definite law.
Quote:
There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
—W. Somerset Maugham
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Maybe Stephen King knows.
I don't know, maybe there is value in explicit sex scenes in fiction (written, play, video/film). Perhaps people that like porn or erotic writing can explain, but I've only found it to detract.
The explicit sex scene in Uprooted (Novik) fantasy novel seems totally out of place and out of character for the author and character. Or some modern TV productions of older books that themselves have no explicit sex scene(s).
I've no difficultly with the mother dancing naked in the rain in "I Capture the Castle" in the book, and how it's done in the film is a separate issue, but why does the film version add a sunlit nude scene of the girl? It's not even suggested in the book.
I think whether or not it propels the plot is irrelevant. It's more complicated that that. Sometimes it seems as if the author or publisher or whoever just wants to be "edgy".