Despite the vocal consternation over mass desensitization, some imagery still possesses an inherent power to provoke. 

Two recent examples: Macbeth’s child violence and Beautiful Men’s male nudity. 

400 years later, Macbeth’s infanticide still disturbs. Even though modern media disseminates accessible gore far and wide, watching the murder of a kid remains a third rail.

Which might be why most Macbeth revivals hide the sight of the actual act.

But not director Jamie Lloyd Max Webster’s production at London’s Donmar Warehouse, a recording of which is now playing movie theaters around the world starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo. In it, the audience observes an underage neck being snapped, on stage, for all to see.

As for Beautiful Men, this Oscar-nominated animated short simply would not be the same without the dangling dongs on screen, all the more shocking because they’re animated, a genre commonly associated with tykes. This full frontal informs character, theme, emotions — all bolstered by how rarely men drop trow in art.