However, there was at least one issue that arose that may have raised a few eyebrows. That was going to go whether it was male or female." We wanted to make sure that any sexuality shown in our show was essential to its storytelling, meaning that it had an enhancing effect to character or plot.
"The network, they just said to us, 'Hey, if you're going to be doing any nudity, we feel like it should be equal male-to-female,' which was our intention going into it anyway," says Green. The decision, according to Green, wasn't for shock value but rather an attempt at equality and representation, and Starz was completely on board from the beginning.Īmerican Gods bosses promise book readers are in for some surprises
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The Salim-Jinn love story in "Head Full of Snow" marks the third appearance of a penis on American Gods, which makes it the third Starz series, after Outlander and Power, to go where so few shows are willing to go. Viewers might be a little shocked to see that the sequence truly holds nothing back, especially when it comes to male full-frontal nudity. Omid Abtahi and Mousa Kraish, American Gods Jan Thijs / Starz to make sure that it was so beautifully wrought that no one had a right to complain. "We're rooting for Salim to have a happy ending."Īdds Green: "There was no agenda on our part other than to embrace sex-positivity and. "We realize there was a tremendous amount of responsibility for this scene and what it could mean for people like Salim that are sadly many in the world, whether they are Middle Eastern or black or Asian or white, that can't come to terms with their sexuality because of some form of oppression," says Fuller.
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We wanted to create a sex-positive experience, not only for Salim but for all the men like Salim who have a corrupted sense of sexuality for whatever reason and can't truly be their sexual selves."Īmerican Gods' Neil Gaiman hopes the series will start a conversation about immigrant storiesįuller and Green naturally felt an obligation to get the scene just right - not just for fans of Gaiman's novel, but for men (or women) who might see themselves in the character of Salim. " was an opportunity for us to challenge the audience to not look away from the beauty of this experience for Salim," says Fuller of the nearly four-minute scene. While stuck in traffic, the two men form a bond, which eventually evolves into a connection that extends to the physical, at least for one night. It's such a fantastic metaphor for a man who can't be seen waiting to be seen and then finally, for the first time, experiencing what it is to be seen by another man."Īfter an afternoon spent waiting for an appointment that never happens, a disenchanted Salim meets the exhausted Jinn, who came to America years prior and now, like many immigrants, makes a living driving a cab. "When Michael and I first sat down to talk about things in the book that we were most dedicated to bringing to life as cinematically as possible, chief among them was the Salim-Jinn love story," Fuller tells. Like most everything else in American Gods, the scene was lifted straight from the pages of Gaiman's novel, and according to executive producer Bryan Fuller ( Hannibal), it was also one of the scenes he and executive producer Michael Green ( Logan) were most excited about bringing to life onscreen because of the beautiful and powerful metaphors found within it. The scene might be the most erotic sex scene between two men ever seen on cable - and that's including HBO's Looking, which set the bar fairly high during its two-season run. In its third episode, Sunday's "Head Full of Snow," that scene was one that featured graphic sex between two Muslim men, a Jinn ( Mousa Kraish) and a young man named Salim ( Omid Abtahi). The result is a beautiful piece of artwork, and it seems like there's at least one scene each week that leaves fans' jaws on the floor. An adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel about a brewing war between gods of old and gods of new, the series was brought to life using striking, bold visuals and a script that adheres closely to its incredibly detailed source material. American Godshas been making waves since it debuted on Starz last month.