I suspect the beloved Naked-Vicky-In-A-Temple-With-A-Sword (NVIATWAS), lady with a snake, etc. is often just an indication of how many people were influenced by Frazetta and similar fantasy artists. You can go back even further to the jungle girl and other pulps and comics of the 30's or so, including of course Tarzan and King Kong. Well endowed heroine, skimpy costume, preferably ripped, large snake, jungle cat, monster or whatever menacing her - or getting suspiciously friendly with her. It's always been a sure sell. Anyone remember 'Happy Days' wholesome Erin Moran, naked, being molested by a huge slimy slug monster in 'Galaxy of Terror?' Sex, violence (bestiality?) - all kinds of deep Freudian themes in that genre. Still, I suspect that for every person who consciously strive for symbolic meaning, there are five who just try to represent their feelings, and ten who just do what strikes their fancy (or their libido) at the moment without thinking about it too much. The ratio's probably similar to the number of classical Freudian or Jungian therapists practicing today as opposed to behavioralists.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken