34 j U S t O U t • novembet 19. 2004
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Let's talk about sex
Alfred Kinsey biopic has a disturbing timeliness
by
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S03 33S %133
irector Bill G in Jon made waves in 1998
extent, the lives of his sex research team. N ee
with Gods and Monsters, an imaginative
son perfectly captures the impatience, bullish
biography of gay Hollywixxl director James
ness, zealotry and blind faith of this man as he
Whale. Six years is a long time between
takes on a whole culture of ignorance. How
features, hut Kinsey was well worth the wait. ignorant? Some of the questions students ask
This hiopic of Alfred Kinsey, the famed hi
for his “marriage” class include “C an you get
sex researcher of the 1940s and ’50s, is excel
syphilis from a whistle?” and “C an’t oral copu
lent on all counts. All the actors are first-rate,
lation be injuriousr
hut Liam Neeson particularly deserves an Oscar
But as he finds out, people are less pre
for a gripping, absolutely grounded perfonn-
dictable than wasps, the subject of one of his
ance in a difficult role. It’s not easy finding the
textb<x)ks. For one thing, there are always
human being in a single-minded zealot, hut
going to be casualties. Kinsey’s son is embar-
Neeson does it.
Kinsey’s name
once drew shud
ders from the
bluenoses and
snickers from
sophisticates, both
of whom scoured
his groundbreaking
Kxiks like 1948’s
Sexual Behavior in
the Human Male
and 1953’s Sexual
Behavior in the
Human Ferruile for
naughty hits. But
Kinsey was no
pomographer, nor
(despite claims by
the lunatic right
Laura Linney and Liam Neeson measure up in Kinsey
that persist tixJay)
did he encourage any kind of nonconsensual
rassed and alienated by the frankly sexual din
relationships. Above all he was a scientist who
ner table conversation. And disaster strikes
believed sexuality could he studied and
when members of his research team ignore his
explored like any other human trait. He railed
rule to avoid sexual relationships with each
against the absurd repressions in American s<x:i-
other. But, typical of the contradictions of the
ety, against “morality disguised as fact.” And he
man, he breaks this rule, nx), succumbing to a
was adamant in insisting that homosexuality
seduction by his fetching assistant Clyde Mar
was as normal as heterosexuality at a time when
tin (Peter Sarsgaard)— though seduction may
such statements amounted to blasphemy.
not be the right word, given Kinsey’s lingering
He practiced what he preached, too. He
glances at Clyde’s nude body after a shower.
and his wife, Mac, had an open marriage that
T he film focuses intensely on the
sometimes involved sharing the same man.
“marriage of equals” between Kinsey and
O f course, he suffered from attempts to suppress
Mac, a relationship as much intellectual and
his work— including charges of communism
spiritual as sexual, as Kinsey feels he must
during the Red Scare days and the loss of a cru
live the kind of life of openness and maturity
cial Rockefeller Foundation grant that funded
he argues for. M ac’s vacillating moods as her
husband pulls her into
this uncharted territo
ry, which threatens to
bring not only shame
but possibly jail time,
are convincingly co n
veyed by Laura Linney.
In addition to fine
performances and a
compelling story line
that jumps all over the
place w ithout losing
the viewer, Kinsey has a
disturbing timeliness.
T he atmosphere of
repression it shows
seems to have returned
with a vengeance.
Kinsey's sex research team: From left, Dagmara Dominczyk, Timothy
W ith crazy Christians
Hutton, Julianne Nicholson, Peter Sarsgaard, Heather Goldenhersh
now fighting even such
and Chris O'Donnell
taken-for-granted bene
his original work. Bur he refused to apologize
fits of m odern society as birth control, not to
for it and never wavered in his beliefs and his
m ention gay rights, the film makes it clear
willingness to voice them. All this history is
that we could use another Kinsey. J H
dramatically delivered by Kinsey.
As played by Neeson, Kinsey is a larger-
G ary M orris is a Portland free-lance writer
than-life figure who dominates the film, as he
whose hobby is unsticking the pages of his copy of
apparently dominated his family and, to some
the Kinsey Report.
D
r is to r a n t
□
G ary M orris