Janet Jackson’s baring performance at the Superbowl.
Britney kissing Madonna at the VMA. Risqué moments like these
seem almost commonplace now, but in the 1940s, sex was all action
and no talk.
One man changed all of that. Alfred C. Kinsey, a biologist at
Indiana University, pioneered the study of human sexuality in an
attempt to open people’s mouths and minds.
Such is the premise of the new Bill Condon biopic
“Kinsey,” starring Liam Neeson in the title role. The
film chronicles Alfred Kinsey’s life and work, creating an
excellent balance between the two. In effect, the two are
interchangeable, as Condon shows the audience.
While researching the mating habits of gall wasps, Kinsey
discovers that no wasp is exactly the same as another in its
habits. Simultaneously, Kinsey is shocked to unearth the profound
lack of knowledge about human mating habits and, as a result, sex.
He decides to transfer this problem to his next project, a
controversial study of human sexuality, which culminated in the
book “Sexuality in the Human Male” (1948).
Kinsey’s carefree attitude toward sexual exploration and
questionable research methods inevitably begins to take its toll on
his coworkers, his family and eventually himself as he realizes
that America may not be ready to hear the truth about sex.
The film is told primarily through a black-and-white montage of
interviews with Kinsey, whose answers to his very own sex survey
questions result in lengthy, colorful flashbacks and glimpses of
humanity in a man obsessively driven by his work.
What makes “Kinsey” stand out from this year’s
slew of biopics is the ability of the cast to take historical
figures and humanize them. Especially noteworthy are Neeson as
Kinsey, Laura Linney as Kinsey’s wife Clara and Peter
Sarsgaard as Kinsey’s colleague and sexual pawn Clyde Martin.
John Lithgow gives a touching performance as Kinsey’s
repressed Puritanical preacher father. In a poignant scene where
Kinsey interviews his father after scores of other interviews with
the public, Kinsey Sr. finally voices his own awkward sexual
history and comes to terms with the realities of sex.
For a film entirely about sex, moviegoers will be disappointed
to learn that there is a considerable deficiency of it. The film
shies away from an NC-17 rating by keeping sexual interactions to a
minimum, and the homoerotic scenes and nudity produce little shock
value. Perhaps in today’s world we are so desensitized to sex
on film that even a shared kiss between Neeson and Sarsgaard barely
raises an eyebrow.
What makes the film and the man relevant today is the idea that
there is no such thing as normal sexual habits. Kinsey stressed
that sex and sexuality are a natural part of human existence.
Perhaps Kinsey’s genius was getting people to confront the
truth about sex and sexuality, which are not as scary as they seem.
Although the sexual interactions in the film are not as taboo as
they were in Kinsey’s era, it is his controversial ideas
about sex that continue to be relevant. In a year where bans
against gay marriage were put into law and the concept of a
“normal” sex life is still fundamentally the same,
Kinsey’s findings and attitude still resonate in
“Kinsey.”
““ Julianne Fylstra