Let's Talk About Sex...

That would get anyone's attention. For my Human Sexuality class this week, we watched Kinsey, and then had to write about it. So here is my reaction to the movie.

There were interesting choices in the way the movie was made, the dialog, and the casting. First of all, John Lithgow as Kinsey’s father was absolutely fantastic. He did a great job of being so mean and heartless. I loved when it was revealed that he had gone through a traumatic sexual experience. This brought a lot more depth to the character and made me even more impressed with Lithgow’s performance. It was refreshing to see him in a role like this because he always plays a nice guy. I did have a few problems with the casting, however. Having Tim Curry play the ultra-conservative teacher was way too weird. When I think of Tim Curry, I think Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was completely opposite from that. And unlike Lithgow, who excelled in his “out-of-the-norm” role, Curry just seemed way too awkward and didn’t play it as well. I also had a major issue with Liam Neeson. Normally, I think he’s great in basically anything he does. And when I found out that he was playing Kinsey, I thought it would be a very good fit. I was sorely mistaken. He was, in my opinion, way too rigid. He was supposed to be playing this man with a completely open sexual attitude, and even he just seemed uncomfortable the whole time. His speech also contributed to this feeling I think. It wasn’t just him, although his voice is strange, but the dialog was all wrong.

The dialog was all too candid for my taste. I know that the feeling was supposed to be openness about sex, but I think that this went way too far. There are people who are open about sex who don’t discuss it at the dinner table with their parents/children. I thought that was so strange and uncomfortable—also unrealistic. Another awkward moment, speaking-wise, was when Peter Sarsgaard and Liam Neeson were about to have sex. The whole conversation was very strange. I feel like no one would just basically say, “Do you want to have sex now?” and the other person be like, “Okay”, and then it happens. Also, I know that the questions were designed to put the interviewee at ease, but they were also too candid for my taste. I just think the dialog of the whole movie was not good. It was not a well-written screenplay.

All of the attitudes about sex were aggravating and interesting at the same time. Obviously, the ideas that adults were putting into young people’s heads about sex were infuriating. How could people have said that? And, more importantly, how could someone believe it? I guess since Dr. Galliano clarified that these people were pretty sheltered, that explains it kind of. Not all of them were, however, and not all of the people who thought these crazy things were even bible-thumpers. (At least it the movie didn’t make them seem like it).  One thing I found extremely interesting was Kinsey’s own personal sexual experiences. Not that I assumed that he was promiscuous, but I couldn’t believe that he didn’t have premarital sex. It seems to me, even if he WEREN’T Alfred Kinsey, sex research pioneer, that he would have just to get back at his father who he hated.  

My biggest personal problem with the movie was the casualness of it. I don’t consider myself to be conservative at all when it comes to sex and sexuality, but the way that sex was just treated as some unimportant biological necessity really bothered me. Like when Kinsey had sex with Martin, that didn’t bother me, but when Kinsey was telling Mac about it, and just expecting her to be okay with it, that really got to me. And then Martin flat out asked to have sex with Mac.  That was uncomfortable to me. I think that sex should be treated with more importance than what they were giving it.

Overall, I liked this movie. Well, I guess it was very thought provoking. The film made me uncomfortable, mad, and happy, and this is exactly what a good film does.