Let’s talk about sex, shall we? Well now, I bet that got your attention, didn’t it? It’s interesting to me how caught up in sex everyone seems to be. I’m not trying to downplay its importance; after all I’m as interested in sex as the next person. But what has always fascinated me is how it is viewed here in the U.S. as opposed to how it is viewed in other parts of the world. In many countries, sex and nudity are just a natural part of things, and few people are uptight about it. It is not ‘hidden’, or ‘taboo’ like it is here. For some reason, the vast majority of the U.S. population seems to have this rather Puritanical view of this normal human piece of interaction. I don’t mean to get down on this viewpoint, but I do tend to have a problem with it. My problem stems from the fact that it appears to come from a completely hypocritical position. As much as I hate to generalize, we all think about sex...some more than others… but we all do.

Those who tend to have the strongest opposition to it in public are often the ones with the most interesting sexual tendencies in private. If you don’t agree with this assessment, just look at the amount of money the porn industry takes in every year. Even the films that earn ‘R’ ratings tend to have the best box-office returns, as long as there’s a lot of sex going on in them. It’s so obvious that the majority of people want to see more sex; they just don’t want to admit it. (As in, “Ah just read Playboy for the articles…”)

Now before I continue going down a road that is going to get me burned at the stake, I’d like to point out that I am a strong advocate for family shows and movies, so that I can have something to watch with the younger kids. But this stems more from my feeling that the average American parent is an idiot, and not willing to talk to their kids about things that are going to influence their lives. Granted, I’m not going to let my kids watch anything to ultra-sexy until they are old enough to understand and talk with me about it, but the same goes for shows or movies that are ultra-violent. I’d like more parents to stop trying to hide sex from their kids, and instead try to understand what sex really is so they can communicate to their kids.

What this little rant all boils down to is the subject of the film, “Kinsey.” Here was a guy who was decidedly unpopular in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s because he made it his goal to try and learn everything there was to know about sex in order to teach others. The film is a biography of sorts, of Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson), often referred to as the Father of the Sexual Revolution. During the course of his career, he and his team of researchers interviewed thousands of subjects from all walks of life, and their findings wound up in two extremely controversial books on the subject of Sexual Behavior.

While I found “Kinsey” to be a fascinating film, full of some extraordinary performances (most notably by Neeson), it admittedly fell a little short in the information department. I would have a hard time finding fault for this however, after all how can you possibly present so many facets of a man’s life, especially one as controversial as his in so short a time? The film would have to be several hours long. That’s where the new DVD release from Fox really shines. The extra features (should you decide to pick up the 2-disc version), is full of background information on the real Kinsey and the Kinsey Institute. You even get the opportunity to answer questions in an interactive test based on Kinsey’s research. Fun stuff… not for the kids…

There are also 21 deleted scenes, most of which I found to be quite eye-opening. One of the features that I especially enjoyed was the director’s commentary by Bill Condon. Unlike most director’s, his comments were concise and to the point, and he throws in a lot of his own personal views of Kinsey’s work.

“Kinsey” isn’t a great film, but it is a good film. It raises a lot of questions and certainly makes for an interesting after movie conversation. The subject matter is definitely not for younger children, but should be fine for open-minded adults.

Directed by: Bill Condon
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O’Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Dylan Baker
Extras: Commentary with writer/director Bill Condon, The Kinsey Report: Sex on Film, 20 deleted scenes plus alternative ending with optional commentary by Bill Condon
Gag reel, Sex Ed at the Kinsey Institute, Interactive Sex Questionnaire
Specifications: Widescreen (2:35.1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 5/17/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Pervasive Sexual Content Including Some Graphic Images and Descriptions)
Website

We'll give Kinsey a B-.