Is it safe?

Noel Vera

Bill Condon's "Kinsey" (2004) at first sight was your standard- issue,
well-made, intelligently tasteful biopic, in a year that teemed with biopics
(Martin Scorsese's bravura "The Aviator;" Jamie Foxx's portrayal of the
eponymous singer in "Ray;" HBO's sketchy attempt to capture the elusive essence
of the man in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"). An indication that the
film was more than what it seemed to be was the reception it got from, Channel
13, a public television network in New York--New York!--that refused to air
ads for the picture; the official statement was that it was "too commercial and
too provocative," but a leaked email memo revealed that the real problem was
that it was "the content of this movie."

Yes, the subject matter does make the film special (Can't help but think of
Laurence Olivier with probe and dental mirror, asking a strapped-down Dustin
Hoffman about his jewels). Sex was a hot-button topic for people way back in
1948, and Kinsey's 804-page "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was like a wind
blasting into the airless living rooms and bedrooms of American homes. What's
eerie is how far things have come, and now with this film about the man who
wrote that book it seems America's come a full circle--the mere cinematic
reproduction of revelations made then (People are having affairs! And oral
sex!) are shocking and surprising all over again, to a whole new generation of
stuffy bedrooms. Dialogue that should sound quaint and specific to the
historical period seem somehow as relevant as ever--even more relevant, in
fact, because people have apparently forgotten what their parents or
grandparents learned back in 1948; worse, the idea that people should be kept
in the dark about matters sexual is, if anything, stronger and more fashionable
than ever (Ignorant statements like "There's a cure for syphilis…and it's
called abstinence," or questions like "Can too much sex cause cancer?" "Does
too much masturbation cause premature ejaculation (or blindness, or insanity)?"
"Is homosexuality a rare deviation from the normal?" seem eerily prescient, if
not familiar).

Maybe what distinguished Kinsey from most social scientists then-- and most
so-called scientists now--is that he was the genuine article, one trained to
observe the behavior of gall wasps and (once interest has shifted) one who
would naturally see human beings as being "bigger and more complicated gall
wasps." Applying the techniques of observation and statistical analysis on the
sexual behavior of a representative sample of the American public seems a
relatively small step from there.

Condon takes his cue from Kinsey's deceptively simple achievement; like the
interviewers Kinsey so painstakingly trains, the film assumes an unthreatening
position, keeps a watchful but nonjudgmental eye on its subject, and scribbles
copious notes (I assume Frederick Elmes, who lensed David Lynch's best films
("Eraserhead," "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet"), came up with the beautifully
subdued color palette). It's not tightly plotted, nor do I suspect it was meant
to be; again, like Kinsey's grand experiment, it seems to be feeling its way
across, exploring various approaches, giving us snatches and hints of what it's
all about in measured doses; we do eventually come up with a rounded portrait
of the man, but only by film's end, when a lovely cameo by Lynn Redgrave puts a
not unfitting capstone on Kinsey's human-sized edifice.

Just as interesting as Condon's approach are the performances he elicits from
the cast--Liam Neeson plays Kinsey as a gentle monomaniac, someone who mostly
peers down at the spot where he would put his next step, damn all consequences;
when this methodology leads to trouble and controversy, he looks up with a hurt
expression, as if wondering what all the fuss is about. Condon shows us that
this focused narrow-sightedness was Kinsey's strength when he pursued his
initial questions (it lead him, carefully and relentlessly, to the ultimate
conclusions arrived at from his investigations; more, it gave him the sober,
considered tone that lent plausibility to his conclusions). It was also his
limitation when things began to go against him (he refused to see how provoking
people into anger would affect his work (his funding, in particular), and he
was blind to the consequences of sexual experimentation without regard to
emotional ties and inhibitions--to love, if you like). Condon takes particular
care to show us Kinsey's own experimentations with his own sexuality--his
dalliance with one of his male assistants (played by an at times charming, at
times reptilian Peter Sarsgaard), for one. You see how sincere Kinsey is when
he admits to a fascination about homosexuality; you also see the brief
expression of hurt that flits, almost unwittingly, across the face of his wife
(played with wonderful warmth by Laura Linney) when he confesses his adventures
to her (it's all in the name of science--doesn't mean it'll be painless).
Condon, being himself gay and openly liberal in sentiment (his most noted
previous work being "Gods and Monsters," about the great gay filmmaker James
Whale ("Bride of Frankenstein," "The Invisible Man")) is nevertheless remarkably
clear-sighted about his hero's faults and virtues.

I can only guess what the reaction will be from predominantly Roman Catholic
Filipinos (although the fact that the release was delayed two whole years
before it played on strictly limited run in the Ayala theaters--usually
patronized by expatriates and the presumably more sexually liberated upper
class (hah!)--is probably a good indication). Will the few Filipino critics
active today damn the picture with faint praise, maybe at most give lip service
to the idea of liberalizing antiquated notions of sex? Will the filmgoing public
largely ignore the picture, in favor of that new Pixar flick, or "The Fast and
the Furious 3" (the most likely scenario)? Or will people actually sit up and
take notice, take a long, hard look at the sexual mores in the country and, like
Kinsey, ask a few sensible, deceptively simple questions?

(First published in Businessworld, 6/23/06)

(Comments? Email me at noelbotevera@...)