Kinsey - 5

While this is yet another biopic to come out in 2004, this one is somewhat different in that it deals also with the topic of Alfred Kinsey's research and the questions that involves, as much as it involves the details of his life. It deals with the questions of the time, how to deal with sexuality in the modern age of science as the authority on truth. I think that gives the film the tension that it does, because it is trying to show societal change from the enlightenment project to deconstructionism. In some ways I think the film compromises the character of Kinsey's story in order to tell the story of the development of sex research. The film does fudge some of the historical data in order to put the research and current societal views compatible. For example from the movie alone you might get the idea that he studied many different racial groups when in fact his actual sample only included whites. It also seems to assume that Kinsey used the random sample method, which in fact, he rejected. Later in the film the discussion gets better when the researchers themselves find that the struggle to distance themselves from the moral dimensions of science is difficult and maybe impossible. The film does a good job of leaving the viewer to think over their own views of what is normative, not only for sexuality, but for all of life. And, ultimately how that worldview is fleshed out in their choices and decisions.