Posted on 11/23/2004 12:27:33 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Monday, November 22, 2004
"Kinsey: Let's Talk About Sex," the controversial new film about the "father of the sexual revolution," Alfred Kinsey, took in the most money on a per-screen basis over the weekend among top-grossing films.
In its second weekend in release, the movie many critics are calling a puff piece on the man some consider a fraud and a pervert grossed an average of $15,805 per screen on 36 screens nationwide. The first weekend out, "Kinsey" played on just five screens.
The film was the 16th highest-grossing film overall, bringing in $569,000, according to statistics on Box Office Mojo. "National Treasure," which played on 3,017 screens over the weekend, brought in $11,699 per screen.
In its debut weekend, the film was shown only in New York and Los Angeles. By Christmas, its promoters hope to have the movie on 500 screens nationwide. The movie, produced by Fox Searchlight, cost $11 million to produce.
Christian groups and defenders of the traditional family regard the late Indiana University professor as a fraudulent scientist who, more than anyone else, bears responsibility for bringing acceptance of promiscuity into the mainstream.
Critics are focused primarily on Kinsey's promotion of early childhood sexual activity, based on his solicitation of data from known pedophiles who conducted "experiments" on children.
Michael Craven, vice president for religious and cultural affairs for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families, points out Kinsey interpreted infant responses to sexual abuse to be indicative of "sexual satisfaction."
"Kinsey's impact on our culture has been nothing short of devastating and there has been little opportunity to challenge his ideas in the marketplace of ideas until now," said Craven. "Moviegoers and movie critics need to know the truth about the man and his so-called science."
A group called Catholic Outreach released "The Kinsey Corruption: An Exposé on the Most Influential 'Scientist' of Our Time," a 96-page book based on 20 years of research from leading Kinsey critic Dr. Judith Reisman.
Catholic Outreach says that the film leaves out critical facts about Kinsey's real life and portrays him as a sexual liberator and visionary who helped free popular culture from its repressed sexuality.
"The truth is that Alfred Kinsey was instrumental in bringing about the widespread acceptance of perversity and immorality that exists today," the group said.
Robert Knight, director of Christian Women for America's Culture & Family Institute, says the film "paints Kinsey as a flawed but sincere cultural hero."
"It ignores the massive fraud, Kinsey's sadomasochistic practices, and barely touches on his use of data on children in sex experiments," Knight said.
"Alfred Kinsey encouraged pedophiles to molest children, all in the name of science," Knight charged. "Instead of being lionized, Kinsey's proper place is with Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele or your average Hollywood horror flick mad scientist."
Knight believes it's no exaggeration to say Kinsey was "the godfather of the homosexual activist movement, the campaign to mainstream pornography, and even the campaign to strike down abortion laws."
"He was a sexual revolutionary masquerading as an objective scientist," Knight said.
Researcher Reisman, author of "Kinsey, Crimes and Consequences," recently was prevented from seeing two private screenings of "Kinsey."
She has been critical of the film during its entire production process, warning actor Liam Neeson, who plays the title role, and others more than one year ago that they are party to a whitewash of a man who has done incalculable damage to American society by providing "scientific" rationale for softening laws that protect women and children from molesters and giving institutional sanction to a libertine sexual morality that has ruined millions of lives.
As WorldNetDaily reported in February 2003, Condon was upset by a campaign by Reisman and radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger to expose Kinsey as a "man who produced and directed the rape and torture of hundreds of infants and children."
Reisman believes the film is part of a media blitz backed by the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Kinsey Institute and others that seeks to rehabilitate Kinsey as some of the explosive revelations about him gradually surface in the mainstream media.
Color me unimpressed. I watched Motorcycle Diaries. I think I prefer watching a puff piece about Che to two people who studied perverts and child molesters.
The author needs some perspective. Most of these art/ego films do high per-screen biz when they open. But when they go into wide release, they usually fall flat on their face.
Sex sells. Film at 11.
Bingo, friend.
Those are the headlines, and now for the rumors behind the news.
Don't look at me.
We saw "The Incredibles."
= D
A perverted movie doing well in 2 perverted cities. I am shocked.
I've seen the trailer. I understand Kinsey's controversial nature, but none of that is a factor in my decision not to spend my cash on it. It just doesn't look that interesting to me, even though I'm often a sucker for "Oscar bait".
Now, the movie I'm waiting for is Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Between my love of Anderson's the Royal Tennenbaums and all-around genius of star Bill Murray, I'm practically in line right now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.