Kinsey

[ljplicease]

Saw Kinsey, a movie about Alfred Kinsey and his reports with some friends tonight.

Two observations:

1. They way that Kinsey talked about sex with his father and his son (in the movie at least) reminded me a lot of my father.
2. Some of my friends I was watching the movie with were extremely closed minded, and were critical of Kinsey's apparently open relationship with his wife. They were also disgusted at a scene where Kinsey kisses another man.

I'm strait, and I don't really want to watch two men getting serious, but seems to me that two men kissing is among the least offensive things that can be in a movie. It is easy to be critical of Kinsey and point out that he never talked about love with his wife [1] but as far as I can tell, their relationship worked for them:

Jones stated that Kinsey's wife had sex with other men, but that the couple remained married for 35 years in a relationship that remained sexual until Kinsey became ill near the end of his life.

Wikipedia article on Alfred Kinsey

The point of the movie, I think, is not whether or not Kinsey was able to tell his wife that he loved her. Kinsey's research opened many people's eyes to what was "normal". I think this is huge:

As a direct result of Kinsey's and other's works, in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses, refusing to continue endorsing it as something "odd" or in need of correction.

Wikipedia article on Alfred Kinsey

Thus he helped to free marginalized and oppressed groups of people, such as homosexuals, from the relentless moral prudishness of society, and allowed some to express love in relationships they might otherwise believe to be inappropriate or illegitimate.

Anyway, that's just like, my opinion man.

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[1] As depicted in the movie. This was pointed out by one of my friends, but I think he missed the point of the entire movie. Good job. Anyway: who knows how the Kinsey's actually interacted with each other.