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jebbypalWell, I got home late tonight and was very disappointed to find out I wouldn't be getting more MI5 till next week (guess I like the series more than I thought, huh?) But I did have Kinsey in my mailbox. Wasn't excited about it, but I needed some fluff time that I hadn't seen before.
Welll...It was good. Really good. Not fluff, but overall I liked it.
Wheee, boy, and I thought my upbringing was puritanical. Kinsey's was down right....scary. I enjoyed probably the first quarter of the movie...but I started to dislike it when he got his obsession about a scientific study of sex.
See, here's the thing -- Kinsey and the prof who taught the hygenics class ---> those are scientists. I don't care what discipline, etc, those are tee totally the PERSONALITIES of the vast majority of scientists. Obessive minded, totally unable to see any viewpoint other than their own, assured in their own rightness, and in love with the sound of their own voices. What they do is what they are. Oh, they married...oh well, it's not like you need to spend more than 5 hours a day away from work because by god, you have to pursue science. And oh the smugness of Kinsey...ugh, every time I hear or see that type of smugness on someone I run...cause if they ain't a scientists, they're probably a religious fundamentalist of some sort.
I guess this is the thing -- the premise of the movie was all well and good and it was interesting to learn more about Kinsey, cause brother, let me tell you -- I never heard one word about the man growing up in OK. If you'd shown me some of those political cartoons from his era before this movie came out and I found out who the hell he was, I wouldn't have gotten them. I do think that it's something that needs to be brought up again to the forefront that frank sexual discussion should occur at some point in high school just to alleviate some of the pressures of wondering if one is normal or not etc. It would help.
And yet, I utterly detested the last 3/4 of the movie simply because they did such a thorough job of portraying the scientist portion of Kinsey. The fact that he really couldn't understand why his wife couldn't be more rational and NOT CARE about his homosexual fling w/ his student.
It's about RESPECT, stupid.
I'll be the first to tell you that I am not persay a moral person in any conventional way. The vast majority of things that one is taught as a kid, I dunno, I don't care much about. I got sick to death of the Catholic guilt complex when I was 8 and I stole a reese's peanut butter cup from some department store because my mom wouldn't buy it for me because it would have made me sick but I wanted to eat it. I spent the next 5 or so years convinced I was going to go to hell because I'd stolen something. Guilt sucks and takes up time and energy that can be better spent on other things.
There's few things that you can do that I can't shrug off. Hell, you can lie to me as long as it's not about anything important or doesn't hurt anyone ---- granted, if lying is something you don't tolerate, I won't lie to you. But I grew up in a family where I knew there were certain things that weren't acceptable and would cause the shit to hit the fan therefore it was better to not rock the boat since it didn't involve killing anyone so therefore, it was okay.
Despite that, an affair --- yeah, that's not acceptable. I won't say not forgiveable, but it's not something you can wave away as just "oh, well, it's societal conventions". If that's the way you feel, don't get married and don't enter in to any sort of monogamous relationship. And on the same side of that coin, if you insist on making your job your life -- your very identity -- don't expect others to sit around and follow you around doing it. It's just not right. Well, it might be right for some people, but it's not something I can accept. So even after Kinsey's wife had followed him into the affair (though they didn't really show if she ever had another), every time they showed her home alone while he and his students were off collecting histories, to me that was just as damning as the confession of the affair.
That's why I dislike most scientists so much. But by the same token, I don't like many workaholics of any profession much. If you have to work that hard to make a living and support a family, I understand. But if you choose to do it because that's all you want to do, make sure that whomever you marry wants to sit at home (or do whatever) alone without you before marrying.
Oh, and learn social skills! You'd have thought at some point in his life, someone would have convinced Kinsey that sex as dinner conversation is not always appropriate.
And if that makes absolutely no sense, I blame how tired I am. And I still need to get a shower and do dishes so I can get to work in the morning. :P
Welll...It was good. Really good. Not fluff, but overall I liked it.
Wheee, boy, and I thought my upbringing was puritanical. Kinsey's was down right....scary. I enjoyed probably the first quarter of the movie...but I started to dislike it when he got his obsession about a scientific study of sex.
See, here's the thing -- Kinsey and the prof who taught the hygenics class ---> those are scientists. I don't care what discipline, etc, those are tee totally the PERSONALITIES of the vast majority of scientists. Obessive minded, totally unable to see any viewpoint other than their own, assured in their own rightness, and in love with the sound of their own voices. What they do is what they are. Oh, they married...oh well, it's not like you need to spend more than 5 hours a day away from work because by god, you have to pursue science. And oh the smugness of Kinsey...ugh, every time I hear or see that type of smugness on someone I run...cause if they ain't a scientists, they're probably a religious fundamentalist of some sort.
I guess this is the thing -- the premise of the movie was all well and good and it was interesting to learn more about Kinsey, cause brother, let me tell you -- I never heard one word about the man growing up in OK. If you'd shown me some of those political cartoons from his era before this movie came out and I found out who the hell he was, I wouldn't have gotten them. I do think that it's something that needs to be brought up again to the forefront that frank sexual discussion should occur at some point in high school just to alleviate some of the pressures of wondering if one is normal or not etc. It would help.
And yet, I utterly detested the last 3/4 of the movie simply because they did such a thorough job of portraying the scientist portion of Kinsey. The fact that he really couldn't understand why his wife couldn't be more rational and NOT CARE about his homosexual fling w/ his student.
It's about RESPECT, stupid.
I'll be the first to tell you that I am not persay a moral person in any conventional way. The vast majority of things that one is taught as a kid, I dunno, I don't care much about. I got sick to death of the Catholic guilt complex when I was 8 and I stole a reese's peanut butter cup from some department store because my mom wouldn't buy it for me because it would have made me sick but I wanted to eat it. I spent the next 5 or so years convinced I was going to go to hell because I'd stolen something. Guilt sucks and takes up time and energy that can be better spent on other things.
There's few things that you can do that I can't shrug off. Hell, you can lie to me as long as it's not about anything important or doesn't hurt anyone ---- granted, if lying is something you don't tolerate, I won't lie to you. But I grew up in a family where I knew there were certain things that weren't acceptable and would cause the shit to hit the fan therefore it was better to not rock the boat since it didn't involve killing anyone so therefore, it was okay.
Despite that, an affair --- yeah, that's not acceptable. I won't say not forgiveable, but it's not something you can wave away as just "oh, well, it's societal conventions". If that's the way you feel, don't get married and don't enter in to any sort of monogamous relationship. And on the same side of that coin, if you insist on making your job your life -- your very identity -- don't expect others to sit around and follow you around doing it. It's just not right. Well, it might be right for some people, but it's not something I can accept. So even after Kinsey's wife had followed him into the affair (though they didn't really show if she ever had another), every time they showed her home alone while he and his students were off collecting histories, to me that was just as damning as the confession of the affair.
That's why I dislike most scientists so much. But by the same token, I don't like many workaholics of any profession much. If you have to work that hard to make a living and support a family, I understand. But if you choose to do it because that's all you want to do, make sure that whomever you marry wants to sit at home (or do whatever) alone without you before marrying.
Oh, and learn social skills! You'd have thought at some point in his life, someone would have convinced Kinsey that sex as dinner conversation is not always appropriate.
And if that makes absolutely no sense, I blame how tired I am. And I still need to get a shower and do dishes so I can get to work in the morning. :P