The New Zealand opening of the biopic movie Kinsey, based on the life of the groundbreaking bisexual American sexuality researcher, has passed with no protests whatsoever – unlike the United States, where the limited release picture caused a storm of protest from Christian and conservative groups. Generation Life, a college-based group, picketed theatres showing the film and handed out Kinsey leaflets reading "Criminal – Not Hero". "Alfred Kinsey is responsible in part for my generation being forced to deal face-to-face with the devastating consequences of sexually transmitted diseases, pornography and abortion,'' said spokesperson Brandi Swindell. Robert Peters, president of the conservative watchdog group Morality in Media, said the film was a sugar-coated representation of Kinsey's life and should have shown “the hell that he released". "That's part of Kinsey's legacy. AIDS, abortion, the high divorce rate, pornography – and there's not anything in the film to connect him with it.'' Focus on the Family, an influential Christian ministry with informal links to the Maxim Institute in New Zealand, said in a review of the film that Kinsey mocks Christianity and condones immorality. "To say that it is rank propaganda for the sexual revolution and the homosexual agenda would be beyond stating the obvious,'' wrote reviewer Tom Neven. However, both Rialto Cinemas and distributor 20th Century Fox told GayNZ.com there have been absolutely no protests of any kind in New Zealand. Rialto Auckland cinema manager Paul Rose says the film has been quite popular with audiences in its opening week.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 12th January 2005 - 12:00pm