Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Lesli Klainberg

Release Date:

21 July 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Censorship

Cast

Rosanna Arquette	...	Herself
Jamie Babbit	...	Herself
Fenton Bailey	...	Himself
Jami Bernard	...	Herself
Bruce Cohen	...	Himself
Martha Coolidge	...	Herself
Lee Daniels	...	Himself
Alonso Duralde	...	Himself
Bilge Ebiri	...	Himself
Sarah Jacobs	...	Herself - Curator, Museum of Sex
Charles Lyons	...	Himself
John Cameron Mitchell	...	Himself
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Himself
Matt Singer	...	Himself
Jason Solomons	...	Himself
Dana Stevens	...	Herself
Guinevere Turner	...	Herself
Dita Von Teese	...	Herself
Stephanie Zacharek	...	Herself

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R (2007) | Australia:R | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | New Zealand:R18

Company:

Orchard Films

Movie Connections:

Features Tarzan and His Mate (1934)

Soundtrack:

Strut

Miss Silly Meets Mr. Pretension

This movie has some merit in that it follows the history of sex and censorship in the movies. But ultimately crap. Much of the film is directors, actors, critics and industry folk opining about censorship, freedom of speech, artistic license, etc. While some of these folks have something to say the overall effect is the same obnoxious, blathering excuse we have heard from prostitutes, pimps, pornographers, etc., since the dawn of time: "The body is beautiful and must be appreciated."....."Sex is natural and we want to be natural"...."Other people should not decide what we can do."..."Freedom of speech is important!", yadda, yadda, yadda. You've heard the same drivel before.

The impact of the movie clearly implies that censorship is bad, the omnipotent "they" or "big brother is in control, and that rating systems cannot be fairly or effectively applied. The problem is there's no counterpoint. I wanted to say to some of the film's commentators: "Maybe censorship DOES protect our children" (one guy does go into such), "Maybe the 'they' (vague censors) are really US and maybe a majority of us don't care for explicit sex.", "Maybe MOST sex on screen isn't for artistic reasons but to sell tickets.", "Maybe screen sex is popular BECAUSE its a vice; i.e., just because we appear to want something doesn't mean its good!"

Again, the majority of the commentators are interesting and I'm guessing they were edited to fit the film makers intended bleating about liberation. Jami Bernard, however, truly believes she knows who we are, what we think and what is best for us and she epitomizes the problem with this poor documentary. Lets hope somebody does the subject better some time soon.