Kinsey

Don't sit so far away.

Anything that creates a distance should be avoided. Okay.

And try not to frown.

I'm sorry. Was I frowning? You have to relax.

How can I be expected to open up if you're not relaxed?

Right. Take a deep breath.

Start again.

As you can see,

this piece of paper has been divided into squares.

There are 287 of them.

Your sex history will fit on this single page in a cryptic code.

Don't forget to mention that there's no written key to the code.

The interview subject will only be candid

if he knows he's speaking in the strictest confidence.

Right. Okay.

So, when were you born?

June 23, 1894.

Are you single or married?

Married.

What is your race?

Don't waste time asking the obvious, Martin.

- Fill it in yourself. - What is your religion?

- Methodist. - How often do you attend church?

Not at all now, but I did regularly until I was 19.

How did you get along with your father and mother when you were growing up?

That's a multiple question.

It allows me to ignore any part I don't want to answer.

- How did you get along with your mother? - Fine.

- We had a close relationship. - And your father?

- How did you get along with your father? -

And what are we to do?

We turn away from matters of the flesh,

and we turn to things...

of the spirit.

Lust...

has a thousand avenues--

the dance hall, the ice cream parlor,

the tenement saloon,

the Turkish bath.

Like the Hydra,

it grows new heads everywhere.

Even the modern inventions of science

are used to cultivate immorality.

The gas engine

has brought us the automobile joyride

and an even more pernicious menace:

the roadside brothel.

Electricity

has made possible the degrading picture show.

Because of the telephone,

a young woman

can hear the voice of her suitor

on the pillow, right next to her.

And let's not forget

the most scandalous invention of all--

the talon-slide fastener,

otherwise known as the zipper,

which provides every man and boy speedy access

to moral oblivion.

Are you currently in good health?

I suppose so. Mm-hmm.

What makes you doubtful?

Every doctor I've ever seen.

Early disease left me with a weakened heart.

Did you have any illnesses that kept you out of school?

I had typhoid fever and rickets.

Also rheumatic fever.

Measles, chicken pox, pneumonia,

and several bouts of influenza.

Pomeroy, what are you doing?

You're worse than Martin.

Never make judgments about people.

I wasn't.

Your body posture told me

that my list of ailments made you uncomfortable.

Maybe it did. Sorry.

Maintaining a nonjudgmental attitude

is harder than you think.

The best way is to smile, nod your head

while looking me directly in the eye.

Where were we?

Your health as a boy.

It improved greatly when I finally discovered the outdoors.

I never got over the excitement of setting off into the wild,

escaping bed, illness, family.

Alone?

No. No. Never alone.

I was surrounded by friends.

Being in the outdoors taught me to rely on my own judgment.

I started to learn about things by grasping them,

tasting them, looking at them.

Biology? Yes.

Biology.

The science of life.

The fields and woods became my new place of worship,

my cathedral.

The only sadness they brought was when I had to leave them.

How old were you when you first tried to pleasure yourself?

No. No. No euphemisms.

If you're talking to a college graduate,

use "masturbation," "testicles," "penis,"

"vagina," "vulva," "urination," "defecation."

With the lower-level male, it's "jacking off," "balls,"

"prick," "cunt," "piss," "shit."

I don't know, Gebhard.

Maybe your Harvard degree is too ivory tower for our purposes.

I was brought up out west.

I've rubbed shoulders with ranchers, miners my whole life.

- And I thought you were gonna shave that mustache. - I like it.

It's a disguise, a cover-up.

Look at any movie. The villain's always the one with the mustache.

My wife likes it.

You have a chance to make an important contribution to knowledge and science.

Are you telling me you'd give that up for a little facial hair?

Yes, I suppose I am.

Ah.

Well, keep it trimmed.

Let's get back to masturbation.

That's a mating call.

So, how'd you wind up at the Stevens Institute, Al?

I thought you wanted to be a biologist.

There are enough scientists in the world, son.

Engineers are what society needs now.

I, um-- I had one of the old fits again.

I tried to stop it.

"Any habit which causes the sex fluid to be discharged

"must be resisted.

"Doctors link it to an assortment of illnesses

"including insanity, blindness, epilepsy,

even death."

What if it happens while you're asleep?

"It is said that the loss of one ounce of seminal fluid

equals the loss of 40 ounces of blood."

I'm killing myself, and I'm not even awake.

What are we supposed to do?

"Keep your bowels open,

"read the Sermon on the Mount,

"sit with your testicles submerged in a bowl of cold water,

think of your mother's pure love."

Why don't we pray?

Come on. Keep firing questions.

Extreme rapidity makes it very difficult for a subject to lie.

How young were you the first time you had an orgasm while dreaming?

- How frequently did you have wet dreams? - What did you dream about?

How young were you when you first experienced hugging or kissing?

- Necking? - Petting? - Oral sex?

How young were you when you no longer thought

of your parents' home as your own?

Al, it's getting late. Let's make the rounds.

Al! Be right down!

Pack of Fatimas.

Okay, son. That'll be 15 cents.

You're a criminal, sir.

I shall report you at once to the local authorities.

Dear Jesus, a goddamn Protestant.

Did you not sell this vile weed to a minor?

What business is that of yours?

It is the Lord's work

to protect the young from temptation.

- Men like you, sir-- - Get the hell out of my store.

- ...men of weak character-- - I've given you proper warning.

...are offensive to the great mass

of right-thinking American citizens--

Shut up! You know what you are, Father? A prig.

- Al. - A skinflint,

a petty tyrant, and a hypocrite to boot!

You think you matter? You don't matter.

There's something wrong with him.

Come on, Al. No.

Maybe your workload is too heavy.

You could drop mechanical drawing.

I've withdrawn from Stevens.

That's impossible.

I'm a senior member of the faculty. Someone would've informed me.

Why? Everyone there hates you.

I'm going to Bowdoin to study biology.

And how do you intend to pay for that?

They've given me a partial scholarship.

And I've socked away most of my scouting money.

You've become a shady person, Al,

a person who keeps secrets.

I had no choice.

What a disappointment you turned out to be.

How many years of schooling did you complete? Twenty.

After taking my undergraduate degree at Bowdoin,

I received my doctorate from the Bussey Institute at Harvard.

I took a position as assistant professor of zoology

here at Indiana University.

At first I studied the Rhaetulus didieri,

or stag beetle.

Then I discovered a far more fascinating insect.

This is the American Cynipidae, or gall wasp.

Here the wasp deposits an egg

into its host plant.

In this case, an oak tree.

The adult wasp chews its way through the tree

and copulates.

At which point it has the good sense to die.

The animal kingdom includes

at least two million insect species.