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 oflife.

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," "c*nt," "piss," "sh*t."

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 worid, 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.

- 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.

DearJesus,

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, men of weak character...

- Get the hell out of my store.

- I've given you proper warning.

- Are offensive to 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

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