“Sex, Cinema and Censorship”

Thursday 7
SEXUAL TABOOS
On the syllabus: “Lesbianism, homosexuality and pedophilia in a very academic light.”
Required viewing: The Children’s Hour (1961), Lolita (1962), Brokeback Mountain (2005)
The CliffsNotes: Auteurs dared to produce content about relationships deemed sinful since the early 1960s, beginning with The Children’s Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine as boarding school teachers accused of being lesbians. More recently, Brokeback Mountain portrayed the romance between two Wyoming cowboys. “Years ago, a scene in which two men kiss each other passionately would never have been permissible,” says Oboler. “It’s groundbreaking because they don’t skirt the issue.”

May 14
SEDUCTION
On the syllabus: “The way in which one sex has a seductive power over the opposite sex.”
Required viewing: Red-Headed Woman (1932), Baby Face (1933), Picnic (1955)
The CliffsNotes: The reaction received by bare breasts onscreen could once be achieved by removing a glove. “Being 72 years old, I’m a throwback to a time when people didn’t take their clothes off to be seductive,” says Oboler. Red-Headed Woman sees Jean Harlow seducing her boss, Chester Morris. In Baby Face, Barbara Stanwyck climbs ranks in an office “by sleeping with members of the firm,” and Picnic, starring William Holden and a small town of smitten females, offers a nod to man’s wily charms.

May 21
IT’S A DRAG
On the syllabus: “The censorship era, and how far filmmakers have come.”
Required viewing: Queen Christina (1933), I Was a Male War Bride (1949), Some Like It Hot (1959)
The CliffsNotes: From tuxedoed gals to men in heels, cross-dressing has long been a favorite element in film. “Greta Garbo dresses as a man [Queen Christina], but the absurd thing is that you can tell she’s a woman in men’s clothes.” In Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon wore “full drag, passing themselves off as women right down to the end.”

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX! “Sex, Cinema and Censorship”: 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave at 92nd St (212-415-5550, 92y.org). Thu 7, May 14, May 21 7–8:30pm; $25.

NEXT Celluloid’s forbidden fruit
Va-va-voom! Keep your eyes peeled for these sexy scenes in “Sex, Cinema and Censorship” at the 92nd Street Y.

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