Is “Basic Instinct” Too Basic for Arkansas Library?

“Basic Instinct” (1992) has been checked out 22 times since the Rogers, AR library added the racy, donated VHS tape to their collection in December. But the question on the table is, will it stay there? Story from N.W. Arkansas News.

October 18, 2006 by birdie Uncategorized 7

Chuck says:

October 18, 2006 at 9:04 pm

what is it?
What exactly are people afraid will happen to a teenager watches one of these movies? No, seriously. How do they think the child will be different when it’s over?

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Anonymous Patron says:

October 18, 2006 at 9:06 pm

Other than the fact that it is a crappy movie.
It shouldn’t be in the collection because it is a crappy movie; regardless of the content.

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Anonymous Patron says:

October 18, 2006 at 9:20 pm

Re:what is it?
Well, it is rather graphic in the violence. I really don’t think a movie about a serial killer who stabs people with an ice pick (which is graphically shown on screen) is the healthiest thing for a teenager. With that said, this certainly isn’t the only violent thing that teenagers or other children watch; however, by simply saying it is harmless is misguided.

I still think it is a crappy movie. It is a crappy movie because it is a bad performance by the actors and it is simply stylized violence with Sharon Stone’s vagina thrown in. This is something by Paul Verhoeven, the same guy who gave us “Showgirls”. If this was an Academy Award nominated film, it just goes to show you that the Oscars have sunk pretty low in the past several decades.

I offer no suggestion on what the library should do with the movie.

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Chuck says:

October 18, 2006 at 9:48 pm

I’ll bet …
If you two can’t find one crappy movie in your whole collection then I’ll icepick my own self.

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birdie says:

October 19, 2006 at 4:08 am

Re:I’ll bet …
Hey Chuck, put away the icepick. But it was nice of you to volunteer.
I hear Basic Instinct 2 is even worse than 1, so chances are they won’t have to debate on whether or not to include it in their collection.

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Curmudgeony says:

October 19, 2006 at 4:10 am

Crappy Film Schmappy Film
Without titles like Basic Instinct, how else will we teach our children about the oily misogynistic stink of Joe Eszterhas?
Won’t someone think of the children?!?!

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curleygirl says:

October 20, 2006 at 12:31 am

Re:what is it?
Agreed, crappy movie. Plus, and, I’m not a prude, but the sex is overdone and given far too much attention in the story, IMHO. My husband & I were like, “ok, enough already, we get it, she likes to have sex, move the story along.” I’ll bet that the movie has been checked out that many times only because Basic Instinct 2 was released earlier this year. If it hadn’t, the movie would have sat on the shelf.

If parents are up in arms over this, they need to sit down with their kid(s) and state their thoughts. I do this all of the time with my teen. Learning to making good decisions is a part of growing up and you have to teach them how to do that. Quite honestly, if my kid just “had to see” Basic Instinct (1 or 2), she would probably find a way to do it, despite my statements to her that I do not want her to watch R rated movies unless I have previewed them already and say it’s ok (and I have done this with a few). Or I would say, “Ok, let’s watch it together and talk about it afterwards.” Although I think I’d be squeamish watching the sex with her–but I would do it and turn it into a learning experience.

Incidentally, what is the big deal about Stone’s vagina? It’s just a second of a sliver of it showing. I saw more of Maria Bello’s in “A History of Violence.”

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