'Sex in the Cinema' features adult film posters at Kinsey

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to visit an adult theater during the 1960s, this could be your chance to find out. \nOn Thursday, The Kinsey Institute, in Morrison Hall 313, will open its new exhibit, "Sex in the Cinema." This exhibit takes a peek into history to view the many ways the film industry has used sex as an advertising scheme.\n"We're just trying to show how sex has been used to sell movies from the beginning," said Catherine Johnson-Roehr, curator of arts, artifacts and photographs at the Kinsey Institute.\nThe exhibit's opening reception will be held in conjunction with this weekend's PRIDE Film Festival at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The display features posters and artifacts from homosexual and transgender films.\nA large portion of the exhibit features movie posters of the past that depict sexual images and messages.\nAccording to the Kinsey Institute Web site, the posters represent genres from the 1930s through mainstream X-rated films from the 1970s. \n"The advertising and the graphic design are wonderful examples of pop culture," Johnson-Roehr said. "Basically, they used this over-the-top sensationalism to bring people in to buy tickets. Most were not very good films."\nIn addition to posters, the exhibit also showcases donated press material, publications and film stills.\nJohnson-Roehr said because of the controversial nature of these films, promoters would often state that the film had educational value.\n"If you wanted to show something about sex and not be bothered by the authorities, you would claim that the film contained serious information," Johnson-Roehr said. \nJohnson-Roehr said that although the small exhibit is jam-packed with artifacts, it displays only a small portion of the collection. \n"We've tried to select a nice range so that visitors can get a good idea of the scope of our collection," Johnson-Roehr said.\nThe exhibit will open this Thursday with a free reception being held at Morrison Hall at 5 p.m.\nThere will be a short talk given by guest curator Brian Woodman at 6 p.m. The reception will also include a small display on the 2004 film, "Kinsey," and a screening of adult movie trailers from the 1940s.\nThe Kinsey Institute Gallery will extend its hours this weekend because of the PRIDE Film Festival. It will be open from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. After this week, the exhibit can be seen by appointment only. The exhibit will remain open until April 7 and hours are available on the Kinsey Institute's Web site, www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/.\nJohnson-Roehr said that the exhibit is a good opportunity to not only see how sex and advertising worked in previous eras, but also to learn about past generations.\n"It doesn't matter if they were good movies," Johnson-Roehr said. "The posters and other promotional materials tell us something about the people who made these films and the audiences who went to see them"