From Perry Films, 'Sex: The Revolution' Premiering on VH1, Monday,
May 12 - Thursday, May 15 at 10pm* Each Night
Newest VH1 Rock Doc Charts Seismic Changes In American Sexual
Attitudes, Laws And Practices From 1950s-1980s With Rarely Seen
Footage And New Interviews
Film Airs On Sundance Channel May 19th and May 20th at 12:00am and 1:00am
http://sev.prnewswire.com/television/20080324/NYM09824032008-1.html
NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- VH1 and Perry Films in association
with Sundance Channel have produced "Sex: The Revolution," an
original 4 - part documentary series that tells the story of the
sexual revolution and how it changed America. "Sex: The Revolution"
premieres on VH1 on Monday, May 12 - Thursday, May 15 at 10:00pm with
encore showings on Sundance Channel Monday, May 19th and Tuesday, May
20th at 12:00am.
"Sex: The Revolution" frankly examines a colorful and controversial
chapter of modern American history, when individuals and events
coalesced to challenge the moral orthodoxy surrounding sex and sexual
behavior. Eros moved from the shadows into the sphere of public
discussion, as people sought to eradicate sexual ignorance, fear and
loathing. Activism took root and laws were changed; traditional
institutions and gender roles were questioned; pleasure was had, and
so was profit. And as with any revolution, there were counter-forces
seeking a return to the status quo.
"Sex: The Revolution" begins its narrative in the famously frigid
America of the 1950s, with the first stirrings of a new sexual candor
that would challenge the country's rigid "save-it-for-marriage"
mandate. It continues through the political activism and sexual
experimentation of the 60s and 70s, and concludes with the AIDS
epidemic and the culture wars of the 80s. Along the way are Alfred
Kinsey; Hugh Hefner; Elvis Presley; Citizens for Decent Literature;
the Pill; Sex and the Single Girl; Masters and Johnson; Stonewall;
Sandstone; Billy Graham; Deep Throat; Fear of Flying; the Castro;
Studio 54; Jerry Falwell; Harvey Milk; Ronald Reagan and much, much more.
The series tells its story through rare footage that hasn't been seen
in decades, classic clips, iconic music and interviews with a broad
and eclectic spectrum of people. The storytellers featured in "Sex:
The Revolution" are those who created that revolution, lived it,
wrote the books and music and made the films about it, and were
shaped by it. Among them: musicians Nile Rodgers and David Crosby;
actors Cybill Shepherd, Danny Glover and Dyan Cannon; writers Erica
Jong, Armistead Maupin, John Rechy and Gay Talese; publishers Hugh
Hefner, Helen Gurley Brown, Gloria Steinem and Larry Flynt;
filmmakers John Waters and Paul Mazursky; television host Phil
Donahue; writer/publisher Paul Krassner (The Realist); birth control
activist William Baird; and Marilyn Chambers, star of the landmark
porn film Behind the Green Door. Also contributing are the authors of
several recent historical studies: David Allyn (Make Love, Not War),
Legs McNeil (The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the
Porn Film Industry) and Martin Torgoff (Can't Find My Way Home).
The schedule for "Sex: The Revolution" is as follows:
Episode 1: Save it for Marriage -- A look at the many faces of sexual
repression in the 1950s, manifested in popular culture, schools and
in the average American home. Virtually everything outside of marital
procreative sex is outlawed, and for those who transgress the
consequences can be life- shattering. But America has its bawdy
underside, and its share of visionaries in the sciences and arts.
1953 brings a one-two punch to America's sexual ignorance and
prudery: Dr. Alfred Kinsey documents women's sexual practices in the
second of his groundbreaking Kinsey Reports; and Hugh Hefner launches
Playboy magazine, trumpeting sex as a fundamental element the modern
bachelor lifestyle. By the late 1950s, even more cultural forces are
at work, piquing the libidos of the young and adventurous across the
land. In 1960, the FDA approves the Pill, the first oral
contraceptive for use by women. Suddenly women are free to have sex
without worrying about pregnancy, and Helen Gurley Brown is there to
offer them advice. As the 60s take flight, the Civil Rights movement
provides inspiration for activism on numerous fronts. On college
campuses, students boldly claim their rights to free speech,
including the dirty words of D.H. Lawrence and Henry Miller. As
hippies take to the streets of San Francisco's Haight Asbury
district, the repression of the 1950s seem like a distant memory.
"Free love" is in the air, and as a new generation embraces utopian
idealism, anything and everything seems possible. Premieres Monday,
May 12 at 10:00pm on VH1 and Monday, May 19th at 12:00am on Sundance Channel.
Episode 2: The Big Bang -- In the late-60s, liberated sexuality
spreads like wildfire within the burgeoning youth counterculture,
which has united against the Vietnam War. A generation succinctly
states its consciousness in the slogan "Make Love, Not War," and the
Yippies (Youth International Party) add fake erotic potions to their
arsenal of political provocations. At the same time, the sexual
revolution is going middle class and mainstream - not to mention
capitalist. Madison Avenue weaves innuendo into advertising and
Hollywood studios begin to take some cues from sultry foreign films.
Canny entrepreneurs inject a jolt of nudity into cocktail bars,
swinging sweeps the suburbs, and Russ Myer takes sexploitation films
to a new and astoundingly busty level. Sex researchers Masters and
Johnson sell millions of books and spark a national conversation
about good sex, female orgasm and other once- verboten subjects. The
nation's final remaining law against miscegenation is overturned, and
a student at all-female Barnard College challenges the double
standard in university housing rules. The women's movement takes
root, and takes aim at one of America's bastions of female
objectification. But not everyone is thrilled to see taboos crumble,
and in 1968 president-elect Richard Nixon vows to press the national
effort to "control and eliminate smut." Premieres Tuesday, May 13 at
10:00pm on VH1 and Monday, May 19th at 1:00am on Sundance Channel.
Episode 3: Do Your Thing -- The 70s are the halcyon days of the
sexual revolution. Androgyny is in and anything goes. The queers who
resisted arrest at the Stonewell Inn have kicked open the closet door
once and for all; gay culture is out, loud and proud in the Meccas of
San Francisco and Manhattan. In New York, Steve Ostrow opens the
Continental Baths and Bette Midler steps in as the Chosen Chanteuse,
kicking off the golden age of bathhouse and cruising culture. In
Southern California, the Sandstone retreat gained national notoriety
as it took suburban swinging to a new level with its clothing
optional, sexually open community. The 70s is also the age of
feminism, a decade of passionate activism, debate, advocacy and
factionalism. Mainstream feminism is represented by Gloria Steinem,
editor of Ms Magazine, while in the popular culture, Erica Jong
creates a sensation with her novel Fear of Flying and Helen Gurley
Brown turns Cosmopolitan into a national phenomenon. And all of it
takes place against the drama of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court
decision that legalizes abortion and seals the sexual revolution in
place. The era of porno chic dawns with Deep Throat, which is
followed by Behind the Green Door, starring a wholesome blonde model
named Marilyn Chambers. In 1977, San Francisco becomes the first
major U.S. city to elect an openly gay public official, Harvey Milk.
Meanwhile, a growing segment of society is voicing outrage about
pornography, permissiveness and homosexuality. A new crop of moral
crusaders enters the national fray, including former beauty queen
Anita Bryant and California State Senator John Briggs, who seek to
reverse the tide of gay anti-discrimination laws. Premieres
Wednesday, May 14 at 10:00pm on VH1 and Tuesday, May 20th at 12:00am
on Sundance Channel.
Episode 4: Tainted Love -- The pleasure principle triumphs in the
non-stop erotic disco culture of the late 1970s. Sex is out of the
bedroom and out in public -- in glamour spots like Studio 54 and at
private clubs like Plato's Retreat. Hardcore porn magazines multiply,
making Playboy seem almost quaint in comparison; 42nd Street is a XXX
playground; and VCR's bring blue movies into households nationwide.
Many feminists take angry exception to the graphic raunch of Hustler
and company, leading to the formation of the activist group Women
Against Pornography. But the biggest backlash comes from conservative
America, the religious right, and the new President of the United
States, Ronald Reagan. As the 80s begin, an undercurrent of sexual
fatigue and suspicion appears in popular entertainment, mirroring
public unease about rising rates of both divorce and STDs (sexually
transmitted diseases). In 1981 and 1982, newspapers and magazines
publish the first reports of a mysterious outbreak of two rare
diseases in homosexual men. With frightening speed, AIDS slams into
gay communities all over the country, snuffing out thousands of lives
and becoming the new crucible of the culture wars. For several years,
the epidemic is shrouded in misinformation and prejudice, with
victims treated as pariahs. By the end of the decade, the Meese
Commission will have issued a 1,900 page report calling for a war on
porn. The AIDS Memorial Quilt will have been rolled out on the
Washington Mall, and the slow march to AIDS education and awareness
will be underway. In the years to come, the story of the sexual
revolution and its legacy will become ever more charged with moral
controversy. But one thing is clear: America was changed, profoundly
and forever. Premieres Thursday, May 15 at 10:00pm on VH1 and
Tuesday, May 20th at 1:00am on Sundance Channel.
"Sex: The Revolution" is produced by Perry Films, Inc. with Hart
Perry and Richard Lowe directing, Dana Heinz Perry serving as
Executive Producer and Martin Torgoff serving as writer and
Consulting Producer. Stephen Mintz, Brad Abramson, Shelly Tatro and
Jeff Olde are Executive Producers for VH1. Ann Rose is the
Supervising Producer for Sundance Channel and Lynne Kirby is the
Executive Producer for Sundance Channel.
Hart Perry and Dana Heinz Perry are leading creators of documentary
films and series related to music and popular culture. Their company
Perry Films Inc., founded in 1989, pioneered music videos, music
documentaries and music long form, and has produced over 50 films to
date, including the recent "Imagining America: Icons of 20th Century
Art" and the Peabody Award-winning "John Hammond: From Bessie Smith
to Bruce Springsteen." Hart Perry's credits also include
cinematography for Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-wining
documentaries Harlan County U.S.A. and American Dream, and he was the
youngest cameraman on the Academy Award-winning Woodstock. This
award-winning husband-and-wife team also produced The Drug Years,
which aired on both VH1 and Sundance Channel in 2006.
Richard Lowe is a longtime collaborator with Perry Films, having co-
produced and edited Valley of Tears; edited Imagining America; edited
and directed (with Dana Heinz Perry) And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of
Hip Hop, and edited The Drug Years. Other credits as editor include
Goal Dreams which aired on Sundance Channel in 2006.
"Sex: The Revolution" is the newest film in the Emmy Award winning
VH1 Rock Doc franchise. VH1 Rock Docs are television's premier
collection of music documentaries. Each high-end feature-length
documentary reveals an untold story in the history of rock and
hip-hop music, combining never-before- seen footage with a unique and
unconventional narrative approach. The documentaries tell some of the
most unique stories of artists and music from a wide range of genres,
styles, and musical perspectives.
VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that
matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive
online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 90
million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital
channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1
Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.
Sundance Channel
Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel is
the television destination for independent-minded viewers seeking
something different. Bold, uncompromising and irreverent, Sundance
Channel offers audiences a diverse and engaging selection of films,
documentaries, and original programs, all unedited and commercial
free. Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel is a venture of NBC
Universal, Showtime Networks Inc. and Robert Redford. Sundance
Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute
and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance
mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression. Sundance
Channel's website address is www.sundancechannel.com.
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