Heavy Petting Review
This freewheeling documentary ponders the sex lives of teens in the 1950s and '60s, but what might be a whimsical ride down memory lane for baby boomers won't necessarily translate for all viewers. Heavy Petting investigates a very white, middle-class version of adolescence, illustrated through clips from classroom "mental hygiene" films of the era and interviews with former teenagers who reminisce about youthful misadventures with the opposite sex. Most of the anecdotalists are actors, performance artists, and musicians, ensuring some lively talk and a few clearly embellished tales. Still, their remembrances ring with the same tone as their co-stars from the private sector, all bemused stories of confusion about the mechanics, ethics, and mysteries of reproduction. Political celebrity Abbie_Hoffman recalls competitive circle jerks, musician David_Byrne remembers worrying about impregnating his girlfriend through skinny dipping, and writer William_S._Burroughs seems genuinely embarrassed when poet Allen_Ginsberg waxes nostalgic about his early yearnings for love. Stories about dating rituals and fashion missteps might not be so universal for children of different generations or ethnic backgrounds. Luckily, Heavy Petting is filled with highly entertaining clips from the collection of ephemeral film archivist Richard_Prelinger, who chose a series of delightfully ironic and iconic scenes from educational/propaganda films like Dating Dos and Don'ts, How Much Affection?, and Perversion for Profit. These passion plays of conformity, paranoia, and moral absolutes provide empirical data on the state of adolescent sex that transcends the interviews. Fred Beldin, Rovi
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