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Queer villains, erotic noir, 90s pulp. 'Basic Instinct' and the backlash, rewound : Pop Culture Happy Hour In the second chapter of our special documentary series, Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris revisits the politics and legacy of Basic Instinct. Paul Verhoeven's 1992 thriller is a sexy and violent cult classic. But the film was also a problematic mainstream portrayal of queer women at a time of great political crisis for LGBTQ politics and representation.

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Queer villains, erotic noir, 90s pulp. 'Basic Instinct' and the backlash, rewound

Queer villains, erotic noir, 90s pulp. 'Basic Instinct' and the backlash, rewound

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Basic Instinct, Dahmer, Psycho, Dressed To Kill, Fatal Attraction.
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Mark Harris for NPR
Basic Instinct, Dahmer, Psycho, Dressed To Kill, Fatal Attraction.
Mark Harris for NPR

In the second chapter of our special documentary series, Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris revisits the politics and legacy of Basic Instinct. Paul Verhoeven's 1992 thriller is a sexy and violent cult classic. But the film was also a problematic mainstream portrayal of queer women at a time of great political crisis for LGBTQ politics and representation.