Editing Basic Instinct (section)

===Controversy===
====Initial====
After the script was made available to [[gay rights]] activist groups in early 1991, concerns arose as to the film's depiction of homosexual relationships, and the portrayal of a bisexual woman as a murderous [[psychopath]]. Activists claimed that the film followed a pattern of negative depictions and stereotypes of homosexuals in film.<ref name="apr 91">{{cite news|first=David J.|last=Fox|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-29-ca-750-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 29, 1991|title=Gays Bashing 'Basic Instinct' : Movies: Activists take to the streets of San Francisco to battle a film they call offensive. The writer and director are considering script revisions.|accessdate=August 19, 2023}}</ref> While Eszterhas was open to addressing these concerns, Verhoeven, Douglas, and producer Alan Marshall rejected the changes, claiming that they "undermined" Eszterhas' script and "lessen the integrity of the picture."<ref name="Variety Marshall">{{Cite web |date=May 6, 1991 |title=Citizen's Arrests On 'Basic Instinct' Set |url=https://variety.com/1991/film/features/citizen-s-arrests-on-basic-instinct-set-99126395/ |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> Upon resuming filming in San Francisco in late April 1991, [[LGBT movements|gay and lesbian rights activists]] and demonstrators attended,<ref>{{cite video | title = Basic Instinct (Making of, The) | publisher=[[20th Century Fox]] |year=2001}}</ref> and the [[San Francisco Police Department]]'s riot police were present at every location to manage the crowds. Protesters outside the filming locations held signs that said "Honk if you love the [[San Francisco 49ers|49ers]]" and "Honk if you love men." On April 29, Marshall ordered a [[citizen's arrest]] and personally identified each protester he wanted arrested. However, this did not result in any action by the local police department.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="apr 91"/><ref name="Variety Marshall"/>

Members of the lesbian and bisexual activist group [[LABIA]] protested against the film on its opening night. Others also picketed theatres to dissuade people from attending screenings, carrying signs saying "Kiss My Ice Pick", "Hollywood Promotes Anti-Gay Violence" and "Catherine Did It!"/"Save Your Money—The Bisexual Did It".<ref>{{cite book|last=Couvares|first=Francis G.|title=Movie Censorship and American Culture|isbn=978-1-55849-575-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5R7NNAuH1AC&pg=PA298|edition=2nd|year=2006|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |location=Amherst, Massachusetts |access-date=March 9, 2021|archive-date=April 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416081336/https://books.google.com/books?id=D5R7NNAuH1AC&pg=PA298|url-status=live}}</ref> Verhoeven himself defended the groups' right to protest, but criticized the disruptions they caused, saying "[[Fascism]] is not in raising your voice; the fascism is in not accepting the no."<ref>{{cite book|last=Keesey|first=Douglas|year=2005|title=Paul Verhoeven|page=130|publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3-8228-3101-4}}</ref>

Six protestors<!-- per the NY Times article linked in BestOfLifeOnline; the NY Times article does not use the term LGBTQ+--> disrupted the filming of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' on April 11, 1992, while Stone was hosting.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Andrew |date=2023-05-18 |title=Why Sharon Stone's 1992 "SNL" Monologue Was Pulled and Never Aired Again |url=https://bestlifeonline.com/sharon-stone-snl-monologue/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Best Life |language=en}}</ref> The protestors attempted to rush the stage, but they were apprehended by security; two women and four men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abramovitch |first=Seth |date=2015-11-06 |title='Saturday Night Live' on Heckling High-Alert for Donald Trump Appearance |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/saturday-night-live-heckling-high-837612/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=1992-04-13 |title=6 ARRESTED AT PROTEST OF 'SNL' SKIT WITH 'BASIC INSTINCT' STAR STONE |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/6-arrested-at-protest-of-snl-skit-with-basic-instinct-star-stone/article_1ddc1baf-9642-5a50-aa15-830fdcc4c9ba.html|access-date=2024-03-21|website=Buffalo News|language=en}}</ref> The live version of Stone's interrupted monologue was replaced in repeat broadcasts with footage from the dress rehearsal.<ref name=":2"/>

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] mentioned the controversy in his review, saying "As for the allegedly offensive homosexual characters: The movie's protesters might take note of the fact that this film's heterosexuals, starting with Douglas, are equally offensive. Still, there is a point to be made about Hollywood's unremitting insistence on typecasting homosexuals—particularly lesbians—as twisted and evil."<ref name="Ebert"/> [[Camille Paglia]] denounced the gay activist and feminist protests against ''Basic Instinct'', and called Sharon Stone's performance "one of the great performances by a woman in screen history", praising her character as "a great [[vamp (woman)|vamp]] figure, like [[Mona Lisa]] herself, like a [[pagan]] goddess."<ref>{{cite book|first=Camille|last=Paglia|authorlink=Camille Paglia|title=Vamps & Tramps: New Essays|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|location=New York City|date=1994|page=489|isbn=978-0679751205}}</ref>

Women's rights groups also protested the film over its negative depiction of women and a brutal rape scene, with a branch of The [[National Organization for Women]] calling the film "the most blatantly misogynistic film in recent memory." Its Los Angeles branch president at the time claimed the movie sent a message "that women like violence, women like to be used, women like to be raped."<ref name="coalition">{{Cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Scott |last2=Corwin |first2=Miles |date=March 21, 1992 |title=Opposition to Film 'Basic Instinct' Rises : Entertainment: A coalition of women's and gay rights activists fears the movie's depiction of bisexuals and lesbians will result in increased violence against women. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-21-me-3817-story.html |access-date=May 7, 2023 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The film was also criticized for glamorizing cigarette smoking. Screenwriter [[Joe Eszterhas]] was later diagnosed with [[Head and neck cancer|throat cancer]] and publicly apologized for glamorizing smoking in his films.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3581820/A-smoking-star-is-a-loaded-gun.html |  work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | title=A smoking star is a loaded gun | first=Ian | last=Ball | date=August 22, 2002 | access-date=April 2, 2018 | archive-date=August 21, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821191846/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3581820/A-smoking-star-is-a-loaded-gun.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1992, in [[Les Herbiers]], France, the mayor Jeanne Briand banned the movie in her municipality, claiming that this movie was "apologism for crime and violence, which exacerbates impulses that can lead to [[rape]]."<ref>{{cite book|access-date=2025-01-19 |date=1996 |first1=Alain |isbn=978-2-7101-1157-3 |language=fr |last1=Riou |page=189 |publisher=E.S.F. |title=Le droit de la culture et le droit à la culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjswAQAAIAAJ&q=%22herbiers%22+%22basic+instinct%22+interdit}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite book|access-date=2024-08-06 |date=2020 |first1=Christophe |isbn=978-2-36716-329-1 |language=fr |last1=Triollet |page=207-208 |publisher=LettMotif |series=Darkness, censure et cinéma |title=Censure & cinéma en France |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAkHEAAAQBAJ}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=G |first=Ph |date=2015-12-30 |title=Le scandale de Basic Instinct aux Herbiers |url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/le-scandale-de-basic-instinct-aux-herbiers-3951842 |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Ouest-France.fr |language=fr |quote=pas correct [...] une apologie du crime et de la violence, qui exacerbe des pulsions qui peuvent conduire au viol [...] Si la criminalité est en hausse en France, c'est à cause de ces films.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Simkin |first=Stevie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiNHEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22basic+instinct%22+banned+france+%22les+herbiers%22&pg=PA75 |title=Basic Instinct |date=2017-09-16 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-137-29609-2 |pages=75 |language=en}}</ref>

====Renewed====
Stone has alleged multiple times that a scene in which her [[vulva]] was exposed as she crossed her legs was filmed without her knowledge.<ref name="Basic Instinct 2006">"A Conversation with Sharon Stone" from the ''Basic Instinct'': Ultimate Edition DVD (Lions Gate Home Entertainment, 2006).</ref> She said she was told that her lack of underwear would only be alluded to and not shown.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N3P20iv2uI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/9N3P20iv2uI| archive-date=December 12, 2021 |url-status=live| title=Sharon Stone talking about BI| via=YouTube| date=September 12, 2014| access-date=January 30, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She had been wearing white underwear until Verhoeven said it reflected light on the camera lens and asked her to remove it, assuring her that only a shadow would be visible. She said it was not until she saw the film in a screening room with a [[test audience]] that she became aware of the visible nudity, leading her to slap Verhoeven in the face and leave the screening.<ref name="Basic Instinct 2006"/>

In her 2021 memoir, Stone again stated that she was misled by Verhoeven with regard to the circumstance of the filming of the scene, even though she ultimately did not seek an injunction against it.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Toyin |last=Owoseje|title=Sharon Stone says she was misled about explicit scene in 'Basic Instinct'|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/19/entertainment/sharon-stone-basic-instinct-intl-scli/index.html|access-date=March 20, 2021|agency=CNN|date=March 19, 2021 |archive-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320023423/https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/19/entertainment/sharon-stone-basic-instinct-intl-scli/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Verhoeven responded that it was "impossible" and "she knew exactly what we were doing." However, despite having a "radically different" memory about the particular scene, he praised Stone's performance and said they are on good terms.<ref>{{Cite magazine|first=Brent |last=Lang|title='Benedetta' Director Paul Verhoeven on Sex, His Jesus Fascination and Hollywood Puritanism'|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/paul-verhoeven-sex-religion-benedetta-basic-instinct-crusade-1235013278/|access-date=July 7, 2021|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=July 7, 2021 }}</ref> In a 1998 ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'' interview, Stone said that while she was initially angry, she realized Verhoeven's decision was the right one, saying, "And I thought about it for a few days and I knew in my heart, he was right. I hated that it existed, I hated it more that he stole it from me instead of allowing me to choose. But he was right."<ref>[[Inside the Actors Studio]] interview with Sharon Stone. Episode dated January 10, 1999.</ref>

In a 1993 ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' interview, [[Jeanne Tripplehorn]] stated that the notorious "brutal, bruising sex" between her and Douglas's character was  somewhat "lighter" when described to her by Verhoeven before shooting.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Ned |last=Zeman|title=Jeanne Tripplehorn in ''The Firm'' |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|url=https://ew.com/article/1993/07/23/jeanne-tripplehorn-firm/|language=en|url-status=live|date=July 23, 1993|access-date=July 2, 2024|archive-date=February 17, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240217050612/https://ew.com/article/1993/07/23/jeanne-tripplehorn-firm/}}</ref> 

During the trial for Luka Magnotta for the [[murder of Jun Lin]], the prosecution stated that Luka Magnotta stabbed Lin to death with a screwdriver painted silver in order to resemble the ice pick used by Stone's character, Catherine Tramell.<ref name=cbc-bi>{{cite news|last=Shivji|first=Salimah|title=Luka Magnotta inspired by film Basic Instinct, Crown says |publisher=[[CBC News]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/luka-magnotta-inspired-by-film-basic-instinct-crown-says-1.2834542|language=en|url-status=live|date=November 17, 2014|access-date=July 2, 2024|archive-date=July 2, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240702151503/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/luka-magnotta-inspired-by-film-basic-instinct-crown-says-1.2834542}}</ref><ref name=dfwc>{{cite AV media|title=Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer|medium=Streaming|publisher=[[Netflix]]|date=2019}}</ref>