Telling you that Catherine Tramell, the blonde bisexual played by Sharon Stone, is the killer in the film "Basic Instinct," will have little impact on your viewing pleasure. This is because the film deliberately obscures the identity of the killer at the end. What it does not obscure is the film's remarkably misogynist theme: All women are killers seeking to deprive men of their power. In "Basic Instinct," Michael Douglas' detective's masculinity is threatened by women's assertive sexuality. What's even more wrenching for him is that his ability to dominate women is blocked by their bisexuality or lesbianism. The film's solution to Douglas' problem -- kill the women. "Basic Instinct" entertains by using female sexuality to create the impression that men are victims of women's deceit. The film is an extension of "Fatal Attraction," arousing the audience by mixing graphic sex and violence. The theme of both films is the same: Independent women are not to be trusted.

Lesbian and gay activists boycotted "Basic Instinct" during its production, arguing that the film's portrayal of bisexual women and lesbians is deeply offensive and will contribute to the escalating anti-gay violence. The screenwriter, Joe Eszterhas, was evidently swayed by these arguments and offered to modify the script but was overruled by the director, Paul Verhoeven, who rebuffed the complaints with assertions of artistic freedom. Having seen the film, I must say that it is every bit as homophobic as predicted. There are only four women in the film. One is a lesbian killer in a leather outfit whom Douglas derisively calls "Rocky." The Tramell character is a rich bisexual writer with an affinity for bondage and cocaine. Douglas' girlfriend is a psychologist who is a bisexual obsessed with Tramell after a one-night stand in college. The girlfriend also seems to enjoy sadomasochism, and lectures Douglas on the distinction between love and rape after allowing him to attack her. Finally, an older woman (played by Dorothy Malone) may also be lesbian -- this is unclear, but that she once murdered her family is not. Given the central role of bisexuality and lesbianism in the plot, I'm perplexed as to how Eszterhas could have changed the script. Perhaps the women could have been prostitutes, which would have allowed the audience to look forward to their destruction by Douglas and his police buddies, the power of law and order.

The lesbian theme is used very strategically in "Basic Instinct" to distance the audience from the characters and to promote identification with Douglas. Himself victimized, we are told, by being unjustly accused of shooting several tourists, and by his wife's suicide, he now must deal with a man's worst nightmare -- being pursued by a sexually attractive lesbian whom he can't resist. The film uses one of the most pernicious stereotypes about lesbians -- that they are ultimately "man-haters," in a classic example of demonizing. Douglas becomes obsessed with dominating the situation, and the audience is aroused with him. The audience is given what it wants -- two of the women are killed. Douglas remains entrapped at the end, being taken in by Tramell's "feminine" wiles -- her proclamations of love and her crying that she always loses people she cares about. But the audience knows better: we know that women lie, cheat, and kill. Perhaps to avoid charges of cinematic sexual abuse, Verhoeven doesn't kill the Tramell character in the end. Surely if he did, audiences would cheer, as they did when Glenn Close was given her just reward by the virtuous wife in "Fatal Attraction." Women who are independent, assertive and educated deserve destruction -- this, I guess, is man's "basic instinct."

"Basic Instinct" shows how homophobia is a form of sexism. The hatred of women in the film is so fundamental that it is truly shocking. Perhaps "Fatal Attraction" was the last word in "artistic" debasing of heterosexual career women, so "Basic Instinct" had to "push the envelope" to lesbian and bisexual baiting to thrill the audience of men. Surely the film is a fantasy of threatened masculinity, suggesting that beleaguered heterosexual men have no authority or power anymore. The film's image of straight men -- tied up, on their backs, ready to be ice-picked by a woman after she dominates sexually -- is "politically correct." The film panders to men who fear their own vulnerabilities. But, as I watched it, I wondered how women could see this film and not feel humiliated. Women who challenge men -- who don't need men -- must be watched: Not only might they be lesbian, they also might be killers. Only wives are worthy of men's respect. Seeing "Basic Instinct" with a man may be a kind of date rape for a woman. If you complain about the treatment of women, you're just confirming the film's point. If you don't complain, perhaps you'd like to engage in bondage? Or, if not, are you really a lesbian? A $40 million attack on women is something to take seriously, and surely all women are attacked here. By portraying its contemptible women as bisexuals and lesbians, "Basic Instinct" hopes that heterosexual women will not take offense as it debases them.

Tell all your friends that the blonde did it, but more importantly, tell them to send "Basic Instinct" a message: Women are not to be battered for a profit. Stay away! Maybe then Hollywood will "get it."