Basic Instinct
(1992)THE CONTROVERSY Even during production, Joe Eszterhas' $3 million screenplay was notorious for its lead female role, an openly bisexual woman who may be a man-hating serial killer.
THE FIRESTORM Gay rights groups called the characterization homophobic; women's rights activists called it misogynistic. Some protesters picketed throughout the filming in San Francisco. When Instinct opened, protesters outside theaters showing the film tried to discourage moviegoers by wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the spoiler ''Catherine Did It.''
THE AFTERMATH Protests subsided after it became clear that a starmaking performance by Sharon Stone (right, with Leilani Sarelle) had made the character less of a stereotyped villain than a Hannibal Lecter-ish folk antihero. The movie was a huge hit, though Stone's long-delayed sequel fizzled in 2006.
