SHORT TAKES : Puritanism Cited in Film Uproar

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar says lingering American puritanism is to blame for the uproar over his latest film, “Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!”

“Everybody talks about this growing puritanism, which is true,” Almodovar told Newsweek. “People say it’s the result of AIDS. But in fact it’s a result of this conservative nature inherent in American culture.”

Almodovar, best known for last year’s hit “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” lost a fight over an X rating assigned to his new film and decided to release it without a rating rather than re-edit the movie. The film is about a former porno star who falls in love with a man who keeps her tied up.

Feminists who criticize the film are treating women “as if they were dumb animals,” Almodovar said.