Movie: The Story of O

[amedia]

Prettily filmed but ultimately disappointing. I'll put my comments behind a cut, in part because they may be NSFW and in part because some of them are spoilery (although, let's face it, this movie is not about the plot).

I don't hold myself out as any kind of expert or particularly knowledgeable person on the topic of BDSM. I enjoy reading about it and have occasionally written it into stories. I have some friends who practice it, and there's a participant at REVELcon who has run panels on it and one year invited some non-fannish friends from the scene to do a Q&A, which was fascinating. I used to be on a fanfic listserv that also happened to include both members of a dom/sub couple who were very open about countering stereotypes and answering questions. And I've read a couple of books.

From all of these sources I've generally gathered the idea that dom/sub relationships are about mutual love and trust and respect and responsibility. Each partner is giving the other something s/he wants.

For instance - and this was really an eye-opener for me, because it was one of the first times I've heard someone talk openly about anything to do with BDSM - the dom I knew on the listserv was explaining one time why she, personally, didn't enjoy tying people up before paddling or whipping them. She wanted them to hold still of their own free will, as a gift to her, without needing to be physically restrained, and she had tremendous praise for subs who could do that. So it wasn't so much that particular technique (tying) or lack of it, but this idea that there's a mutual exchange of pleasure and respect going on, that I gleaned from her explanation.

Something that came up at the most recent panel I attended (at last year's REVELcon) was the tension between informed consent and the enjoyment of uncertainty. Part of setting a scene, the panelist explained, can be not letting the sub know what's about to happen so that whatever comes next, be it a feather or a flail, is a surprise, and some subs find that intensely exciting. On the other hand, this has to be balanced with an overall negotiation some time well in advance, so the sub has a general idea of the sort of thing that might be happening and reassurance that it won't be beyond whatever boundaries the sub has set.

So Netflix popped up The Story of O, probably because TODS and I watch a lot of very weird movies, and we had both vaguely heard of it as a very daring S&M classic, and I thought it might be interesting.

Well, I suppose it was very daring for the 1970's. There was lots of (female) nudity and lots of "rules" that certain characters had to obey, and some whipping that almost never left a mark even at the time, much less later on.

O (the main character) never seems to enjoy what's going on, although the voice-over sometimes tells us that she does. (There was a promising line early on about how she couldn't understand why her fear felt so delicious, but that theme was never developed.) Her motivation in going to the chateau, obeying the rules, and submitting to the whippings was to prove to her lover Rene that she truly loved him. This had nothing to do with Rene providing her with these experiences because he knew she would enjoy them. Instead, he kept saying, "I can only be sure that you love me if you do such & such," and then she would go and do whatever that was. Although they were at pains to emphasize that her experiences were consensual, since she could leave any time she wanted (TODS pointed out that this was essentially emotional blackmail, since she would disappoint Rene if she left), it was clear that there hadn't been much, if any, negotiation beforehand. She was obviously surprised and upset, for example, when he told her that she would have to have sex with any "master" at the chateau who wanted her.

Eventually he hands her over to another man, Stefan, with whom Rene has a curious relationship (despite the frequent casual lesbianism, we never get Rene/Stefan, of course) and from about the middle of the movie onward it becomes a soap opera with a love rectangle, cruel mind games (practiced both on O, and by her), and the occasional whipping. O seems to enjoy whipping another woman at one point, although she can't bring herself to do it until one of the other girls reminds her of a time the woman was cruel to her, and she's able to tap into the Dark Side of the Force, as it were, by drawing on her anger.

So, not so much with the mutual pleasure, respect, trust, etc.: the major themes seemed to be cruelty and insecurity. I would love to know what people who really are knowledgeable about BDSM thought of it! There may have been some good points that I missed.

Comments

[lash-larue.livejournal.com]

Can't claim any knowledge, but the guy sounds like an abuser to me. Anyone who demands 'proof' of love is an asshole in my book.

You have saved me from disappointment if I had remembered this existed.

Best to you all, especially your mum.
L

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Can't claim any knowledge, but the guy sounds like an abuser to me. Anyone who demands 'proof' of love is an asshole in my book.

Agreed!

Best to you all, especially your mum.

Thank you kindly!

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that there's an odd dual aspect to this. From what I know about the BDSM community, issues of consent are very important to them, perhaps more so than to ordinary people with conventional sexual tastes . . . which might be partly because they are at greater risk of criminal penalties if there's a misunderstanding. But whatever the cause, there's a curiously libertarian aspect to the whole business.

But what they are free to do together is to act out a drama of violence, coercion, and enslavement.

Well, for that drama to be effective, it has to create a plausible illusion of the things that it's about. It's kind of like the immersive roleplayers who want everyone to speak in their character's voice, and to avoid any distracting side chat, or any argument over the rules, because they want to be caught up in their role and don't want to be jarred out of it.

But in making a movie, you could have just the drama of pain and abuse, and not the side channel of trust and negotiation. And you might want to, for the sake of not breaking the fourth wall.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

I see exactly what you're saying - I've read a few pieces where it was clear that the author was describing what the people in a BDSM scene might be fantasizing *about*, rather than describing the BDSM relationship itself. I ran across a fanfic story like that fairly recently - I stopped reading it largely because I just didn't like it, but I could see what the author was doing and within that context, it made sense.

The reason I don't think that approach works for this movie in particular (although it might work very well for a movie with similar actions but a different focus) is that the movie claims to be about O's education and initiation into BDSM, and it puts an emphasis on her consent, her motivation, how the rules are explained, and so on. So it comes off as neither fish nor fowl - neither a straightforward "scene" that doesn't break the fourth wall, nor a satisfactory exploration of what the experience is about.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

That does sound like a failure to clarify the artistic intention.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Well put! I'm glad you raised the issue; it was something I had thought about, but wound up not putting into the comments above.