17 Jun Bettie Page: Bondage (1998)

The Previous Edge

In all things, there is an inside and an outside and that defines edges. Not edges between, but edges beyond which you can see the difference.

There are, I suppose many domains of which this can be said of sex, and the various rituals and totems associated with it.

I was coming to this hoping for a film that had some value in giving me an edge to stand on. I was sorely disappointed, but along the way I discovered a certain pleasure.

The disappointment is in the film itself. It is a collection of old films and stills of women in underwear with highest heels tying each other up, apparently in fun. There is some spanking, but it is feigned. Quite apart from the appearance of the women (which is a matter of taste) the women involved handle themselves clumsily. They have no sexual bearing, no bearing at all in the world.

Except for Bettie (whose name is spelled wrong in the film). She’s in about an eighth of these old shorts and in nearly all of them, she might as well have been substituted with any of the others.

But there is one short of her dancing sexily in those modest panties and bra. No bondage. She is amazingly alluring, very seductive. I’ve seen photos of her, topless ones and some with more explicitly sexual poses. They don’t grab — you even feel sorry in a way.

But I have to say that coming on this one minute or so segment really gave me a taste of what all the excitement was about.

There’s nothing cinematic about any of this bondage stuff, and I’m amazed that anyone would find them exciting today.

I saw it in preparation for Genevieve Turner’s project with Gretchen Mol. Let’s hope it understands what I saw in that minute.

Posted in 2006

Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

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