Sharon's Muse.... Let's chat over coffee while I ponder some things
|
Sharon's Muse.... Let's chat over coffee while I ponder some things |
About Me
Name::Sharon Cullars
From::
My Meez 
Recent Entries
Archives
Personal
Interesting Sites
RAINE'S BLUES 
Now available at Loose-Id Watch trailer for Raine's Blues
GOLD MOUNTAIN 
Available at Loose-Id
AGAIN
Need Flashplayer to view. Give time to load.
TOOL & BAD BOYS Short, Short Ebooks My Artwork
My Merchandise Freelance Projects
blog posts, articles, web content, resumes, copywriting, proofreading
Read my business guides at Work.com
Read my profile on Air Station Savannah's pivotal Katrina rescues
Read my article on the Fair Trade system
Credits |
Monday, September 19, 2005 Sexy or disturbing? The subject of rape in romance is still going strong at Smart Bitches Trashy Books; at this posting, the comments number 231. The whole controversy was brought to mind as I watched a couple of movies this weekend: White Palace (1990) starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader; and The Piano (1993) starring Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel. I do not read a lot of romance books nowadays (ironic for someone promoting herself as a romance writer), but I do remember the romances of yore (or at least of my youth) and how it was considered apropos to include a rape or "forcible seduction" scene, sometimes perpetrated by the hero or anti-hero who eventually won the heroine's heart and hand. Obviously, this plotline is less used today and rightly so. Eroticizing rape has been a troubling factor in literature and cinema since the advent of both. One example of an eroticized rape scene is in Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971), a story of a husband and wife (played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George) terrorized by brutal English locals, one of whom is the ex-lover of George's character. In a definitely disturbing but effective bit of editing, we see the husband off on a hunting trip with the ex-lover's friends by way of distraction as the ex-lover breaks into the house and forces George onto a couch. We see her initial fight against the rape, we hear the breathy "no's", even as we watch the expression on her face turn from fear to something "sexier" as she finally "gives in." The horror of the rape is momentarily forgotten - that is, until a third party decides to join in on the fun and George is brutally sodomized. Her scream is not one of joy. Fast forward a number of years and transfer the erotic rape to soapdom in the now-infamous Luke and Laura rape scene, which thankfully took place mostly off camera. The storyline remained true to the extent that Laura is totally traumatized in the aftermath, so much so that she blanks out the whole episode and does not remember that it was Luke who raped her on a disco floor. Now pan to the next year, and we see Luke and Laura on the run together, the rape conveniently forgotten and forgiven as the audience cheer on the new supercouple. Again, these are not scenes that you will see lauded in any of today's movies; rape tends to be shown for what it is; a brutal, debilitating attack. So you would expect that in today’s artistic media, coerced sex would not be rewarded with the victim's love and yet that's just what happens in the two movies I viewed this weekend. In White Palace, based on a novel by Glenn Savan, an older waitress (Sarandon) and youngish WASP (Spader) who is grieving his newly dead wife, come together under drunken circumstances. It is apparent from the beginning as an intoxicated Spader drops Sarandon off at her home that he wants to be away from her as quickly as possible. But she convinces him that it's better for him to sleep off his drunk at her place. Needless to elaborate, the couple get together...but only after Sarandon takes advantage of a sleeping Spader, forcing a blowjob on him. Initially, he is fantasizing about his beautiful deceased wife, but when he realizes it is Sarandon working her magic on him, he resists. And she holds him down, and proceeds until she brings him to a climax. At the point where she forcibly continues the act when it is obvious he wants her to stop brings an abrupt end to any emotional investment I might have had in this couple. All I have to do is reverse gender to know that this would be considered a sexual assault to the average viewer. That Spader’s character climaxes doesn't diminish this fact. I have seen the movie at least three times and each time I felt a nagging discomfort by the scene but really didn't reflect on it until the recent postings of rape and romance forced my discomfort to the forefront. This time I simply turned the movie off, and I don't think I'll watch it again. The force or coercion doesn't need to be physical to disturb me. Although I like Jane Campion's The Piano, and have seen it a number of times, I basically ignored the fact that Keitel's character uses blackmail and coercion to force Hunter into a sexual relationship. Albeit, she is complicit in this arrangement, yet it doesn't ameliorate the fact that a man is forcing a woman into a relationship she initially doesn't want simply to satisfy his lust. That it turns to "love" (and when this happens, I'm not sure), doesn't ratify anything. Yet, the movie is watchable simply based on the performances of Hunter, Keitel, Sam Neill and a young Anna Paquin (the Oscar committee must have though so, too, as the movie received five nominations and took three, including one for best supporting actress for then nine-year-old Paquin). Do women have rape fantasies? Obviously so and there are plenty of romance novels to prove that fact. Yet, as the market has matured, so has the readership's sensibilities. Still, there are holdovers to the concept that force or coercion is simply a man's way of overcoming a woman's "inhibitions" and only illustrates his (or in the case of White Palace, her) passion. But a fantasy should never be confused with reality. No matter the coercion or force in these novels, the fantasizer has maintained control and has converted the violence into something more palatable. Never true in reality. Never sexy when the victim has absolutely no control whatsoever. And as for my reading or viewing tastes, I prefer women who know when to kick a man to the curb...or in his balls.
|
| Layout Design by Hajira | Thanks to:Getty Images • Blogspot • Blogskins • |
