'Secretary' - Mainstream Films Featuring BDSM Practices - Part 1

I was reading through SalAndy's post on 'Sexy Movie Quotes' to find sophie's reference to the light BDSM movie 'Secretary'. Having reviewed this some years back, I thought it now appropriate to share this with you now... 'Secretary' - Mainstream Films Featuring BDSM Practices - Part 1 Secretary (2002) is a beautiful, entertaining, respectful and insightful look into the psychological and erotic aspects of a co-dependent dominant/submissive relationship, where a mild form of sadomasochism is practiced. Some may simplistically view the moral of the story as: If you like to get your butt spanked, then don't be ashamed about it and get your butt spanked. Before reviewing the movie, lets briefly look at the phenomena of getting your butt spanked. I read somewhere that 10% of all woman liked to be spanked. I don't know how accurate that statement is, though it is a fact that many females are capable of a spontaneous orgasm during an erotic spanking. Now from my experience, that can hurt... and I don't have fond memories of the cane at school. Though there is something decidedly different about having a naked lady over one's knee, who is enjoying her bottom and back being sensually stoked. Then find her sexually aroused as her bared bottom receives a gradual warm-up spanking. As the arousal slowly builds and the endorphins kick in... she wants more and more. But too much pain too soon, can totally quash sexual arousal and her orgasm potential. The spanking fetish is sometimes accompanied by a clothing fetish and combined with sexual role playing. Other times the spankee is totally nude, for additional humiliation and arousal. This use of spanking does not always have to be associated with erotic or sexual needs, as some receive a sense of comfort from the experience, and can come to depend on the activity as an essential part of their existence. Now back to the movie... There are probably three different ways the general public may view this film. 1) They may like it. 2) They may find it dull and boring -or- 3) They may disliked it because they find some scenes distasteful and demeaning to both sexes. A prudish vanilla may go so far as to feel anger, indignation or resentment. Another may feel guilty about their voyeuristic enjoyment and want to see more. Whilst a broadminded person may want to see the movie more than once because they feel empathy with the characters, or emotionally and sexually charged by the story. The movie stars James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The story begins with Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllanhaal) returning to her hometown after being released from a mental institution. She returns, but nothing has actually changed. Her father is a drunk, her mom is a smothering, depressed woman and her boyfriend is a nerdy loser. She has many emotional problems, provoked by her father, who makes both her and her mother miserable. Whenever Lee suffers from stress, feels sad or is intimidated, she falls back into her old pattern of closed personality and self-mutilation. Trying to forget all her problems, she goes to typing school and gets secretarial qualifications. She searches for a job in a newspaper, and applies for the position of secretary at a nearby lawyer's office. Her boss, Edward Grey (James Spader) reveals very little about himself, other than he is an eccentric, anal retentive, bitter man... who is just out of a relationship with a dominant woman, and needs to reclaim his masculinity. He is repressed, guilt ridden and struggles to keep his sexual desires from overwhelming him. In contrast, Lee is a sweet, bashful and inexperienced young woman who wears her emotions on her sleeve. Grey refuses to have computers or word processing in his law office, and has always made life difficult for his secretaries, past and present... being obsessed with perfection and now is a hard task master for Lee. He begins humiliating and mistreating her from the very first day. Though Lee is very easy to like, she can also be annoying at times... and Grey is forever castigating her for typographical errors. Soon enough, Lee begins to cut herself at work, and needless to say, Grey catches her in the act and seems to relate. He tells Lee, that she will never cut herself again. Though she is puzzled, his statement does uplift her. Not only does Lee stops mutilating herself, she also stops going back home from work with her mother, because he told her not to. Though in a way, Grey is restricting her freedom, she actually finds it liberating. One crucial day, he orders Lee into his office, closes the door, and presents her with a error-ridden document that came from her typewriter. Edward orders Lee to bend over his desk and look closely at the letter. He tells her to, "Put your elbows on the table and read the letter out loud". She does as he asks, but in a strange turn, he spanks her every other word. She is at first hurt and embarrassed, but interestingly enough... loves it. These efforts prove fruitless in turning Lee into a more professional employee, and instead, the spankings give her a feeling of power and confidence rather than a feeling of humiliation. Grey soon discovers that their work-relationship runs much smoother when having a sadomasochism affair. Grey tries to deny his redemption, even going so far as to try to fire Lee, to get her out of his life. But Lee has tasted the first inkling of salvation, which then allows her to develop the inner resources to relentlessly pursue what and whom she wants. This film gives the audience a taste of a world few people know or understand. Viewing it with an open mind can give one a greater understanding of why people choose to live a unconventional lifestyles. There's a scene towards the end of the film where Grey carries Lee upstairs and gently bathes her before they make love. The song that plays over this scene is "Chariots Rise" by Lizzie West. The original lyric is "What a fool am I, to fall so in love," but the director did not want to imply that Lee was being foolish, and asked if it could be altered. Because she wanted the song to be in the movie, Lizzie West re-recorded the line as "What grace have I, to fall so in love." "Chariots Rise" by Lizzie West I never felt this way before I've seen so many islands I never felt this way before In this song here I describe him The chariots rise Up high in the sky What a fool am I To fall so in love What a wonderful dream It seems to be 'Cause I love him I took the notes of past excursions And I read them through once more Only to find them hard aversions From the one true love in store The chariots rise Up high in the sky What a fool am I To fall so in love What a wonderful dream It seems to be 'Cause I love him Though I have waited long And they have all been wrong Now I find in the end With him I need not pretend The chariots They rise up high in the sky What a fool am I To fall so in love What a wonderful dream It seems to be 'Cause I love him 'Cause I love him