Story of O
So...The Story of O, huh?
I admit..I am reading a smut novel of sorts. A sensational piece of erotica, as some dismiss it. Why? Because the psychology behind manipulation, abuse, use, submission, control, love and sex fascinates me. And it touches on objectification, victimization, debates of what is pornography, heavy in judeo-christian symbolism and mythology (self-sacrifice, suffering, devotion), but these are too many and too deep to delve into with one post.
This book raises in me both furious anger and a morbid fascination. Like watching a car wreck...I cannot turn away, and I feel helpless to intervene. A sympathy for O, yet an overwhelming urge to frantically shake her, asking "why?" Though given her experiences, even whips seem to fail to move her after a while.
Why? Why what? Why did she give herself over so fully to her lover only to be "owned" by another person. What motivated her? A desire to be desired? Her love for her lover? Her fear of him abandoning her? A fear so deep seated that she becomes physically branded by another. It repulsed me. Not because of her devotion to another person. Not because of her desire to please. But because of the callousness and laissez-faire attitude in which the men she relates to accept that love and use it. But it was hers to offer. And they took what she offered. At several points they remind her she could walk away. But she is so in need of being needed it became almost narcotic, so ingrained in her being that she can't leave.
Earlier I was struck by how similar The Story of O is to The Shape of Things. Not so much the motivation. One delves deeply into the world of BDSM. The other focuses on what is art. But in both cases, the subject is a person being molded at the hands of another. Through that sense of love and desire. Both protagonists become palettes for their lovers, and surrender a sense of themselves to please them. The tools are sexual and emotional manipulation. Both physically change...loosing weight and dressing differently. Encouraged by the compliments those changes illicit. As does the tight lacing and cosmetic surgery. And eventually both so tied to their lover/owner/sculptor that they mark themselves...one with a tattoo, the other with a brand.
In The Shape of Things the argument is made, however cold, that the changes he made did in fact make him a better person...healthier, more attractive at least. But that the sudden changes also opened him up to jealousy and betrayal. And the point is made that she never "made" him do anything. He always had a choice. As did O, though her choices were presented in much more black and white format...obey or don't. Suffer physical consequences if you do not compile. And a freedom to walk away, but realizing that walking away is a resolute and irrevocable action.
O changed. Was her motivation for the change valid? Was she a better person for the change? Ultimately only she could have answered that. But these thoughts make it hard for me to dismiss the book...as angry as the outcome made me...as simply sensational erotica.
Maybe at the heart of it all...our need to seek purpose..
And another question burning in the back of my mind...
Why does it seem so much easier to devote yourself to another person, yet yielding to an intangible spiritual master so much more difficult?
I admit..I am reading a smut novel of sorts. A sensational piece of erotica, as some dismiss it. Why? Because the psychology behind manipulation, abuse, use, submission, control, love and sex fascinates me. And it touches on objectification, victimization, debates of what is pornography, heavy in judeo-christian symbolism and mythology (self-sacrifice, suffering, devotion), but these are too many and too deep to delve into with one post.
This book raises in me both furious anger and a morbid fascination. Like watching a car wreck...I cannot turn away, and I feel helpless to intervene. A sympathy for O, yet an overwhelming urge to frantically shake her, asking "why?" Though given her experiences, even whips seem to fail to move her after a while.
Why? Why what? Why did she give herself over so fully to her lover only to be "owned" by another person. What motivated her? A desire to be desired? Her love for her lover? Her fear of him abandoning her? A fear so deep seated that she becomes physically branded by another. It repulsed me. Not because of her devotion to another person. Not because of her desire to please. But because of the callousness and laissez-faire attitude in which the men she relates to accept that love and use it. But it was hers to offer. And they took what she offered. At several points they remind her she could walk away. But she is so in need of being needed it became almost narcotic, so ingrained in her being that she can't leave.
Earlier I was struck by how similar The Story of O is to The Shape of Things. Not so much the motivation. One delves deeply into the world of BDSM. The other focuses on what is art. But in both cases, the subject is a person being molded at the hands of another. Through that sense of love and desire. Both protagonists become palettes for their lovers, and surrender a sense of themselves to please them. The tools are sexual and emotional manipulation. Both physically change...loosing weight and dressing differently. Encouraged by the compliments those changes illicit. As does the tight lacing and cosmetic surgery. And eventually both so tied to their lover/owner/sculptor that they mark themselves...one with a tattoo, the other with a brand.
In The Shape of Things the argument is made, however cold, that the changes he made did in fact make him a better person...healthier, more attractive at least. But that the sudden changes also opened him up to jealousy and betrayal. And the point is made that she never "made" him do anything. He always had a choice. As did O, though her choices were presented in much more black and white format...obey or don't. Suffer physical consequences if you do not compile. And a freedom to walk away, but realizing that walking away is a resolute and irrevocable action.
O changed. Was her motivation for the change valid? Was she a better person for the change? Ultimately only she could have answered that. But these thoughts make it hard for me to dismiss the book...as angry as the outcome made me...as simply sensational erotica.
Maybe at the heart of it all...our need to seek purpose..
And another question burning in the back of my mind...
Why does it seem so much easier to devote yourself to another person, yet yielding to an intangible spiritual master so much more difficult?
Labels: misc
posted by Unknown at
1:57 PM
1 Comments:
interesting. Sounds like something I could get interested in. It recalls the religous symbolism in The Shape of Things, too. Adam and Eve, that first scene in the museum with the statue of God. I think she makes the point that she hasn't made him "better" just objectively more attractive to the mainstream so take that for what it's worth and look at what determines how we judge people as attractive. Though as far as him having a choice - she clearly manipulated him. He made the choice to have the surgery based on her lies.
yeah, I remember the EAT picture. He he.
And when you're looking for a line between erotica and porn - I think that anything that makes you think this much has some artistic value and above all, it's a book you hold in your hand. Not some story some scag published on the internet for free.
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