This is has been on my list for a long time and I finally procured a copy. I was reluctant to see it, since I heard it was not very good, but being that Bettie Page is such an iconic cult object to a fetish/BDSM crowd, any movie would likely be sub par to such elitists.
I do not know much about her life, but rather enjoyed the movie. Gretchen Mol looks so damn good as Bettie Page, I'm not sure why she bothers with Gretchen. Disturbing to me was the gang rape sequence since I cannot find anything regarding if this actually happened.
It is striking to me that as a fetish model, so many of her photos are of her smiling. Even though much of her style has been endlessly copied, I still cannot think of many modern fetish models who smile in their photographs. I'm always smiling in photo shoots--I have a lovely smile and no one ever sees it. Photographers are always telling me to look stern and serious, but I'm having too much fun, especially if there is another Lady involved.
As for the movie, I love the way it was shot--mostly in black and white, then sometimes in color, but still keeping the same tones and saturation as if it was 50s color.
It's sad that she and other photographers were persecuted for harmless photography and even today, we kinksters are seen as deviants, surely I've met assholes, vanilla and kinky alike. Whatever her reasons, I'm glad she was able to take the photographs that made her such a legend.
1 comment:
I loved your review and growing up loving the look of Bettie, it steered me into the appreciation of the pinup model.. fetish and kinkdom alike. I often have wondered the same as you.. despite the genre being classified as taboo or alternative, why the necessity to always be portrayed as angry.. to be feared.. or plain ruthless. I for one love to see a woman's smile.. especially in modeling.. I seriously doubt the entire world of a pinup model is to be portrayed as a tortured soul within a Tim Burton movie.
I thought Gretchen was fantastic.. and loved the cinematography, the lighting and camera directions.. small touches to ensure we know the time period.. I loved the movie.
My entire direction of attraction.. my love and desire for women.. the specifics we all gravitate towards to being attracted to someone.. all of it is owed to Bettie.. her look.. her laughter and whimsy.. the innocence of what she was doing.. and the way society deemed it was so wrong.. intrigued me.. fueled me and eventually etched into me to define who I am and what I like. It is all owed to her.
Erik
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