The History of BDSM – Page 2 – Documenting my research in the history of consensual sadomasochism

CSI:Las Vegas S06E15 “Pirates of the Third Reich”: The Celluloid Dungeon

Apr 132022

“Pirates of the Third Reich” aired February 9, 2006, IMDB

Jerry Stahl returns as co-writer for the third chapter in the Lady Heather saga. The director, Richard J Lewis, also directed “Lady Heather’s Box”.

“Slaves of Las Vegas” normalized Lady Heather in her conversation with Catherine Willows, as a business owner, career woman, and single mother. This episode throws that into ruin. Zoe Kessler, said to be going to Harvard in Lady Heather’s first episode, is found dead in the desert: emaciated, poisoned, shaved bald, branded with a number, and missing her hand. This marks the fifth person in Lady Heather’s immediate circle who is murdered.

CSI: Las Vegas S03E15 “Lady Heather’s Box”: The Celluloid Dungeon

Celluloid Dungeon No Responses »

Apr 122022

IMDB Aired February 13, 2003

Melinda Clarke returns as Lady Heather. (Also features a cameo of Elizabeth Berkley of Showgirls infamy.) Note that this episode’s story was co-written by Josh Berman, who also wrote the episode of Bones focusing on ponyplay, “Death in the Saddle” (S03E03).

A pair of male sex workers murdered by injections of insulin lead the CSI team back to Lady Heather’s house. It appears they got the same house for interiors and exteriors as the previous episode.

Just as before, Lady Heather is completely cooperative with the authorities, and readily acknowledges the men were on her payroll. It isn’t clear what they did, however. Also, the staff and clients are completely unconcerned with police officers walking around.

Detective Brass astutely points out that these are the second and third people in Lady Heather’s employ to end up dead in suspicious circumstances.

CSI:Las Vegas “Slaves of Las Vegas” S02E08: The Celluloid Dungeon

Celluloid Dungeon 1 Response »

Apr 042022

IMDB Aired November 15, 2001.

Co-writer Jerry Stahl also wrote the notorious CSI episodes “Fur and Loathing in Las Vegas” (2003) (dealing with furry culture) and “King Baby” (2005) (dealing with infantilism). He also co-wrote the screenplays for the cult porn films Nightdreams (1981) and Café Flesh (1982), under the pseudonym Herbert W. Day.

Melinda Clarke makes her first appearance as Lady Heather. She also played a brothel madam in the Firefly episode “Heart of Gold” (2003) and the body-modified zombie lead of Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993).

As so many of these types of episodes, it begins with the discovery of a dead sex worker. In this case, it’s a nude young woman found buried in a sandbox. Also typical, the victim’s body is treated as a puzzle to be solved that will lead to the discovery of their true identity.

Link Digest, March 2022

Link Digests 1 Response »

Mar 172022

Kinbakunomicon posted a translation of the transcript of a 1971 roundtable discussion in Kinbaku Taizen, which is full of interesting perspectives from Japanese people on different forms of BDSM in Japan, Europe and America.
A video interview with an elder of the spanking community, which is BDSM adjacent.
Mashable covers the loss of a unique space for diverse sexuality in the censoring of Tumblr.
XBIZ covers the history of adult industry content prohibitions, which appear to be based more on industry folklore and urban legends than actual laws or policies.

Love and Leashes (2022): The Celluloid Dungeon

Celluloid Dungeon No Responses »

Mar 142022

Love and Leashes is a 2022 Korean romantic comedy, currently streaming on Netflix, about two office workers who begin a dominant/submissive relationship, based on a webcomic.

Note: I do not speak Korean, and I’m going entirely by the dubbing and subtitles. There are likely many cultural and linguistic nuances I am missing. E.g. “Master” is frequently used, but not “Mistress”.

Jung Jihoo transfers to the public relations department of a corporation, where he meets a woman with a nearly identical name, Jung Jiwoo. She’s highly intelligent and competent, but ignored or belittled by the department’s sexist boss. Jihoo is actually her superior in the hierarchy, but he tries to listen to her and compromise.

Jiwoo is attracted to Jihoo, but is reluctant to act on it. Her mother and friend both urge her to act on it, but in a stereotypically “feminine” way, which is at odds with her direct personality.

Because their names are so similar, Jiwoo accidentally picks up a personal package delivered for Jihoo, and finds a studded leather collar and leash with the nameplate “Miho”. Jihoo tries to cover for this, but she figures it out, and says nothing.

Talking Love and Leashes with TammyJo Eckhart: The Celluloid Dungeon

Celluloid Dungeon No Responses »

Mar 092022

I discuss the BDSM-themed Korean romantic comedy Love and Leashes with my friend and colleague TammyJo Eckhart, a historian and author.

Currently on Netflix, Love and Leashes follows a submissive man and and a dominant woman as they learn about each other and deal with a prejudiced society. You can also read the English translation of the original webcomic.

Link Digest, February 2022

Link Digests No Responses »

Feb 212022

Fashion designer Thierry Mugler, who did a lot to bring the worlds of fetish and fashion together, died on January 23rd 2022, at age 73.
The American Sex podcast has an in-depth report on censorship in the podcast space, particularly regarding sexually explicit works, which is exacerbated by Spotify’s project to monopolize and exploit the entire podcasting ecosystem.
The second episode of the On Guard Salon talks about dating and cruising for gay leathermen in the pre-Internet days.
The Dildorks podcast interviewed Leigh Cowart, author of Hurts So Good: the Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose, a book that explores the many ways in which people seek out pain and other intense sensations, including BDSM but also experiences like eating hot peppers, body modification, marathon running, and more.
In Rolling Stone, Tina Horn profiles Netflix’s thriller Brazen, which reiterates tired stereotypes about kink and sex workers.
Internet platforms come and go, and Tiktok is in the “come” phase of that cycle. For our purposes, Esme James is running a video series called Kinky History, and you can read an interview with her on BI.org.

Story of O (1975): The Celluloid Dungeon

Celluloid Dungeon No Responses »

Feb 142022

Story of O (1975), dir. Just Jaeckin

[Note: all English quotes are from the English dub.]

The relaxation of film censorship in the 1960s and 1970s, both in the US and abroad, created an interesting period in mainstream films were much more daring in terms of sexuality and violence, while some porn films had bigger budgets and higher production values to play in mainstream theatres and reach a larger audience. Naturally, someone would try to adapt arguably the most famous novel about BDSM to the big screen, Histoire d’O by “Pauline Reage” (aka Anne Desclos), published 1954.