i remember seeing it when it first came out and i really did not like it all that much
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274812/
now that i have ventured into the BDSM world, I decided to re-watch it
I LOVED IT!!!!
Have any of you seen it?
what were your thoughts?
My only complaint is that the character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, was a cutter before she became her bosses SUB.
to me, it felt as though the movie implied only damaged people "play" this way.
anyways im off to watch some of the scenes again.
I had the same complaint about that film, but it is one of the better depictions of the lifestyle, notwithstanding the cutting scene. Hollywood usually casts BDSM players as comedy relief or serial killers, and always wants to show us as "damaged", because we can't possibly enjoy pain, now, can we? (Sarcasm.)
Just as Broadway and off-Broadway has had recent plays about BDSM, "Venus in Furs" and "Trust", which means BDSM has entered the mainstream, how about movies? Am I the only one who saw "Maitresse" by Barbet Schroeder which starred his wife? Schroeder is best known for Outrageous Fortune, a real artist. And Maitresse starred Gerard Depardieu. Perhaps one of the worst--"Cruising". Thoughts, people?
It is a great movie and I feel focuses on the playfulness of bdsm...
LOL, no kidding! And I LOVED the movie, and have seen it several times (there are very, very few movies I have watched more than once).
This is my absolute favorite bdsm movie... I would do EVERYTHING she did to please him 
i thought the point of the cutting scene was that she gave that up when she discovered bdsm. sometimes addictions can be conquered by 'safe, sane, consensual" play. There is nothing wrong with that.
Sure, i'd love to tell everyone that the people that enjoy BDSM are all healthy, and well balanced folk. Unfortunately, it ain't so. Just like the people that are professional sport performers aren't all healthy, well balanced folk. Human beings are "only human", we roll that way, whether we be into sports, religion, BDSM, etc.
i liked that "The secretary" imaged thru a good cross section of play - including Pony Play. that was sweet. ;-D
Was gifted a copy by my first Master, and it helped me come to terms with my true self as it pertains to BDSM (switch, baby!)
I think it was a very thoughtful portrayal of a BDSM relationship. Both people were troubled, but arent we all? I didn't find them to be so much more screwed up than "normal" people. They were perfectly human and they had great chemistry on film. I want to lick the TV screen every time I watch it. LOL
-R