I've got to see this one

[rgraham666]

Looks to be, uhm, interesting.

The Notorious Bettie Page

 

[Weird Harold]

Looks to be, uhm, interesting.

The Notorious Bettie Page

Yep, I'm old enough to remember the real thing, and Gretchen Mol's makeup makes it hard to distingus pubicity stills from the movie from the old pictures of Betty they mimic.

However in browsing Google image search, I came across a couple of reviews that strongly suggest the movie is a waste of time -- and not nearly as titillating as it looks.

 

[Halo_n_horns]

Yep, I'm old enough to remember the real thing, and Gretchen Mol's makeup makes it hard to distingus pubicity stills from the movie from the old pictures of Betty they mimic.

However in browsing Google image search, I came across a couple of reviews that strongly suggest the movie is a waste of time -- and not nearly as titillating as it looks.

Don't trust those reviews. They always pop up before the release of a movie that's probably worth seeing. The competing movie studios have been pulling that crap for decades. I always figure that if it sucks I'll be the one to tell me that it sucked.

 

[Weird Harold]

Don't trust those reviews. They always pop up before the release of a movie that's probably worth seeing. The competing movie studios have been pulling that crap for decades. I always figure that if it sucks I'll be the one to tell me that it sucked.

That's probably true, but one of the two -- the one that said it wasn't as titillating as you'd expect -- pretty much described my reservations when I first saw the promos.

I didn't find the official synopsis from RR's link all that encouraging either.

I get the impression it will be of more interest to history buffs than it will be to Betty Page fans or would-be fans.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I adore Bettie Page, not sure about seeing the movie...I usually wait to rent them.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Yeah, I remember Bettie too, though I can't remember where I would have seen her pictures back then at 10 or 11 years old. This was back before I even knew what sex was. I just knew there was something terribly fascinating in seeing a woman in underwear tied to a chair or coffee table, and I spent hours pouring over her photos.

The thing about Bettie was that she was always so wholesome. The "Notorious" in the title is kind of an in joke, because she was anything but a bad girl, and it was her wholesomeness that made her bondage and cheesecake shots so compelling. Marilyn Monroe had that same kind of incorruptible purity about her, a combination of girlish innocence and sexual promise that just drives men mad.

A lot of BDSM is, in my opinion, about the male's symbolic attempt to subdue and control a woman's femininity, an attempt to come to terms with his own weakness in the face of his desire for her. She's tied and tormented in order to bring her down to the man's level of animal lust, and once that's achieved, the game is essentially over, at least for that session. Bettie was always above it in that regard, and her purity in the face of her travails was always therefore intensely erotic. The more she was spanked and the tighter she was bound, the more you wanted to see done to her. She never broke, never lost that innocence. No mattr what they put her through, they never quite broke through to that sexual animal we knew must be inside her.

Throughout her career, she never saw anything wrong with what she was doing. She wasn't stupid, and I doubt she was even naive. She must have known she was masturbation fodder to millions of men, and yet she remained above it all and was (and is, from what I understand), a warm and decent person, and yet she and Irving Klaw (her best known photographer) virtually defined the conventions of BDSM for two generations, up until the internet came into being.

She's certainly deserving of a movie, and I hope it's a good one. She's as much an icon as Marilyn was.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I'm excited for this one, too, Rob! Will you wait for it to come to DVD?

 

[R. Richard]

I lived in NYC for a time and found out about the legend of Bettie Page.

She basically was working as a secretary and trying to be an actress. She met a photographer at Coney Island and started to do pinup photos. She was very successful and gradually moved into nude and then BDSM photos. However, as far as is known, she never did any sexually explicit scenes. Those looking for action will have to look elsewhere.

What Bettie Page did was quite risque for the day, but is really rather tame nowadays. As has been pointed out, the film is more a historical film than a porno film.

JMHO.

 

[fieryjen]

There was a discussion thread in the BDSM forum about this movie.

I'm too young to really have heard much more of her than her name up until now, but she does sound like a fascinating character. I think probably I will end up renting the movie, and I usually wait for the credible reviews after the movie has come out.

 

[3113]

Stunningly beautiful poster/website intro! They certainly captured something there.

Bettie never lost her popularity but regained a new audience when the stunningly beautiful Rocketeer graphic novel came out (the hero's girlfriend looks like Bettie). She's certainly one of those "it" girls, loved by the camera, playful, innocent, sexy...everything one wants in a goddess of love and sex.

 

[Sex and Death]

A lot of BDSM is, in my opinion, about the male's symbolic attempt to subdue and control a woman's femininity, an attempt to come to terms with his own weakness in the face of his desire for her. She's tied and tormented in order to bring her down to the man's level of animal lust, and once that's achieved, the game is essentially over, at least for that session. Bettie was always above it in that regard, and her purity in the face of her travails was always therefore intensely erotic. The more she was spanked and the tighter she was bound, the more you wanted to see done to her. She never broke, never lost that innocence. No mattr what they put her through, they never quite broke through to that sexual animal we knew must be inside her.

I agree. She never surrendered. It was always her that was in control, appearences to the contrary. But, what woman can fully trust a man who is a slave to his lust and cannot lead his own life, let alone hers or another's? I've fanasized that she would give her heart only to a man who had a greater master than his dick.

One NPR review said the movie was boring. Should be interesting to see it, and to check Rotten Tomatoes for the drumbeat.

S&D