Xander ,'Get It Done'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
It was too late. He did exactly what he wanted -- raped and killed a bunch of women, raped a guy, killed himself. All the FBI did was cleanup. Didn't stop a damn thing, or save anyone.
"The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."
Tim wrote that.
The strenght from S&M may not be an illusion but I think it is on an entirely different level. I think knowing in the back of your mind you are not really in danger changes a lot.
But that was not my real point. What I saw was Rebecca explaining her understanding of what he had experienced just as he explained his games to her.
It implies that Brandt, at least, and maybe SM in general, is "playing at" things he doesn't understand,
I think that was pretty clear, Brandt was a poser. he only wanted to play the game, like Rebecca said, he'd never seen real fear before.
The strenght from S&M may not be an illusion
I don't see where there's any strength inherent in it. Some people may come out stronger, some weaker, some unchanged.
Brandt was a poser. he only wanted to play the game
Play which game? Was he playing at S&M, or is S&M playing at true violence?
I'm with Steph -- why can't tying up be tying up? Why can't people just find that a turnon? It's like a rape fantasy not actually having a damned thing to do with rape itself. An episode highlighting that for the viewer -- no biggie. But I don't think the implication that S&M is pretending (rather than a goal in and of itself) is fair.
May I tag?
Of course.
I don't have a horse in this race, but I always thought that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is hogwash. There are lots and lots and LOTS of people on this earth who suffer, and their suffering is crippling, and they never recover. Some people recover, for wide variation in the definition of "recover," but plenty of people just don't.
If that were not so, then PTSD would not be in the DSM.
Play which game? Was he playing at S&M, or is S&M playing at true violence?
I meant that Brandt was playing at S&M.
Brandt was a poser. he only wanted to play the game
Are these equivalent? I mean, he was kind of a poser (at least in the sense of being all Cooler-Than-Thou to the FBI) and he only wanted to play the game, but I don't think he made any bones about it. I don't remember him ever claiming that rape and murder would have been a big turn-on, or an extension of what he was doing. He made a pretty clear distinction between consensual stuff and, you know, crime.
But that was not my real point. What I saw was Rebecca explaining her understanding of what he had experienced just as he explained his games to her.
And yet, quoting his exact words back to him creates a link between S&M and sexual violence.
Play which game? Was he playing at S&M, or is S&M playing at true violence?
I meant that Brandt was playing at S&M.
Versus participating in "real" S&M? What would that have looked like, then?
My opinion is that, from what little we saw of Brandt in an S&M situation is that he wasn't "playing at" anything.