Kink With A Smile
Thanks is due to Fleshbot for attracting my attention to some old news about Kink.com. I’m talking about this article in the New York Times, which, except for one token sentence filled with gratuitous slams (“wince-inducing grisliness”, “morbidly eccentric”), is a perfectly normal and quite interesting business profile of one of my favorite porn companies.
Having commented repeatedly on the pleasure and the significance of Kink.com’s smiling models, I particularly enjoyed reading this passage, in which we learn that running a photoshoot that leaves the models smiling, and then making sure to catch them doing it, is indeed the explicit company policy:
[Kink.com’s Peter Acworth] describes the company as having a certain social mission. Too often, he told me, B.D.S.M. is conflated with rape or abuse. He realized early on that building a respectable company devoted to the fetish could help “demystify” it. People who felt conflicted about their kinkiness, as he once had, “would realize they’re not alone and, in fact, that there’s a big world of people that are into this stuff and that it can be done in a safe and respectful way. Loving partners can do this to each other.” Kink’s required pre- and post-scene interviews, like the one I watched Wild Bill and Adams tape, for example, are meant to break the fourth wall, assuring audiences that, as in real-life B.D.S.M. play, everything is negotiated in advance and rooted in a certain etiquette and trust – that everyone is friends. The company actually requires that each model be shown smiling during the segments.
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I’ve always been impressed by what they do, but no more so than a month or so ago, when they posted a shoot that ended with “and then the model got uncomfortable, so we quit”.
Yes, but then they say “B.D.S.M.” with the ponderous periods in the middle. I’ve never seen it like that before and I think it actually detracts from the slashes that actually join the meanings of BDSM. ::sigh:: At least the Grey Lady gets it a little, I guess.
I like that guy’s [Peter Acworth’s] concept. Probably with any porn market there’s bound to be those who are in it for the hardcore power-play of it (the Frownies) and the ones who can laugh and smile at it (the Grinnies, for lack of something better).
One thing though, perhaps they should make the marks of the rope burn on the actresses bodies curve up in a smile rather than down in a frown. :)
Note to Dave:
I’m not at all certain that I understand your comment’s intent, so forgive me if I’m misunderstanding, but, if the word “but” in your comment denotes some misgivings, I’m not so sure that they are necessarily properly applied.
It is my understanding that a shoot, or “scene” with the folks at Kink is pretty clearly hammered out in advance. This agreement is actually in the form of a written modeling contract.
I can’t imagine Kink risking their livelihood by ignoring the model’s limits.
The fact that they ended the shoot when the model became uncomfortable, merely demonstrates how caring and responsible they are.
My guess is that she sought them out as a source of employment, and made a mutually beneficial arrangement with them. Just because she developed a feeling of discomfort, doesn’t mean that she was in any danger.
To use your word, frankly, I’m impressed!