If I remember rightly, I read parts of
The Story of O
when I was a teen. Maybe it
was too subtle for me, but I don’t recall being impressed, even though it has the reputation of being a classic of sadomasochistic fiction.
The book may or may not live up to its reputation; I am not much
inclined to go back to it and find out.
This illustrated version of the book does not make me want to return
to the text, and that’s not because it is a brilliant replacement for the
text version. I’m sorry to report
that this is one of the silliest books of erotica I have seen.

The producers of this ‘soft-core’ coffee table book of
photographs have clearly gone to some trouble in finding a location and costumes
appropriate for this story of the idle rich living French country houses
— this book was originally
published in France
— but they put their energy into the wrong aspects of the story.
The point of a story of domination and submission is to convey the
play of power and powerlessness, the dialectic of master and slave if you
will. The eroticism is particularly
psychological. If the photographer
is to convey emotions, she needs to make clear the relations between the
characters, and the reactions they have to each other.

In this collection of photographs, however, with short
‘tastefully chosen’ excepts from the original story, all we see are nude
or partially women in expensive clothes in well decorated rooms with a touch
of an earlier era to them, and occasionally bare men (only flaccid, never
excited) surrounding them. It is
if the photographer had tried to convey the subtleties of the book by dressing
up Barbie and Ken and their friends.
Next to Malibu Barbie we have S/M Barbie.
Of course, it’s amusing and I’d imagine that some teenagers
could find it arousing, but I would not recommend paying money for it.

© 2002 Christian Perring. First Serial Rights.

Christian Perring,
Ph.D., is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College,
Long Island. He is editor of Metapsychology Online Review.
His main research is on philosophical issues in psychiatry.
He is especially interested in exploring how philosophers can
play a greater role in public life, and he is keen to help foster
communication between philosophers, mental health professionals,
and the general public.

Categories: ArtAndPhotography, Sexuality