I watched the new Netflix thriller “Gerald’s Game” over the weekend. It’s the one with the poster showing the lead character (played by Carla Gugino) chained the a bed with handcuffs wearing a sexy slip. Yeah, now you know the one I mean.
So the movie is actually very good, and I recommend watching it. But I want to address the kink-related aspect of it – don’t worry this doesn’t really contain any spoilers, this only relates to the first 10 minutes of the movie.
The Scene
We have this scene where the husband (Gerald) and the wife (Jessie) start to play with some bondage. But everything about it is the antithesis of what BDSM should be about – let me count the ways.
He surprises her with the handcuffs that he brought along on their romantic getaway to a remote lakehouse. Based on their conversation, they had experimented with bondage previously and he realized that she wasn’t into it, but went along with it to please him. Gerald persuades Jessie to let him handcuff her and at first she is ok with it. And then he starts doing a series of things which they had not discussed or negotiated previously: biting, intruder roleplay, covering her mouth, daddy dom roleplay (which is evidently a trigger for her). Before too long Jessie tells him she doesn’t like it, and tells him several times to stop. He stops once only after she kicks him, then tries again and only stops when she bites his lip.
Sadly, it seems a pretty realistic portrayal of a kinky partner doing all the wrong things to try and get a vanilla partner to try BDSM. I suspect arguments like these have unfolded in bedrooms all across the country.
If you want to introduce kink to your vanilla relationship, then open communication should be the starting point. Talk about what you want, establish some parameters, and agree a safe word. Once in-scene, don’t coerce your partner into doing things they don’t want to do, and for fuck’s sake don’t shame them if they want to stop or use their safeword. If it turns out that you and your partner just aren’t compatible in terms of kink needs, I recommend this article about kinky people dating vanilla.
Final thought – if you are going to put someone into inescapable bondage in an isolated place, even if it is otherwise safe & consensual, consider worst case scenarios and make sure that someone knows where you are how to check in with you.
Writer, photographer, hedonist, Dom. After years of at-home BDSM, Dexx finally embraced the kink community and met many fantastic fellow kinksters in the scene. Along the way, it occurred to him that it would be just super if there was a magazine-style web site which catered to people interested in BDSM, and he recruited some of his friends to help create it. Find him here.
Isaac Kalder says
You said in your other article you linked that Vanilla, and Kinky people shouldn’t even date because it’s impossible to turn a Vanilla person Kinky, and vice versa. So why even give tips in this article on how to introduce Kink into a Vanilla relationship? Even if they agreed, wouldn’t it only be to please the Kinky partner, making it one sided, and thus unhealthy for the Vanilla person? Wouldn’t this mean that every other article, and website that has ever been written about Kinky people trying to get Vanilla people into Kink are all inaccurate, and wastes of time in writing them? I mean, the real solution is that as soon as it is revealed that one is Vanilla, and the other is Kinky, they should just instantly end the relationship without even trying to introduce the Vanilla person into Kink simply because it will either fail, or lead the Vanilla person into just merely pretending to be into it, or just going along with it.
MrMots says
I’m a fan of Carla Gugino and obviously kink, so I REALLY hope this isn’t like that horrible Charisma Carpenter movie.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ve been looking for a good Netflix program.
Tammy says
My Dom and I have not watched this movie only the trailer. He was familiar with the book and knew it wasn’t my type of movie but… here’s the thing that got us thinking, a lot. We are both in the age range as the couple in the movie, our home is in a semi remote area. Remote enough that I can and do scream loudly and no one could ever hear me. We are into rope bondage and even though we have been together years and there is complete trust. What if while I’m all trussed up ( believe me I’m not getting out by myself) he would have a medical issue and become incapacitated? We have always made provisions if I were to have a emergency but never once thought what if he did. Interesting topic at our next MAST meeting for sure.
Nikki says
I watched this movie too and I turned it off after the scene in question here. I was completely turned off by what the scene represented and couldn’t get into the movie although I heard it was interesting. I’ll pass.