To Kink or Not to Kink

When I got the movie, my first thought was, “Well, I'm definitely not watching this in front of my parents!” Just look at the box adorned with a cat-o'tails and fuzzy handcuffs! I'm sure the average viewer runs screaming and innocent women swoon. Or do they? With the recent popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey and normalization of alternative sex ideas, it seems like kink interests are on the rise. The average housewife now knows all about the other uses of a necktie. With all that in mind and ensuring the youth of the household was safely tucked away in bed, I popped in the documentary, Kink, and buckled myself in.

The movie runs 80 mins with little to no extras, so don't expect a terribly in-depth look at BDSM. Also, don't expect Fifty Shades. This is an honest look at the culture, it is not sugar-coated fluff that ends up being a vaguely unconsenting mess. At certain points, the viewer is just watching straight-out porn; you've been warned. If this makes you worry, well, honestly, what did you think you were going to be watching??

The first scene opens at the headquarters of kink.com. Funnily, the building looks like it could belong anywhere. It's completely nondescript, which I suppose is the perfect analogy for the entire movie. The people involved within this culture are normal people with normal lives. This is what they do for work. An intriguing anecdote within the movie comes from one dominant relating her concern about how one day she will tell her children what she does for work. Another account from a director explains how she had been disowned by the entire father side of her family and how she brought disgrace to the family by being involved in the adult film industry. It does bring up questions. Why do people continue to do this if they run the risk of stabbing a metaphorical spike through their relations? Watching the movie, you can only draw two conclusions, people do it for the money and/or the pleasure of it.

The movie is brutally honest, sometimes to the point of uncomfortable. Actors relating how they are literally just in this for the money, actresses crying uncontrolled tears during scenes, men seemingly unhappily involved in sub/dom scenes. It's not the porn aspect that makes the viewer uncomfortable as I originally thought it would; it's the emotional ties behind the actors and directors. On the flip side of that, though, there's a pleasure to see the people who genuinely love what they do. The passion to create and the intensity and professionalism at which they do it. These driven artists are making art and demanding the highest quality possible. They care about each other, ensuring comfort, care, safety, and overall happiness to be involved in such intense scenes. This documentary strives to explain this misunderstood concept isn't just people have sex willy-nilly. There are rules, statistics, and all the normal going-ons that every business experiences.

Overall, the movie pulls you in. Director Christina Voros and producer James Franco create a fascinating peek into a world that is largely whispered about, but never openly discussed. The only drawback I can see were the shortness of the documentary and the lack of extras. I would have loved to see the full interviews with some of the directors and definitely insight from the movie director and producer as to why they felt like this needed to be made. The doc has a bit of a “jumpy” feel to it as they discuss and show many different setups and scenes, but never follow through to see what the actors were feeling during filming. They have a habit in the 80 mins to heavily interview people from a scene, show clips of the filming, get the camera in there to show the emotions, but never wrap it up. Voros may leave you feeling a bit unsatisfied if you wanted to ehm-ehm “finish up.”

The TL;DR: Definitely an intriguing glimpse into an underground culture of sex, a little short, but worth the quick watch whether you are into it or not!