Mainsteaming BDSM in Comedy Films

     
        In our discussions about the seeming infiltration of BDSM into popular culture, we examined a few examples of that phenomenon. The examples were two movies and some advertisements for mundane products. These are good examples and might illustrate how BDSM has crept into the mainstream. However, when I think of the mainstreaming of BDSM themes, the only instances that popped into my head were from comedy films. This might be because I do not notice the other instances of BDSM in other cases, but I think the question of how BDSM  representations in comedy films affect BDSM representations in other instances should be taken up.
         The image above this text is from the movie "Dodgeball," made in 2004. This movie is a comedy and features a scene in which the dodgeball team receives a package they assume are their uniforms. However, they open the box and find nothing but leather outfits and other BDSM accessories. Their shipment had been botched and left them no choice- they had to wear the BDSM equipment as their uniforms. As the Average Joe's dodgeball team is announced and enter the court, the crowod goes silent upon seeing them come out of the mist and onto the court for all to see in leather outfits and chains. One of the commentators exclaims, "Oh my sweet Jesus" as the group of  middle- aged people lumber around the court in their "uniforms."
          This scene from the movie is designed to get a comical reaction from audiences.I believe the comedy of this scene comes from the irony of a bunch of "Average Joes" wearing something not so average and watching them handle the awkward situation of facing a crowd of hundreds of people. However, I think it is important to acknowledge that in this case, making BDSM the butt of the joke may damage the credibility of BDSM practices outside of comedy films. The crowd's reaction to seeing the BDSM outfits in the public eye was shock and astonishment as they go silent and express puzzlement with displays of open mouths. A mother is shown covering the eyes of her children as she expresses disgust and anger at the dodgeball team for wearing their uniforms. Overall, the film's representation of BDSM makes it out to be something not to take lightly and accept as something in the mainstream. The film portrays it's place in the public eye as something to shield your kids from and question the intentions of those who have something to do with BDSM.
          Though this instance of BDSM in the mainstream film industry is in a comedy film and is not intended to be taken seriously, it still has effects and flies in the face of  Mainstreaming Kink: The Politics of BDSM Representation in U.S. Popular Media by Margot Weiss. In this piece, Weiss explains that since the 1980's the amount of BDSM coverage in popular media has increased. She says, "SM has saturated popular culture, and in this saturation, SM has come to mean something more mainstream and less risqué, more conventional and less exotic. Popular depictions of SM have shifted from images of the shocking, dangerous other to representations both pathological and normal." I argue that the portryal of BDSM in the movie "Dodgeball" works to disprove this theory and serves to stigmatize BDSM practices as unusual and deviant.
          Perhaps the effects of the BDSm scene in Dodgeball is supposed to be considered comical and not analyzed under the microscope in which we analyze things in class. But, it is a piece of popular culture and I think its effects are felt just as much as any serious publication. I think that representations of BDSM in comedy films try to captilaize on the "unusual" nature of BDSM practices to mae it the butt of jokes. In this way, BDSM's leak into the mainstream serves to undermine its acceptance of a normal practice.

                                                              Citations


Weiss, M. D. (2006). Mainstreaming kink: The politics of BDSM representation in US popular media. Journal of homosexuality, 50(2-3), 103-132.

Thurber, R. (Director). (2004). Dodgebal [Motion picture]. United States of America: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.