Kink (2013)

You know, if I were to actually take (at face value) what was being shown to me here in this "kink propaganda" documentary - Then I would be under the clear impression that the only people, today, who were into "kink" were the young, fit, level-headed, and beautiful people of the world. And, nowhere in this subculture (that specializes in BDSM) could any old, dumpy, psychos be found, anywhere.I mean - Hello!!?? - Like, let's get real about this, folks.... Considering how many nutters that there are out there who are strictly into conventional sexual practices - Surely the offbeat world of BDSM has its fair share of unhinged eccentrics as well.... No!? Anyway - I thought it was pretty suspicious that when the viewer was taken on a walking tour of Kink.com's headquarters in San Francisco - The room called "The Abattoir" (where cutting and blood-letting happens) was completely ignored and we never got to see what went on in there. No, we didn't.As expected - The people at Kink.com showed us exactly what they wanted us to see in order to demonstrate just how safe and sane their whole operation was - And, with that - Hopefully entice us all to take a walk-on-the-wild-side, real soon.... Yeah! - For a good, hefty fee, of course.Well - Since pain is not my pleasure - I will have to be the first (but surely not the last) to pass on their 'welcoming" invitation.... And - How about you???

I am not personally aroused by BDSM experiences but I know people who are into that kink. I watched this documentary to learn more about it and try to understand it. This film shows all the complicated aspects involved in making porn about this particular kink and shows how a porn company operates when it wants to work with the people doing these acts on film in a respectful way. That was all very interesting. I would have never known about some of these things so I feel much more well-informed after seeing it.The film does not really get into the psychology of people who are into this kink, so if that's what you are looking for, you'll have to go elsewhere. But if you are basically curious about how pornography is created and how BDSM porn in particular is done, this is a good introduction. Be warned that there are many graphic scenes that are quite intense, so if you are not into this kink, you might need to fast forward....

Having some friends that are into BDSM I've seen and read a bit about the subculture. With that in mind I was excited to see this documentary. While technically OK(lighting sound etc) the film was a bore. First, it's not really a film about BDSM, it's a film about a company that makes BDSM movies for public consumption with actors who aren't all in the BDSM community. Even with that caveat there was a rich opportunity to explore this interesting subculture through the lens of the corporation. But what we get instead is interviews with employees, many of whom are far from articulate or perhaps have reservations about being nuanced about something their paycheck depends on. No interviews with consumers, no history of the industry to set the stage for Kinks place in time. No discussion of San Francisco as a unique place that allows a business like Kink to thrive, let alone discuss the neighborhood the armory is in and it's effects. This was little more than a milquetoast ad for a million dollar corporation. It's a shame considering the wealth of material the director could have used to make an insightful film.

This dreary self-portrait of a nasty little industry trading in sadomasochistic pornography would have us believe that the desire to abuse, degrade, and physically harm other human beings (both men and women) is a wonderful and creative form of sexual expression. The talking heads that espouse this wisdom conveniently happen to be the very people who are making money from selling realistic depictions of hardcore sexual abuse online. There are a few revealing scenes in the film -- one in which monthly revenues are discussed (they are revealed to be surprisingly small, which leads me to believe that the audience for this type of entertainment is similarly small); another in which an honest model shares her real thoughts about the work she is doing. But for those few glimpses of reality, the rest of this is just a voyeuristic look at actual hardcore scenes being filmed, with the usual portentous claptrap being spouted on the soundtrack about how "into it" the models are, just dying for a good hard beating, the lot of them. If you opt to watch this ugly piece of work for the voyeuristic aspects of it, I suggest you do so with your remote in one hand and your thumb poised above the fast forward button. Sex doesn't get any more boring than this. In fact, this really isn't sex at all, and the poor souls who think it is would be better served by therapy than by a film celebrating misogyny, authored by ghouls who profit from its distribution.