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Fake Femdom Window Dressing
🕑 Added 2023-08-29 00:25:30 +0000 UTC
When I saw the trailer for The Misadventures of Mistress Maneater I said "Oh no... This is going to be a D grade romantic comedy that uses Femdom trappings to bait people into watching it. Isn't it?" I'm sorry to report my first impression hit pretty close to the bullseye.
Although commentary on her status as a Dominatrix is sprinkled throughout the movie, most of the actual Femdom scenes happen in the first ten minutes. It's clear from the outset that our main character, Eva, doesn't enjoy her work as a pro Domina. By itself, that wouldn't necessarily be a problem. After all, most people don't love their jobs and that aspect of the life is worth investigating. But the movie establishes a tone that's at least somewhat BDSM negative and sex work negative from the start and that I don't accept.
Her clients are universally portrayed as hopeless idiots, chauvinists and losers. It's obvious she finds her Dominatrix attire more annoying than empowering. She states, outright, that she can't wait to leave the biz and do something more "respectable" with her life. It's later revealed that she was basically forced into the profession by circumstance, which would normally be an issue worthy of real examination, but Eva's backstory makes it difficult to take seriously.
Bottom line, she doesn't respect the work, so she probably shouldn't be doing it. She's in it for the money, like any other sex worker, and yet Eva seems to regard regular sex work as somehow lower and even more degrading than disciplining men. Several guys proposition her for regular sex acts and she rightfully turns them down, since that's not what she offers, but implicit in her responses to them is that professional BDSM somehow isn't sex work. She even says: "I don't have sex for money! I'M NOT A BAD PERSON!"
Newsflash, honey! Just because you're not doing the ole P-in-V, or you don't offer to peg your clients, doesn't mean it isn't sex work. No matter which aspects of the BDSM menu you're providing, you're putting your body on display and your clients are paying you for sexual thrills. That makes it sex work. The abundant shame and judgmental nature of Eva's character were loud and clear alarm bells that this wasn't going to be a good portrayal of female domination.
*Spoilers beyond this point*
In truth, there was little to no female domination after those opening scenes. We find out Eva was once girlfriend to a Russian mobster and getting involved with him is what set her life spinning off course. It's shown in a flashback that while at a costume ball, a masked stranger attempts to rape her. He doesn't get far before the mobsters save Eva and beat the crap out of her attacker. Her mobster boyfriend, not behaving much better, forces her to put out a cigarette on the attacker's body. A video of the incident is captured and goes viral, ruining Eva's educational pursuits, her employment prospects and sending her on the path to whipping men for money.
That much is at least somewhat plausible, but where the movie picks up (in the present) is where I have a problem. It's explained that even after she broke up with her mobster bf, they stayed in touch and have continued to have business dealings. She's borrowed a substantial amount of money from the mob to invest in her friend's shady real estate deal. Eva is hoping to win big on this bet which will enable her to leave the Dominatrix life for good.
It's constantly emphasized that Eva is not only a good person but super smart. A genius even! But that begs the question of why she's still hanging around with gangsters, investing in get-rich-quick schemes and doing sex work she clearly hates doing. If she wanted to, she likely could've banked some of that Femdom money, moved across the country, changed her name and started over. Instead, she gets scammed and the mobster ex-bf threatens to have her killed unless she repays her loan, with hefty interest, in the next 30 days.
What follows for the next 80 minutes is a long, convoluted relationship between her and a young Serbian immigrant who just happens to 1) be an Episcopal priest, 2) has inherited some rare artwork that's worth a fortune and 3) earns money to keep his church open by prize fighting in an underground MMA style "fight club" which, of course, is connected to the same mobsters Eva is in debt to. If this all sounds completely ridiculous, that's because it is.
At first, Eva tries to con the priest and take his money in a selfish bid to save herself, but over time, she starts to fall for him. Long story short, they fall in love and help each other heal their respective emotional wounds. (I'm not even going to get into the priest guy's psychological damange because it comes out of left field in the third act and is largely irrelevant.) Eva leaves Femdom behind and thanks to a lucky stock investment by the priest's mother, they get rich and live happily ever after. UGH! Now that's some lazy ass writing!
Needless to say, I'm not a fan. Not only was it a piss poor portrayal of Femdom, but the acting gets laughably hammy at times. In the film's defense, most of the BDSM scenes at least showcased "safe, sane and consensual" standards. Also, despite it being a low budget affair, the film was lit and shot competently. The look and dialogue of the movie are good enough to be called a B-film even if the characters and plot are silly enough to categorize somewhere between C and Z. Overall, I give it a 2 out of 5.
Well, that was quite the letdown, especially after how much I enjoyed "Maitresse." Hopefully, the next film will be better. Since it's one of the few important themes that can be glimpsed from this train wreck of a movie, this month's poll will weigh how important the Domme's disposition on Femdom is to you. As always, there are no wrong answers. Vote below!
Thanks for reading my latest review. I hope they've been useful in finding some movies and TV to enjoy and helping you avoid the stuff you wouldn't like. I'll keep going until we've ground through all the Femdom cinema the world has to offer!
James says your next story is coming soon, so stay tuned for that. I'll see you next month. Until then, enjoy what's left of the summer! Stay cool, my cheeky cherubs.
Yours Truly,
Mistress Cereza
