How Will 'Fifty Shades' Measure Up to the Kink Classic 'Secretary?'
Spader and Gyllenhaal in Secretary
If you haven’t seen Secretary since its 2002 release, you may have forgotten that James Spader’s character is named Mr. Grey. That’s also how Fifty Shades of Grey, the bestselling erotic novel and soon-to-be feature film, often refers to its own S&M-inclined leading man Christian Grey (played by Jamie Dornan, who stars opposite Dakota Johnson). Beyond sharing that monochromatic name, both movies chronicle an affair between a shy wallflower and a powerful older man who only knows how to express love by inflicting pain. Secretary is available on VOD now, and anyone eagerly awaiting the release of Fifty Shades on Valentine’s Day would do well to check it out, with one caveat: Secretary sets the bar very high for sadomasochistic romance movies.
Spader and Gyllenhaal
Secretary is best remembered for its breakout performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal. The then-unknown actress stars as Lee Holloway, a shy and aimless young woman who is trying to get on with life after a failed suicide attempt. At the insistence of her overbearing parents, Lee finds work with an attorney named E. Edward Grey (Spader), who appears to go through secretaries like printer paper. Soon, she understands why: In addition to eccentricities like refusing to use a computer, Mr. Grey is turned on by dominating his employees. In Lee, however, he finds a willing participant, and the film is at turns funny and unsettling as it charts the course of their taboo-busting relationship.
Watch the new VOD trailer for Secretary which is not exactly subtle about the movie’s similarities to Fifty Shades:
There is a crucial difference between the stories of Secretary and Fifty Shades: their heroines’ understanding of S&M. Anastasia Steele, the virginal college graduate who falls for billionaire Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades book, loves him in spite of his predilection for kink. The major conflict of author EL James’ book centers on whether Anastasia will sign a binding contract to be Christian’s submissive, and she seems largely repelled by the whole idea, craving a traditional romance despite pleasurable experiences involving Christian’s whips, riding crops, and restraints. Lee, on the other hand, finds that being a submissive sets her free. The delight of Secretary is watching Gyllenhaal’s character bloom from a nervous, repressed woman into an unabashed pleasure seeker, one spanking at a time.
Spader and Gyllenhaal
A perfect illustration is the food rules imposed by the heroines’ respective Mr. Greys. In the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, Anastasia balks at the clause in Christian’s contract that says she may only eat “prescribed foods,” and stubbornly refuses to eat the fancy dinners he buys her. In Secretary, Lee relishes Mr. Grey’s dinner instructions, including his imperative to eat just “four peas” (see NSFW below). For Lee, this is a subversive act, a private way to seize control from her parents and share a moment with her absent lover. For Anastasia, it’s just one more obstacle to the fairy-tale ending she craves.
One of the likely reasons for the novel Fifty Shades of Grey’s success is that it treats sadomasochism as an alluring forbidden fruit, something that feels good but is ultimately very bad. That’s a much less provocative view than the one held by Secretary, in which S&M creates a kind of “new normal” for its damaged but sympathetic protagonists. Of course, it remains to be seen if the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey might take a more nuanced perspective. Whereas the book is written in the first person from Anastasia’s perspective, director Sam Taylor-Johnson has the opportunity to step back a little and let the audience draw its own conclusions about her heroine’s sexual escapades. Let’s hope that she takes that opportunity, since it would ironic if Secretary is the movie with more shades of grey.
Secretary (2002) is available on VOD and Digital HD, including iTunes, Amazon, Xbox and Vudu.
Photos: Everett
