I”m gonna be honest. When this new trailer for the classic BDSM rom-com “Secretary” turned up in my inbox this morning, I was not happy. How dare Lionsgate try to draw parallels between “50 Shades of Grey” – a book I”m 100% against on the grounds that it is abuse masquerading as kink – and what might be the best mainstream look at the BDSM lifestyle? But nostalgia won out and I watched it anyway and now I”m convinced this re-release is a bondage Trojan horse.
This trailer is far cry from the original, which played down the sexy and played up how two dysfunctional people find unconventional love in each other. But the new trailer does the job it sets out to do, which is to lure fans of “50 Shades of Grey” into watching “Secretary.” I”d argue that can only be a good thing.
While we have to wait until Valentine”s Day to see if director Sam Taylor-Wood pulls off the hat trick of making Christian Grey not look like a sociopath in the eyes of anyone who isn”t Anastasia Steele, the book has been rightly eviscerated for it”s awful portrayal of BDSM relationships (pro-tip: in a healthy D/s relationship, the submissive has all the power. They set the hard limits, the have the safe word, they get the aftercare, they control the session). If this re-release for “Secretary” can introduce people to another, better side to kink through a steamy trailer? That”s good work.
“Secretary” is available now on VOD and Digital HD. And for the first time ever the behind-the-scenes featurette is available on Digital HD.