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Alex O'Loughlin in the TV Show Moonlight
Review by Sensuous Sadie
SensuousSadie@aol.com
www.sensuoussadie.com
Quick Overview From Netflix.com:
After uncovering a sexually charged Web site that features morbidly
obese women being held captive and taunted with fattening food,
Australian cop Richard (Jack Thompson) travels to Ohio to investigate.
Viewing the Aussie's appearance as an opportunity for a fun game rather
than a reason for him to go offline, the site's sadistic webmaster (Alex
O'Loughlin) lures Richard into a dangerous game that's unappetizing, to
say the least.
NOTE: This Netflix blurb is incorrect in that these women are
neither held captive or taunted with food. In fact, they are
participating freely in a Dominant/Submissive relationship where they
are being fed to excess by their Feeders.
The movie, Feed is about Feeders and Gainers, and features the
charismatic and sexy Alex O’Loughlin who you will recognize from the
television show Moonlight, where he plays a kinder and gentler
character, although no less charismatic. I’ve read up a little bit about
this issue in preparation for writing this review so that I can keep an
objective mind, such as that is possible. For your general information,
here is a definition from Wikipedia that seems pretty much on target,
and they also provide much more information as well:
Feederism is a sexual fetish (specifically a type of body
alteration fetishism), centered on the practice of eating large
amounts of food. The feeder provides the gainer
with an abundant supply of food, either to encourage weight gain
or simply for delight in the act of feeding. The feeder is
typically more dominant, while the gainer is often more
submissive, although this is not always the case. The fetish
caters to those who have fantasies of growing fatter, or feeding
another. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_fetishism)
For a long time I’ve been aware of this subculture in the BDSM
community, and in all honesty, I’ve gone out of my way to avoid thinking
about it. The reason I avoided this subject was because I refer to
myself as "fat and fit" as I am both a plus-sized gal, as well as in
excellent condition, strong, flexible with a healthy heart from regular
workouts. So fetishes about fat tend to freak me out because they speak
to the part of me that would never date anyone who didn’t love my body
just as it is. Someone who wants me to get fatter (or thinner for that
matter) is not loving me, but my body as a separate object.
That said, it was time to confront my fears, and so I did through the
watching of this movie. The movie is about a Feeder, played by
O’Loughlin, who runs a website featuring very large women who are being
fed copious amounts of food, videotaped, weighed and followed medically.
They are of course, also sexually and sensually dominated in every way,
especially with food. This is the part that is clearly about Dominance
and Submission. The Feeder is the Dominant even though he has to take
care of the Gainer because in this film, the Gainers are all pretty much
so fat that they are immobilized by their size, and completely helpless.
This helplessness is the ultimate submission because they have become
dependent in every way, unable to work, talk to anyone else, or do
anything whatsoever with their lives other than interact with their
Dominant. This is the extreme of the Feeder/Gainer relationship, and of
course because this is a movie, the directors do not show the majority
of Feeder/Gainer relationships which are not of the extreme or dangerous
variety, not to mention not of the psychotic/killer variety, as we will
discover this movie also is. After all, if the film was just about women
being fed a lot, there wouldn’t be much of a movie; it only becomes
dramatic when there are deaths, violence, and cops involved.
This extreme is the part of the Feeder/Gainer relationship that upsets
me for two reasons. One is that extreme obesity is most definitely an
extreme health issue. While I will go to bat for anyone who is
plus-sized and in great shape as I am, anyone who is in the multiples of
hundreds of pounds and cannot even get out of bed is most definitely not
healthy. Secondly, I have very serious issues with anyone who is so
dependent that they cannot choose to get out of a relationship if they
wish to. Someone who is literally unable to get out of bed because of
their size and so dependent on their Dominant for everything, even food
to sustain themselves, is too dependant. Every Submissive should have
the tools to be able to choose to leave if their situation should for
any reason become untenable, and the Gainers in this extreme kind of
situation cannot do that. For these reasons, I am unequivocally against
this kind of excessive Feeder/Gainer relationship.
I also noticed both in this movie as well as in the general information
that I found that the vast majority of Feeder/Gainer relationships are
Male Dominant (Feeder) and Female Submissive (Gainer). I find this
exceedingly disturbing and am unable to come to an understanding of why
this might be, or what cultural attitudes are driving it.
Because it is a Hollywood movie, it is also by definition driven by some
things which include the fact that our protagonist Feeder, must have had
a traumatic childhood episode in his childhood which has caused him to
be this way as an adult. He did of course, which was that his mother was
morbidly obese and made him feed her, and eventually he killed her,
leading to a lifetime of being a whack job, although a damned sexy one.
We see this again and again in mainstream movies which sadly invalidates
the BDSM lifestyle as something that can be chosen by well-rounded
individuals.
All this said, I was exceedingly surprised to find that this film spoke
eloquently about the beauty of large women’s bodies and the issues of
body acceptance in a culture that puts a premium on slimness. Indeed,
there were quite a few scenes of O’Loughlin making love to his Gainer
Submissive in various ways, although for the most part not explicitly
sexual. What was most remarkable was that we viewed a nearly 600 pound
woman’s body in its full bounty for the better part of the film, and
there were times when we apparently even saw her pussy. I don’t believe
I have ever seen anything like this, and indeed it was a challenge and a
mind-bending experience even for me to take this in. The DVD offers
several interviews including one with Alex O’Loughlin where he talks
about his experience in viewing large women and how it changed him, and
I found his thoughts about it quite remarkable, particularly for a young
man who is unusually and strikingly good looking, slim, and muscular.
As a BDSM film, this is once again an exploitation and a dramatic
stereotype of our community. That said, I believe that this movie has
something to offer because it does indeed show us and the vanilla
community something it needs to see; something that has been hidden
before. For those of you who secretly love fat women, this movie will
allow you to glory in that without shame. Ignore the silly psychotic
stuff and focus in on some of the very thoughtful philosophy that is
spoken in this film, and you might be surprised at what you hear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sensuous Sadie is the author of Spiritual Transformation through
BDSM; Stories and Submissions from Fellow Travelers. Read an excerpt
and more at Sadie's Kinky Goodies
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/sadieskinkygoodies.htm. She is the
founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM
group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for
reprinting can be addressed to her at
SensuousSadie@aol.com or
visit her website at
http://www.sensuoussadie.com/. Sadie believes the universe is
abundant, and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance,
so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.
Copyright 2007 Sadie Sez Publications
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