Pornumentaries and Sexploitation
7
inspiration from Christian iconography, and his work, however perverted it
might appear to be, remains at the textual level and therefore is much more open
to interpretation than the visual representation of a young man nailed to a cross.
In addition, much of Sade’s most spectacular displays of sexual excess often
defied various physical laws of the universe, often many at once, and almost
always the law of gravity. In the physical world we occupy, such intricate
arrangements of bodies and sensual activities simply cannot be done; all
participants, heroes and victims alike, would seriously hurt themselves but not
intentionally, unlike the main villain in Dan Brown’s bestseller. The Da Vinci
Code. This character happens to be a member of the Opus Dei—the catholic
order created by the Spanish dictator’s (Franco) spiritual councilor, Escriva de
Balaguer, who was canonized by John Paul II—and practices self-flagellation on
a daily basis, thus following a long catholic tradition of physical mortification
which is in itself highly suspicious. Santa Teresa of Avila, one of the most
famous figures in Spanish mysticism, describes a state of ecstasy due to selfinflicted tortures which can easily be compared to that of an orgasm. In this
case, Saint Teresa fulfills both roles of the typical sadomasochistic activity,
being at the same time dominatrix and submissive, and apparently, enjoying
both equally.
As the Industrial Revolution progressed and libertine ideals were
crushed by bourgeois morals, the open narration of sex became the sole property
of doctors, counselors, and smut peddlers. Sex went unsaid, and "to ejaculate*’ in
the adventures of Sherlock Holmes never meant anything more than to exclaim.
As the epitome of law, order, rationality, and positivism he was never interested
in establishing any type of communication with the fairer sex. The only woman
who ever seemed to have an affect on Holmes was Irene Adler, one of the
protagonists of “The Adventure of a Scandal in Bohemia,” from The Adventures
o f Sherlock Holmes. In the story, Holmes is hired by an anonymous foreign
dignitary to retrieve some compromising documents which have been stolen by
Irene. Surprisingly enough. Holmes will lose the case, accept his defeat, and
always remember Irene with the utmost admiration, keeping a photograph of her
to which he will refer as "the Woman.” This particular tale reveals the
relationship of Puritan morals and fetishism, for the great detective obviously
represses his attraction toward the young lady, preferring to mentally masturbate
in front of her photograph, along with his loyal sidekick, the very decent Dr.
Watson. At the turn of the century, however, as the Victorian era draws to an
end, the verb "to ejaculate” will disappear altogether from the adventures of the
illustrious sleuth to be replaced by "to exclaim” or “to cry' out,” thus indicating
that by then, “to ejaculate” came to mean something else, something of very
little interest in the sexless universe of the great detective.
The Industrial Revolution not only established bourgeois morality and
institutionalized the prohibition of an open sexual narrative, it also consolidated
the ties between sexual imagery and financial exploitation. In the logic of
modem capitalism, needs have to be created in order to promote consumption,6