What do you want?
(06/16/05 4:00am)
When I watched the ’80s movie Blue Velvet a few weeks ago, one scene transformed the movie for me from a sadomasochistic cream dream into thesis-worthy material. Up until that scene, I had no real questions. I’d seen Kyle MacLachlan (yes, Charlotte’s scummy first husband from Sex and the City) set up as Jeffrey, the slightly preppy male protagonist playing at being a detective while diving into his dangerous sexual side. I’d seen dark-haired Isabella Rosselini set up as Dorothy, the mysteriously vulnerable sex goddess. I saw Blue Velvet exploring the queer sexual questions, the pain/pleasure questions, the ride into the dark side. But it wasn’t until the scene in which Jeffrey and Dorothy meet that I saw Blue Velvet set me up.