BOUND AND DETERMINED
December 1, 1996

"OH MY GOD!
If this is illegal,
just let the cops wait and hour or two."

I thought as I sat in the dark holding my girlfriend's hand and feeling excited and more than a little nasty.

I finally saw the movie BOUND. I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to God but I sure as hell had a religious experience in that theater, surrounded by a THX sound system and the smell of popcorn. There was a shared sense of erotic storytelling and estrogen.

To be perfectly honest, I waited a long time to see BOUND because of the writers. I figured two guys couldn't write about lesbians without having either a very graphic rape scene or a goofy, "I'll finger you until a real man comes along" subtext.

(Also, the one guy we know who saw it the first week it opened said BOUND was a great movie. He's a 60 year old Navy man who's about as straight as they come and fairly homophobic. I was afraid of what that said about the movie.)

Now, don't get me wrong. I know that rape is a part of this society and therefore is depicted in films as the horrendous crime it is. I'm glad that rape is no longer a four letter word accompanied by snickers and knowing glances but there is a point when the horror loses it's effect on people. When I was a little kid, I fell in love with the F-word. I used it wherever and whenever I could. My mother didn't stop me. In fact, she encouraged me to say it over and over again for the afternoon. It took about thirty minutes for the word to lose all meaning and became sort of a mantra. The honeymoon was over and I went back to Damn and Boogerhead. If every movie has a rape scene in it, rape looses it's horror and becomes the norm.

Luckily, BOUND has no rape. It does have a huge amount of violence including beatings, shootings (many, many blood packs spewing all over the place), and a few allusions to pruning shears. The suggestion of and actual occurrence of a good amount of lesbian sex (including a nice little "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" tattoo tour), snappy Mafia dialog and some really good home improvement tips.

This is pure escapism. For those who complain that BOUND is so far out there it could never really happen, I say, WHO CARES?!? I don't go to the movies to see my life or the life of any one I know or ever have the chance of knowing. I go to see what I can't even imagine and those movies are becoming harder and harder to come by.

I haven't seen such an intense group of brunettes since the GODFATHER movies. After the movie, the women's bathroom was filled with lesbians that had been holding it all in for far to long. Siskel and Ebert have nothing on these women! Corky, the butch character with her big lips and even bigger teeth, was described as a female Val Kilmer by a woman in line for the john. Violet's squeaky voice was the perfect juxtaposition to her steely resolve and ruthless manner. Everyone agreed: Jennifer Tilly was sexier in tight black jeans than in the little negligee.

Ah, BOUND, brain candy for the 90's.

Laura


Please send me your comments and suggestions. Email me at lmjimene@ix.netcom.com.


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Copyright, 1997 by Laura Jiménez.