Posted by Amanda Prosser on August 20, 1996 at 15:23:59:
I have seen Passolini's Salo twice (!), though I don't
think I could handle it a third time. I will never read Deleuze in the same
way again after watching that film. I have to use the word "watch," as
in "she forced herself to watch" (every damn bit of it).
The first time I saw it, I was in my super cool don't react to anything
phase, though we all had made a pact to leave before the final 5 minutes
(we'd been warned). The second time was in my "Sexuality and
Representation" reading group. We (Marilyn Minter, Ellen
Cantor, Pat Hearn, and a few others, used to watch
porn movies in my bedroom, which is very feminine (after the theoretical
discussions). It was funny. Salo was my idea. All the people you'd think
would tough it out paced around my living room smoking. I was sitting
practically by myself, watching, pillow up to my nose (just in case). And
I, miss smarty pants about sadomasochism, who can read anything, was in
pain. It gave me something to think about (and I don't buy the fascism =
s&m, either).