SW Representation in Film: Belle De Jour
**Contains Spoilers**
"If you have never seen Belle De Jour I would say it is a must watch. The story follows Séverine, a bourgeois Paris housewife who often finds herself fantasizing about masochism and being r*ped. This desire for kinky sex leads her to begin working in a boutique bordello. Some chaos ensues when she is discovered by her husband's friend and is followed home by an obsessive client who she finds dangerous but alluring. That client ends up shooting her husband leaving him paralyzed and Séverine is left to care for him. It is hard to say for a fact how the movie ends, the ambiguity being very intentional. Is it a "happy" ending? No. But what I enjoy most about this film is that it gives an entertaining portrayal of what more recent films like Babygirl also present: we contain multitudes and are full of contradictions, especially when it comes to desire, pleasure, and sex.
As far as the portrayal of sex work I believe this film does a good job at capturing some of the many reasons why folks choose this work: freedom and fantasy. We all have desires, desires that we may not care to explain or simply cannot explain. Who knows why we want what we want, but we want it. The film poses this juxtaposition by showing the sexless and distant relationship between Séverine and her gorgeous husband that does want to be close to her. But, for some unknown reason (even to her), Séverine recoils at nearly every chance for connection. This theme of societal expectations of women's sterility leading them to create their own methods of release is one of my favorite film tropes; and in this genre Belle De Jour does not disappoint." – Mel
Belle De Jour scored 2/4 in our Red Light Rules that assess portrayals of sex work in film.
