Yeah I know I know, it's been forever since the last post -- I am sure the last 3 readers gave up long ago expecting anything new. Well, RL has gotten in the way, and I frankly haven't had anything new to say. But an idea came to me, so here we go:
A recent dawdle through DeviantArt led me to an artist who among other things dwelt on the theme of "preparing" the heroine for her peril or doom -- and I don't mean a pep talk. The theme here is, of course, the idea that after a heroine's capture, she is somehow re-dressed, or prettied up, or stripped, or otherwise made ready for some ghastly trap, usually, but not always, a machine or contraption. This preparation gives the villain more time to gloat, heightens the suspense of just what will happen to our valiant girl, etc.
Now what interested me was that this particular artist was a woman (Molly Footman if you want to look her up). It got me thinking: usually, the idea of "prepare her for the Machine!" was motivated by the villain. The value of this interlude for the person playing the heroine seemed to be one purely of building suspense. And when preparation involved changing the attire of the heroine -- actually, altering her appearance in any way -- it could come across as delightfully cheezy/louche. (Example, Dr Evil's line " You like the clothes? I designed them myself" delivered to a silver-clad Vanessa Kensington.) Go too far and it gets creepy.
But clearly for at least one woman out there the preparation idea is more than just a drawing out of the peril set up -- it's erotic for her in and of itself. This reassures me, because I'd like to think that that all the components of the damsel in distress melodrama have a value for the heroine. At no point do I like the idea that she is just forbearing or phoning it in until we get to a part she likes.
Maybe some heroines out there could add there perspectives on this? Or villains?
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