Review of "Secretary"

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A review of Mary Gaitskill's BDSM short story "Secretary".
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Not long ago a low budget film slipped into theaters, made some impression with critics, picked up a lot of viewers mostly through word of mouth and then slipped off into a respectable showing in video and DVD sales. This was not the ordinary triple X film you might expect to find reviewed here at Literotica, it was basically a mainstream, R- rated film. Surprisingly it did get reviewed here, and though I disagreed with the overall "thumbs down" the reviewer gave the film, I had to agree with the faults the reviewer found with the film. That said, I must also say that the film featured a scene that I thought was the sexiest, most erotic scene I have ever seen in a film, and I have seen many of super XXX features from the days of "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones" (featuring Georgina Spelvin), to "The New Devil in Miss Jones" (featuring Jenna Jamison).

Now keep your zippers up, if you are looking for a wank film, Secretary is not the film for you. The erotic scene I mention occurs right after the lawyer in the film spanked his secretary for the excessive errors in her typing. The scene shows a close up of her hand on the desk, with his hand resting next to hers. Both are recovering from the spanking, catching their breath, the secretary reeling from the humiliation, the lawyer aroused by the activity, when the close up shows her pinky finger gently rubbing the fingers on his hand. No, no engorged cocks diving into gaping cunts, a woman's pinky finger rubbing a man's fingers. Within the context of the film and with the superb acting, that simple act was simply the most erotic thing I have seen in films, far more satisfying than even Linda Lovelace swallowing the entire length of Harry Reems' supposed 9".

Well, the review of the film Secretary has been written here at Literotica and though I enjoyed the film, I cannot argue with the faults the reviewer discussed, instead, I decided to go to the source material, to find the origin of the story and see if it was handled differently. The film was based upon a short story titled Secretary by Mary Gaitskill and is published in her collection of short stories titled Bad Behavior.

When I first perused the collection and looked over Secretary, I noted that it was only 17 pages, just 17 pages and yet they made a full length feature film from the story. The story begins with Debby, an obviously smart, but very shy young woman, who, upon finishing up her Typing and Secretarial class at the junior college goes looking for her first job. Within a few short paragraphs the reader realizes that Debby's life has basically been divided between staying at home with her parents and a younger sister and the short time she spends in her classes preparing herself to become a secretary.

Gaitskill skillfully presents Debby so the reader easily and quickly begins to feel something for this woman. In an interview the prospective employer sees there is more to this woman:

"The next place was a tax information office in a slab of building with green trim. They gave me an intelligence test that was mostly spelling and 'What's wrong with this sentence?' The woman came out of her office holding my test and smiling. 'You scored higher than anyone else I've interviewed,' she said. "You're really overqualified for this job. There's no challenge. You'd be bored to death.'

'I want to be bored,' I said.

She laughed, "Oh, I don't think that's true.'

We had a nice talk about what people want out of their jobs and then I left.

'Well, I hope you weren't surprised that you had the highest score,' said my mother.'"

Even the lawyer who eventually hires her sees there is more to this shy woman:

"He stared at me, his eyes becoming hooded in thought. 'There's something about you,' he said. 'You're closed up, you're tight. You're like a wall.'

'I know.'"

The lawyer hires her to work as his receptionist and secretary in his small office, so small that besides a part-time paralegal, Debby and the lawyer are the only workers present during the day. Debby quickly settles into a routine of occasionally typing letters, answering the phone, getting coffee for the lawyer and greeting a client every so often. At the end of a dull day at work, Debby's mother would pick her up and take her home.

The reader is continually drawn deeper and deeper into Debby's life, gaining some understanding of her psyche as her mother waivers between pride in her daughter's job and the wish her daughter would somehow escape her shell and realize her true potential. Debby's father never had the confidence in his daughter that his wife does:

"'That typing course really paid off,' said my father. 'You made a good investment." He wandered in and out of the dining room in pleased agitation, holding his glass of beer."

After the first few weeks of uncomfortable formality at the office, the lawyer begins to get more and more critical of her typing, leading to the scene where he has Debby lean over the desk and read the letter while he spanks her. Immediately shocked at the event, Debby meekly continues reading the letter over and over again, while he spanks her. She is humiliated and at the same time incredibly aroused, so much so that when she is excused, she rushes to the restroom to masturbate.

The spankings continued over the next few weeks, Debby would again and again, bend over the desk and read the letter while the lawyer spanked her. She'd then leave his office, go to the restroom and masturbate. Each time she felt odd about the situation, but remained strangely drawn to the humiliation. This continued until one day, after spanking her, her lawyer asks her to raise her skirt:

"'You're not worried that I am going to rape you, are you?' he said. 'Don't, I'm not the least bit interested in that, not in the least. Pull up your skirt.'"

She followed his instructions, raising her skirt and then pulling down her panty hose and panties. She continued leaning over the desk until she sensed something happening behind her:

"My hips were sprayed with hot sticky muck.

'Go clean yourself off," he said. 'And do that letter again.'"

She adjusted her dress, but rushed out with her panties and panty hose still pulled down. The paralegal was there, but Debby quickly helped her with what she needed and then rushed to the restroom to masturbate. Debby then returned to her desk, finished the letter and when time came to head home she left as normal.

She never returned to the lawyer's office, she didn't call him, he didn't call her. Only later, when she received a short letter of apology did she think about the situation again. And after that day she didn't think of it again, until she received a call from a local magazine wanting to interview her about her job, now that the lawyer was running for mayor. The story ends with the phone call, certainly a much more realistic, yet darker ending than the film had.

With the story, Mary Gaitskill could leave her readers feeling uncomfortable about it all, strangely drawn to the sexual content and yet also repulsed a bit. Unfortunately, with the film, this type of ending doesn't sell movie tickets, so a bizarre sequence was tagged onto the story where Debby and the lawyer get together and live happily ever after, with Debby delivering letters to him on hands and knees like a dog, the letter carefully tucked between her smiling lips.

Read the story start to finish, but with the movie, stop it before you get to the end, you'll enjoy the film just that much more.

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AnonymousAnonymous11 months ago

I really liked the way the movie ended. I'd never before (or since) seen a happy ending involving a cockroach.

AnonymousAnonymousover 3 years ago
Love (❤) the review = ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5.0)!

Loved the movie, five star stuff: ❤❤❤❤❤ (5)!

Excerpt from the review:

Quote: The scene shows a close up of her hand on the desk, with his hand resting next to hers. Both are recovering from the spanking, catching their breath, the secretary reeling from the humiliation, the lawyer aroused by the activity, when the close up shows her pinky finger gently rubbing the fingers on his hand. (Unquote.)

❤, 👍👍!

😊

AnonymousAnonymousover 17 years ago
THE ANSWER!

WELL DONE-

JJCONFLICT

Selena_KittSelena_Kittalmost 18 years ago
Liked Them Both!

I actually enjoyed both the film and the story. I think there were elements in each that made them different and unique, and I found it titillating to find such direct reference to the D/S lifestyle in mainstream filmmaking. I didn't mind the happily ever after ending at all. :) I read the story (believe it or not) in a college English class, and had always remembered the content but never could remember who wrote it. Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to look it up again! It's a wonderfully provocative and disturbing little piece. Great review!

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