A Social History?

Another notion.

Other than the concept of a society for serious lifestyle enthusiasts (to act as a bit of a safety endorsement if nothing else) the other idea I have been toying with is some sort of social history of the Master & Slave scene.

The scene has changed radically in the past twenty years, with greater diversity and approaches than before, yet the purists (me among them) are keen to emphasise that just because someone calls you Master or treats you as a slave whilst both parties cavort in leather is not particularly related to the Master & Slave lifestyle. It has not been helped by the cull that took place in the 80’s due to Aids, and in the UK there was never a particularly strong ‘formalised’ structure as there allegedly was in the US. It is this absence of practical memories, as opposed to theoretical behaviour, that seems to be the major missing link here.

You can read Rinella, you can read Gay porn, but none of them really reflect what things actually were like or, indeed, how individuals adapted the theoretical constraints to living a life in the late 20th Century. It is this that I would really like to try and bring out before the remaining guys who have those memories are lost to us forever and take their knowledge with them.

Written or filmed?

I had though of just getting my trusty Dictaphone and recording interviews for a written history. This is what I am used to as a journalist in many ways: just a few guiding questions and allow the interviewee to talk at length, editing down afterwards. But then the other half made a suggestion: why not a documentary? As a film student he was bound to go down that route and, well, talking head documentaries are pretty straightforward to make.

The one issue with this is, as a friend pointed out, getting people to go on the record. In a written approach I had only envisaged first names with an interview each chapter, topped and tailed by introduction and conclusion: safely anonymous. But if it is filmed some people have to be on screen: you cannot compose something entirely out of documentary footage and pixellated or darkened images: you can have some of that, but not all. People have real lives and in many cases exposure to the glare of the lens could send them running for cover. On the other hand it would have far more impact.

The story so far.

Whilst I have been thinking of this two more mature (let’s say) members of the scene have provided me with outlines of their reminiscences. These in themselves are fascinating: one akin to Old Guard structures for training, another talking about haring through a 50’s English village on a motorbike stark naked at 13. You wouldn’t get the latter in Miss Marple. Any more are gratefully received, as truth is generally far more fascinating than fiction, and no matter what route this goes down, subjects and subject matter is always welcome and anonymity is assured, unless you tell me otherwise.

M