Kate Puhala

"S&M has a dark definition, and people just don't understand that there's a spirituality to it: There is a bond between people who connect through shared experience," says Marc P., a soft-spoken man dressed from head to toe in leather. Standing in a replica room of a dark biker bar--complete with a leather-clad mannequin waiting for a drink--Marc is waiting to see a Taste of CineKink Chicago, seven films on all things kinky, presented by the Leather Archives and Museum.

"[The films are] a positive intro to the community," Marc says. "There are too many things used as negative imagery, the vicious biker, wild, angry stuff."

"What we do may be scary from the outside, but it's intense psychological interaction," says Windy City Bondage Club member Fred Leise as he stands in front of a display of medieval chastity belts, leather whips, handcuffs and a Kitchen Made meat pounder.

"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" plays before the award-winning films from the past three years of the film festival are screened.

"Pornographic Apathetic" shows four people slouching in a dim room around a table uttering cliché porn phrases with deadpan faces. The monotone handy man seduces the expressionless cheerleader, both remaining in their seats at opposite ends of the table. When the mistress and pizza delivery boy enter, sexual banter reaches its climax while all characters remain emotionless and stationary. The theater fills with laughter.

The documentary, "Shine: Confessions of a Rubber Fetishist," shows the daily routines of a man obsessed with leather boots. "Shine" also shows the pleasure and sense of self one gets from playing a submissive role in the leather community. The same master/slave relationship is explored in a second documentary "Pup," where a man embodies the role of a puppy-dog collar, leash, muzzle and all. His master trains him on commands for competition where if the "pup" sits, stays and plays on command, he goes home a winner.

"The movies are good for diversity, for a change to see things people don't often talk about," says Eve Minax, Taste of CineKink Chicago film festival producer. "[The films] brought up a lot of issues and conversations for people with their partners and with their friends besides, `That was a great action scene.'"

Well, maybe just for some. Jill Wiggins and her two friends laugh, "I'm hoping to get ideas from the movies."

(2006-08-01)

Also by Kate Puhala

That's XXX
A self-described "fusion of contemporary retro rap and dance with a punk-rock energy," Juiceboxxx seems harmless at first
(2006-07-11)

Gay and Great
Chicago is the only municipality he knows of in the world that honors "the pride of the community" with a Hall of Fame induction and title.
(2006-06-21)

Bring on the Pig's Blood
"This is eerily nostalgic of things I do not want to remember," Ellie Maybe says in her black and gray duct-tape gown while waiting in line for the bathroom at Logan Square Auditorium. "At least this time my date hasn't shown up an hour late and vomited on me." She is likely reminiscing about high-school prom
(2006-05-16)

Mothers Who Rock
Two small children fancifully run into the Beat Kitchen--an odd occurrence on any other day given that it's a bar--but not on Cinco de Mama, an evening of moms performing with their rock bands
(2006-05-09)

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