6.5/10
The Secretary
A mentally fragile woman who goes to work for a semi-psycho boss and S&M results. The S&M, while physically manifested to some degree is much more mental and emotional. The movie is full of irony in that the dominant party is a slave to his own mental anguish and the submissive party is freed of her submissiveness through her submission. It's an interesting study in sexuality, psychology, and mind-fuckery.
It's slow at times and has a couple of unnecessary moving parts, but overall it's pretty interesting. And you have to be in the right mood to see it. Like, if you want pure entertainment, save this one for another time when you're feeling a little more introspective.
On a side note, the boss's last name is Grey, which only adds to the literary travesty that is 50 Shades of Grey.
7/10
He's not psycho. He has Aspergers. It's a very well written and played character in that regard. She's not mentally frail. She IS crazy, but that's not the same thing as frail. Frailty implies weakness. She's not weak. She's very much in control in the film as well as strong. People who engage in the type of behaviour she does, do it out of an urge to take control over their otherwise chaotic lives. Take note that she stops with the self harm when she starts "having sex" with the boss. It's a clue that it's healthy for her (according to the script). I wouldn't be surprised if this film sprung from the mind of somebody in the kinky scene and studying to be a psychiatrist at the time. Because these people are very believable and I'm sure have their counterparts in the BDSM-scene. Both of the characters are kinky-stereotypes of sorts. Perhaps the reason it's so popular among perverts.
The films pre-dates 50-shades. I always interpreted the name Grey as a nod to John Gray, of Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus. The 50-Shades on the other hand is simply about that BDSM isn't black and white. Which... well... duh. Yes, I agree that book is a travesty. But The Secretary isn't at all. It's a finely crafted production imho.
Is it certain that he has Aspergers? If so, that's an element I hadn't considered. But whether he is nor not, my assessment of him as "half-psycho" is off the mark. I should have said something along the lines of "internally tortured" due to Whatever reason.
But I do think my assessment of the female character as mentally fragile is correct. She grows throughout the film, along with some peaks and valleys to become a stronger person once.
As for the 50 Shades of I Can't Fucking Believe So Many People Bought That Book, I should have been more clear. This film pre-dates that book by about a decade, and it's hard to believe that either 1 of 2 things didn't happen.
1. The 50 Shades hack outright stole the name of the character from this movie
2. It was a crappy coincidence
I think it was #1. I don't give that author enough credit to actually give a nod to another piece of literature--even a piece of dubious pop-lit.
As for the BDSM thing, this movie, in its execution of the fetish, is likely, for the most part, more accurate than the stereotypes most people normally think of when they hear the term. OTOH, this movie does engage in some of the stereotypes too.
Whatever the case, the fact that the movie is worth discussing on a level other than a unanimous agreement that it sucked proves that it has something going for it.
Oh, and going back to the Asperger's thing: it doesn't really matter if one knows it or not because the character is ultimately portrayed as an example of flawed and vulnerable humanity.
