“Love and Leashes” Is Better Than “Fifty Shades of Grey”
To all the Fifty Shades of Grey fans, I’m sorry to announce that the throne for Best BDSM representation in film is being taken over by none other than Love and Leashes. Coincidentally both films were released the week of Valentine’s Day. What a great touch. But a quick poll, what film would you watch on Valentine’s Day if you’re single? A cute Korean romantic comedy showing the dynamic of a new BDSM relationship between a Female Dom and Male Sub falling in love OR a romance thriller with a dull virgin college student who wants love and finds it in a troubled, problematic, control freak billionaire who can only show feelings to women through his hobby of BDSM? Personally, I would choose the first option which is Love and Leashes. But let me explain why Love and Leashes is better than Fifty Shades of Grey.
The problem I had with Fifty Shades of Grey was Christian’s character. He was too wishy-washy with Anastasia. He was spoiling her and wooing her the whole time. You would think they were falling in love. But he would get mad if she touched him. They have a very intimate relationship based on the rating. IT’S RATED R. I get it, he has trauma but the way it was being shown by him seemed annoying to me. He knew he wanted to be with Anastasia but he did the only thing he knew he could keep her, which was a contract and his hobby, BDSM. He takes advantage of her in a way because he knows that Anastasia wants to love him and get something more from him. But he just uses her in a way to get what he wants. I know they have two more movies and in the end, they have a kid, get married, and have a beautiful big home. I’m only gonna talk about the first one because it wasn’t good.
Now onto Love and Leashes. So I expected this film to be rated mature because it deals with BDSM. But surprisingly it was TV-14. I lowkey wanted it to be mature but I think the rating was perfect for this film. Korea is known for films and shows not being as inappropriate as those from the United States. From my experience, I could be watching a bunch of Korean romance shows and I will be on episode 20 and the main characters finally kiss. Most Korean shows are slow burns and cute. It’s addicting and you just squeal when they finally kiss. But in Love and Leashes, we learn about BDSM. They explain it from a beginner’s point of view to anyone who is curious. The main protagonist, Jung Ji-Woo, is a woman who is a good leader working in a public relations office. The love interest, Ji-Hoo, is the latest member of the public relations team who seems perfect but has secret BDSM desires. Ji-Woo finds out about Ji-Hoo’s BDSM secret and they end up in a BDSM relationship. You would think the woman, Ji-Woo, would be the submissive in the relationship but the film takes a turn. Ji-Hoo is submissive and Ji-Woo is dominant. This is why I love the film so much because there have been so many books and films of the man being dominant in relationships because it’s so common. There is not that much representation of women being dominant. I like the ups and downs of BDSM they show in the film because it’s not always a safe and liked hobby in the world. I don’t want to give too many spoilers because it’s a great film. I think people should watch this to get an insight into BDSM even if you aren’t into it. It’s just a good Rom-Com almost everyone can enjoy.
I will stand my ground about this. Fifty Shades of Grey sucked, it was cliche, cringy, and overbearing. Love and Leashes was cute, funny, has good knowledge of BDSM, and honestly made my heart flutter. Go watch the film, please and thank you.
