Curious about BDSM? Well then what better way to learn about it than from some of the members of this kinky community? “Vice & Consent” aims to educate viewers on what BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, Sado-Masochism) is really all about. It wants to break the myths and tired old clichés the community has had to deal with for over fifty years now. Does it succeed? Well, there’s a lot of information here and these people are really passionate about the subject…
Filmmaker Howard Scott Warshaw interviews several long-time members from the San Francisco BDSM community. Authors and enthusiasts all share their own personal tales of kinky fun, all the while intending to present BDSM in a more truthful light. They condemn clichés that have thrived due to misreprentation in film and on the Internet. Some of what they’re saying you will agree with, while some of it you will see as a bunch of hot air. I don’t like being told the difference between kinky and perverted, do you?
“Vice & Consent” is largely made up of talking head interviews, only cutting away to the occasional shot of handcuffs, vinyl boots, or other BDSM toys. For a film that aims to reveal a certain community as it truly is, you think there would be at least some footage of its members in action, nothing necessarily explicit, just a little illustration, something to pull the viewer in and wrap them up in this world, making them want to learn more of the truth. Without that accompanying footage, “Vice & Consent” is informative, but stands mostly as a friendly little chat with some enthusiastic kinksters.
