Fetish/SM on Law and Order
Last week I had the distinct pleasure of being on Law and Order Criminal Intent. Aside from always having the hots for Jeff Goldblum and wanting desperately to sit on his lap, I was excited to participate in a little bit of New York cliche. The scene was in a fetish club, and unlike some of the other Law and Order episodes, Fetish/SM was not somehow a cause of the murder or demonized and thrown under the bus for plot.
When I got the phone call to be on the show, I had a bit of a reservation for that reason. I talked to a few people about the nature of L&O and villain-izing SM’ers, and I said that I wasnt going to be a part of it. So they told me that I would be able to give me input on set, to make sure that things were accurately depicted.
The experience was great, a good mix of real lifestylers, goth kids and a few actors looking uncomfortable in their borrowed wardrobe. We all easily picked ourselves out and had a lot of fun in the basement of Element, curiously called “The Vault” a nice nod to the old SM club in chelsea that is no more.
There were a few things in particular that really clinched my positive feelings about this episode….
When the two cops enter the club (Ill refer to them as Goldblum and Girl, bc honestly the girl was just as vapid in real life as she is on the show) they say the following (straight from the script):
Goldblum:Its Hard to imagine none of these people were born here. They all have other lives.
Girl: And many still do…Jobs, kids at home, little wifey over the stove…
Goldblum: Im actually kinda liking it here, What about you?
This is an interesting interchange, and its not without its own irony and humor. However, in combination with Jeff Goldblum getting whipped by a single tail, and spanking a few girls who volunteered on set (not on camera) I would have to say that old rumors of Jeff Goldblum being kinky, and new directions for L&O seem evident. This did a lot to assuage concerns in my mind, and presents a message that however different, these people also have normal lives– and nto the normal lives of cut-throat megalomaniacal attorneys on wall street as in previous episodes.
Later on, they even go so far as to intellectualize it, and even refer to it as quasi-spiritual. This sentiment is something you don’t often hear from people who arent in the lifestyle themselves. These “justifications” or “explanations” are often met with much opposition from vanilla, uptight, religious, or medical professionals and having this opinion be stated in such a way on this show is amazing (also straight from the script):
Goldblum: Foucault called them limit experiences, going beyond where you feel its safe. Similar to meditation.
Girl: In meditation you give yourself over to harmony of peace.
Goldblum: But erasing boundaries between consciousness and the unconscious, Who knows what you’ll find?
So that was an incredible thing for me to be a part of. I still think they 
could strongly benefit from someone (like me!) being on board to assist them in their portrayal of BDSM, Alt Sex, and really sex+ stuff in general, just as they took advantage of my knowledge and expertise on set that day. The experience was great, I strongly recommend it, they pay you of course, and had food on set and in the waiting areas and the crew were great.
I got to do some Self Bondage, a harnass or two and a partial suspension, did some rigging for other people, and since I brought a STOCKPILE of floggers, paddles and gags got to have a bunch of them out and used by lots of people. I was determined to have this look real!
Another fascinating thing about doing
this kind of work is the people you run into. They cast a wide net for this sort of thing and I ran into some people that I know like a friend’s ex-bf, and some people that are going to be in the Rubber Ball I am judging next week! Im so excited, and I hope to do this many many more times!
Klawdya Rothschild's Vortex 