Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

I watched the film by Pedro Almodovar, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! The film appears to be a love story, but in my opinion, it is far from that. Ricky just released from a mental hospital kidnaps Marina because he is in love with her. Ricky wants Marina to fall in love with him, and at the end of the film, his wish is granted. However, throughout the film, there are scenes of violence against Marina. She is tied down to a bed, he provides her with illegal drugs, and does not give her privacy.

I personally was appalled at the end of the film because after she has escaped from Ricky, Marina goes to find him because she realizes that she loves him. For this reason, one could almost argue that Marina is a masochist. No one in their right mind would fall in love with someone who has been physically and emotionally abusive like a kidnapper usually does. Also, I found that the film attacked the female gender because some of the scenes where a bit invasive. For example, Marina was portrayed as a kinky woman during the scene of the bathtub when she is masturbating with a child’s toy. She was also weak when she finds drugs on her dresser and quickly sniffs it, perhaps to help her deal with the current stressful situation. So, not only is Marina weak to her sexual desires, she was also a fragile women who could not defend herself from a kidnapper, but she also eventually had feelings for him. This plays with the issue of women not being able to control themselves from being  predisposed to be nurturing and caring beings. 

I did not fully understand the message the film was trying to send. I certainly did not feel like it was an inoffensive romantic story, but one who humiliated women because of the way the male got what his wish.