I’m a huge fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal. I may not know how to pronounce her last name, but I sure can enjoy her many talents on screen. This scene from the movie Secretary is kind of a classic, and I couldn’t postpone it anymore.
The fantasy of the secretary
Having sex with the secretary is a very old-fashioned, boss-like male fantasy. The guy is the boss, and he’s happy to have both coffee and sex delivered at the office. Many affairs started that way (like my parents’… FYI), and sometimes it ended pretty badly, with an unemployed woman.
What I love about this movie, is that it shows a completely different perspective on this fantasy. First, it comes from the woman, not the man. She has a huge crush on her new boss, and their relationship is going to turn way more BDSM than a regular Monday morning meeting. It’s all about submission and domination, and although she is the one getting spanked, she’s the one in control.
The main character, Lee, played by Gyllenhaal, gets out of a mental hospital, where she spent a little while. To achieve relieving her frustration and move past her oppressive childhood, she looks for ways to release the tension. I love that you can see her masturbating in the film. It shows a woman who owns her sexuality and wants to explore it further. In this scene, Mr Grey, the boss (James Spader), finally lets go of his insecurities and gets into the role. It’s not sexual per say, but it’s deeply intense, and we can feel this weird and hot bond building up between them.
There are more scenes in the film, check them out below!