Ai no Corrida, etc.

[Anne McKnight]

Just out of curiosity, were there any real-live "ladies only" sitting in that section?

I mean, what kind of reading of Ai no corrida, or faith in the male spectator's
mechanical relation in translating a particular scopophilia to action, would you have to
have, to draw attention to this particular cause and effect relation?  Good question, is
this practice particular to this film, or is it maybe some kind of self-referential gag
about the art-film goer, one that requires an innocent female spectator?  Kind of
reminds me of the schtick of something like William Castle films, the ones that had the
(shapely, according to John Waters) nurses' stations in the lobby for the "faint of
heart," people who got the vapors from watching such an affectively taxing, over-the-top
film and needed to be "treated"... Both scenes seem to introduce & theatricalize (in
both senses of the word) narratives of hystericized eroticism not necessarily produced
by the films themselves...
Anne

>
> The theater also had a special "ladies' only"section reserved for women who came
> without male accompaniment.