| Sarah Michelle Gellar. If she's a slayer, where do we sign up for "vampire"? |
Pop-Domme Culture:Sarah Michelle Gellar At Maxim-um Lethality Sarah Michelle Gellar has been a natural femme fatale — quite literally — from the time she burst on the scene in the television-series version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In episode after episode, she implants in the pop-culture mind images of a lovely, girlish figure, sending (largely) male vampires and creatures to oblivion. It's the cheerleader as dominatrix, even assassin — works for us. Later roles saw her advance, and effortlessly, into the femme fatale role of Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions. So perhaps it should be no surprise that in her next film, Southland Tales, Ms. Gellar portrays an action-figure cum porn star whom she describes as "sort of Arianna Huffington meets Jenna Jameson." Or that she's promoting it with a series of photos-to-die-for at Maxim magazine. Still, the images for Maxim have an arresting, stunning, drop-to-your-knees quality — something of a signal development, perhaps, in her career, and another Zeitgeist advance for total female rule. The shoot combines a dash of Marlene Dietrich, especially in the pant-suit and suspender wardrobe and often aloof or stern expressions of some frames, with elements of Madonna (brasierre-on-top, girlysmiles in other shots), Avril Lavigne/Sister 13 (those sawed-off shotgun leather gloves, and periodically searing pupil-burns), and perhaps even Bardot (a pair of haunting images in silk dinner gloves.) Gellar's fingers seem to point appropriately downward to her heels and the grave that suggestively lurks below. Her eye shadow has the neo-classic heroin look that often connotes female vulnerability-desperation-anarexia. But the expression of her eyes — alternatingly Grace-Kelly calm to Rita-Hayworth mocking-knowing, to some with a hungry, almost fierce edge in Gellar's pupils — connote that if she's addicted to anything, it may be your destruction. Our favorite shot, Ms. Gellar with a searching look in the eyes and her gloved hand held backward over her mouth, in a way links back to the feli-femininity of Buffy. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry, darling," she seems to say. "I think I gave you the glass with the poison in it." Consider too: Her favorite movie, according to IMDB.com, is "Heathers," about an ugly-duckling-into-lovely young lady who begins offing trendy classmates. Her favorite star: Stockard Channing, who seduces and dispatches various male cheauvanists in the comedy classic "The Girl Most Likely." A student of tae kawn do, Gellar's pets are named Thor and Tyson. Inside her right ankle is a lovely tattoo of a heart — with a dagger poised over it. And then there was her little-noted interview with Howard Stern, in which Gellar describes her emerging affection for handcuffs and other toys. She makes it clear, the restraints aren't for her. All of which probably accounts for the reports around Hollywood that Gellar plays the domme in real life with her pliable hubby, Freddie Prinze Jr. One never knows which rumors are true and which are planted to sell film tickets or magazines, but from a glance at Maxim, Ms. Gellar is either an excellent actress, a real dominatrix, or both. — Max Copyright note: DieForHer.com respects intellectual property rights. The image above is copyrighted Maxim magazine and Dennis Publishing, all rights reserved. In linking to that image (on Maxim's site) for the purposes of cultural and political commentary on its significance, DieForHer asserts no right of licensure or use. Persons or entities wishing to make use of this image should contact the underlying copyright holder. DieForHer.com will remove any images or links when asked by the underlying copyright holder, except where such images are fairly in the public domain and are being used for the purposes of protected political speech. All commentaries on this page and this web site, unless otherwise noted, are copyright DieForHer.com, all rights reserved. Reference and fair-use quotations (less than 100 words) may be made but we ask that even such use be accompanied by 1. reference to our copyright, and 2. a link to this site. As we treat others, so we ask to be treated by them. |
