Cake

Forgive me if I'm wary of the "you must have been abused to be an exhibitionist plot line," but the details about Bettie's personal and sexual history at the beginning of the movie seemed a little sketchy to me. You see her messing around in a grassy field outside, posing with her sister "like one of those Ziegfeld girls," while some unknown boy photographs them. Her sort of creepy looking dad calls her inside and says he wants to see her upstairs. Then there's a close-up on young Bettie's face - looking like she doesn't want to go.

Later on there's a montage of scenes with her husband that ends when he slaps her and she walks out on him. She picks up and moves to the big city, but as soon as she gets there she hops into a strangers car for a "date" and ends up getting kidnapped and forced into sex acts for men in the middle of the woods. All of these scenes are pretty vague - you don't know if she was molested for sure - you don't really know what the details were between her and her husband - you don't know exactly happened to her in the woods, but you do get to assume abuse is significant part of the story. But if the facts are the facts, than so be it - it's biographical.

In one of her first photo sessions the photographer sits her down and explains to her how her forehead catches the light and suggests she let him cut her some bangs to frame her face. Someone please tell me it's not true! Come on - even if she didn't she cut those puppies herself, did she really look into the mirror with a clueless cock of her head and shrug her shoulders in agreement? She stopped having her picture taken after she decided Jesus wouldn't want her modeling anymore - but in these photos of her at 80 years old - she's still got bangs.

"Clearly Bettie is a very inspiring figure to young women because she had a strong independent streak. She did what she wanted to do and she wasn't just doing it for men. I think the fact that she enjoyed posing so much is what gives her this inner glow. You don't feel like she just wanted to be liked. But I think it's a huge mistake to think of her as a conscious feminist heroine. As far as I can see, she didn't have an agenda, ever. She just followed her own path unconsciously. I don't think she thought of herself as a rebel in any way. She was kind of in her own world of dress-up...." - Nerve interview with director Mary Harron.

In this world of dress-up, of props, costumes and creativity, Bettie rules. She had many different images - - she got to be the good girl and the bad girl and everything in between. No matter what costumes she used - short shorts and roller skates, bondage gear, leopard print, a bunch of balloons, or in the nude, she always looked in control.

But no one woman alone can be responsible for icon status. Some other characters in the making of this sex symbol include now famous fetish photographer Irving Klaw and his less famous sister - Paula Klaw - who took a lot of pictures of Bettie. There's a funny scene where Bettie is puckering up to a stuffed clown and Paula Klaw is filming. Later Bettie makes her own costumes for photo shoots with Bunny Yeager, a female photographer responsible for Bettie's Playboy centerfold pics.

Check out the movie for a few hot reenactments of old-time fetish movies and some more about the role she played in her public image.