Within this film, the focus falls on the all romantic tale of two star-crossed lovers who are tangled in a dangerous dilemma. However, underlying most of the romantic overtures and happenings are a result of something fundamental: the desire for sex, which just happens to be delivered through prostitution. By exploring both sides of the prostitution dynamic (the prostitute and the client), the motivations and meanings for engaging in this business will emerge as unique and different for each side. To help prime the later discussion on the individual influences, it would be useful to understand the history from which prostitution emerges and the manner in which the nature of the work is portrayed in this film. Prostitution is defined
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The scene that reveals most of Satine’s motivations are spelled out when she is going back and forth with Christian about the nature of love while on top of the elephant in front of the brothel. Though Christian promotes his Boeheim idea of love as being rather pure and absolute, Satine see it on more flexible terms and going as far as saying it does not really exist. For her, “love” is a thing she uses in her services, which she expects some monetary return for. This would fit with the social exchange theory, which suggests that in an evolutionary model of courtship a woman would trade sexual access with men for parental investment (Salmon, 2008). Taken into a modern setting, this parental investment is converted into currency, which is what we see Satine and all of the other women pursuing. To cement this view, in the scene in which we are introduced to Satine in a line of songs that included “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Material Girl,” Satine is singing about how she (and broadly other women) adore material things (in this case more specifically diamonds). This idea of women seeking materials is not far off with the idea that women tend to mate with men who they perceive has more resources (in this case money), because it is assumed either consciously or unconsciously that …show more content…
It can be observed that both men are competing for sex with Satine, and their afforded situations each grants them opportunities to pursue this interest in ways that end up being distinct from the other. For example, the Duke mainly courts through the display of resources, power, status, and authority in one way or another. In the scene in which the Duke wants the ending changed to have the courtesan staying with the maharaja, he states as his reasoning that it would be more realistic because she would see security and resources, whereas the poor sitar player would have uncertainty and possible abandonment. He is referencing back to the idea that women would select a mating partner based on the perceived ability to support her and her possible offspring (Ghiglieri, 1999). However, the film throws this whole idea out the window with the “power of love.” What ends up happening, as we see, is that Satine falls in love with Christian and no matter what the Duke presents her with or does, she is dedicated to Christian despite the lacking of resources when compared to the Duke. On some level, her selection of Christian over the Duke could be due to the perceive advantage one has over the other in terms of genetic material. Christian displays certain talents, such as musicality and
The scene that reveals most of Satine’s motivations are spelled out when she is going back and forth with Christian about the nature of love while on top of the elephant in front of the brothel. Though Christian promotes his Boeheim idea of love as being rather pure and absolute, Satine see it on more flexible terms and going as far as saying it does not really exist. For her, “love” is a thing she uses in her services, which she expects some monetary return for. This would fit with the social exchange theory, which suggests that in an evolutionary model of courtship a woman would trade sexual access with men for parental investment (Salmon, 2008). Taken into a modern setting, this parental investment is converted into currency, which is what we see Satine and all of the other women pursuing. To cement this view, in the scene in which we are introduced to Satine in a line of songs that included “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” and “Material Girl,” Satine is singing about how she (and broadly other women) adore material things (in this case more specifically diamonds). This idea of women seeking materials is not far off with the idea that women tend to mate with men who they perceive has more resources (in this case money), because it is assumed either consciously or unconsciously that …show more content…
It can be observed that both men are competing for sex with Satine, and their afforded situations each grants them opportunities to pursue this interest in ways that end up being distinct from the other. For example, the Duke mainly courts through the display of resources, power, status, and authority in one way or another. In the scene in which the Duke wants the ending changed to have the courtesan staying with the maharaja, he states as his reasoning that it would be more realistic because she would see security and resources, whereas the poor sitar player would have uncertainty and possible abandonment. He is referencing back to the idea that women would select a mating partner based on the perceived ability to support her and her possible offspring (Ghiglieri, 1999). However, the film throws this whole idea out the window with the “power of love.” What ends up happening, as we see, is that Satine falls in love with Christian and no matter what the Duke presents her with or does, she is dedicated to Christian despite the lacking of resources when compared to the Duke. On some level, her selection of Christian over the Duke could be due to the perceive advantage one has over the other in terms of genetic material. Christian displays certain talents, such as musicality and