Oooh, Bettie

Usually when I go out after work it’s just dahn tha pub, but strangely that pursuit seems to have lost its appeal for a while. Last night, instead, I took myself off to the “posh pictures” (NFT) to see a preview performance of the Notorious Bettie Page.

I don’t know much about her life story so can’t tell how close to the truth it is, but the story is basically of a beautiful young woman who suffers some hard times, gets famous, gets innocently caught up in some illegal stuff and then finds God and packs it all in.

Possible abuse by her father and a gang rape touch upon the edgier aspects of her life, but she is never portrayed as a victim. Instead she is shown as someone who possessed a naive charm and approached much of her life with a wide-eyed delight at it all.

From posing in swimsuits, Bettie moved onto fetish wear, bondage and nude photography. The secret of much of her success is highlighted by one quote; that even when Bettie was completely nude, she never appeared naked. In other words, she was just as confident and natural outside of her clothes as within them.

I loved the fetish scenes the most where there were models in fantastic basques and leather boots you would never have a hope in hell of walking in. These scenes also featured some fantastic supporting roles – Lili Taylor as Paula Klaw, one of the photographers who introduced Bettie to the fetish scene; and Jared Harris as her superb drunken and overly enthusiastic client. Lead actress, Gretchen Moll puts on a flawless performance throughout and has a smile that fills the screen. She portrays just the right balance of innocence and determination to succeed.

Sadly it all ends in tears as the police catch up with Paula and her brother Irving’s saucy photography business. The courtroom scene is hilarious with various “educated” people insisting that the merest glimpse of such perversion and filth would result in innocent young minds being corrupted and turning to drug abuse, violence and murder. It reminded me of John Waters’ Pecker: “PUBIC HAIR LEADS TO CRIME”.

Though Bettie wasn’t called to give evidence at the trial, she took the experience to mean that God no longer wanted her to be a model, so she went to seek salvation and then dedicated her life to the church. The film ends with her handing out leaflets to save souls, but thankfully showing no regret for her past.