Bob Flanagan was a BDSM celebrity. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child, he was expected to live to 7 or 8. Treatment for his condition involved removing vast amounts of thick, viscous mucus from throughout his body, in particular from his lungs. The procedures caused enormous and consistent pain. At some stage this extreme and consistent pain intermingled with his sexual desire, leaving his with severe masochistic tendancies. Perhaps a method of bringing control back, to experience pain willingly rather than at the whim of the disease. His battered and bruised body resulted in an extremely high tolerance for pain, and the repeated predictions of his own demise gave him no fear for his own safety. Truly a supermasochist, his life became an art installation. The film documents his lifelong struggle with the disease, his extreme sexual appetites and his eventual death. Flanagan agreed to participate only under the condition that his death would be covered.
The film forces you to engage with his world visually. While it can't make you take your clothes off and be publicly whipped and humiliated, it can repeatedly confront you with his naked, bloody body. The demonstrations do not end there, though, and the disgusting fecal displays in particular are persistent and extremely graphic. I debated what to show as a representation of this, noting that reading commentary on a documentary does not imply willingness to be exposed to its content. However, being forced to confront your interpretation of this sexual behaviour is an essential part of Bob's aim in participating. Is it an unnatural perversion? Perhaps, but if so the cause is almost certainly linked to a pitiful, wildly disadvantaged childhood, then what right does anyone have to judge the outcome.
He shares his life with Sheree Rose, a sexual sadist who helps Bob explore his deepest desires. The vocabulary of their relationship is very difficult to relate to. He is her fulltime slave, but as he physically deteriorates and their role playing conflicts with his suffering, the torture becomes an offer rather than a order. She both wants to help him to feel better in the only way that either of them know how, and still wants to play the role that he has committed to her. Rose became a part of his private and public life as she participated more and more in his "art". But as he gets closer to death, she complains that "he isn't really a masochist any more, as the pain he lives with already is so intense".
His contribution back to society is admirable. He works as a camp counselor for children with cystic fibrosis. He also meets a terminally ill 18 year old girl who has asked to meet him under the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Her interest is not purely platonic, however, which she expresses to the frustration of her mother who clearly is affected as much by her comfort with dying as by the disease itself. There is an odd scene where she has her nipples pierced with Bob, Sharon watching on barely hiding her jealousy. As she sits in the room with strangers and cameras, topless, squeezing Bob's hand, it is clear that she is getting a kick out of it in ways that her mother (or Make a Wish for that matter) would perhaps not be comfortable.
The film concludes with a performance of his poem "Why" which addresses directly and as completely and honestly as possible the question the viewers will most particularly struggle with. The range of influences is remarkably relatable. Those fairy tales and cartoons where the heros are essentially tortured and the religious myths idealising suffering and martyrdom. The aspirations, particularly provided to boys, to behave like a brave "man" and to take the pain. And the temporary and limited but undeniable pleasure that some basic sexual behaviour can provide.
"Because I had awful stomach aches and holding my penis made me feel better"
"Because my parents loved me even more when I was suffering"
"Because you always hurt the one you love"
Finally over the credits "Fun to be Dead", Bob sings to us from beyond the grave taunting us with his lack of problems now that he has passed on. If documentaries are about seeing an individual life that is familiar but terrifyingly different then this is as significant as Grizzly Man. Even if you don't finish it wanting to be Snow White before she is rescued, you may look at gimp masks differently.
7 / 10