Baby Masochist

Do all people who are drawn to lifestyles out of the norm look for encoded characters in mainstream media with whom to identify? If you go to a gay message board you will find a discusion on what characters in popular movies and TV were gay; Mr. Belvedere, Uncle Arthur from Bewitched, Dr. Smith from Lost in Space.

Are there encoded S&M characters or am I just looking for something that doesn't exist? Whether that was the original intent of the creators, I responded to the Dominant male characters long before I knew what BDSM was.

Watching Dr. Zhivago I never got the Omar Shariff appeal. It was all about Victor Komarovsky; the threat, the disdain, the never knowing if he would caress or slap, the feeling that he truly did know Lara in a way no one else did or ever would, the forbidden, the brutality, the intense highs and lows that didn't seem possible with 'regular' love.

Then there's Addison De Witt from All About Eve; plotting, scheming, manipulating, observing, knowing all Eve's secrets and wanting her anyway. And Bronte heroes? They should have built dungeons and gotten it over with. Or is that what Rochester's attic was all about? (Sir?)

Intent or interpretation? Who knows? At this point one can only speculate.