Sexual Seduction
The Sexual Seduction in the Film Dangerous Liaisons
How this theme relates to the nature of sexual abuse, sexual addiction and child abuse in general
In the film Dangerous Liaisons, a pretty teen-age girl, Cecille de Volange, is seduced by the Vicomte de Valmont, a lecherous womanizer almost twice her age and a lot like Ellen's sleazoid boss. Why de Valmont succeeds in seducing Cecille is hard to fathom. She has no real connection to him. She hardly knows him apart from his reputation as a philanderer which frightens her. Also, her mother has arranged for her to marry a much richer man, the Comte de Bastide. And to make the plot thicker, Cecile is infatuated with her handsome young music teacher, the Chevalier d'Arsigny. In spite of all of this, de Valmont persuades Cecile to give him the key to her bedroom, on the pretext of sneaking love letters past her mother from the love-struck d'Arsigny. Late one night, he slips into Cecile's bed, awakens her from a sound sleep and, with very little effort, possesses her. A strange thing happens to Cecile as she submits to him. Some real part of her goes into orbit while the rest of her stays there trance-like to be ravished by him. What possible reason could she have had for giving into a man like de Valmont?
Later in the story, we learn that Cecile's mother had been known in her youth as a notorious young woman, "more noted for her enthusiasm than her abilities." We further discover that many years earlier Cecile's mother had schemed to spend the night with de Valmont. And he stood her up! Burdened with guilt over the loss of her virginity, Cecile soon confesses everything to her mother who of course is outraged. Unable to cope, Madame de Volange sends her daughter to her good friend, the worldly Marquise de Merteuil, for appropriate counseling. The Marquise wastes no time setting the kid straight on the facts of life. She tells Cecile to let de Valmont continue her sexual education and make her mother think she'll marry the Comte de Bastide while she encourages the amorous attentions of the hot-blooded d'Arsigny. The Marquise further reminds Cecile that though she may never be able to choose who she marries, she will always be able to control who she goes to bed with, when and how often. Only at this moment does Cecile become consciously aware of her mother's true wishes. In fact, she had always understood them much better than maman had ever been able to herself. It was Cecile's task in life to give conscious expression to her mother's deeply repressed and frustrated sexual desire for the Vicomte de Valmont.
The point is that Cecile's seduction was not solely engineered by de Valmont. He was merely the instrument, an arrogant, unprincipled bastard who selfishly exploited a condition that had been a long time in the making. Cecile's story reveals the true nature of seduction, not only sexual but all kinds of seductions. They're always rooted in a child's unconscious desire to please a much loved parent by giving open expression to the parent's most treasured, deeply-held wishes.
To see how this theme relates to the nature of sexual abuse, sexual addiction and child abuse in general, take a close look at the stories of Ellen, Vinny, Susan, Bill and Michelle. See how they also give open expression to the deepest, most hidden fantasies of their parents, at tremendous cost to themselves and their own happiness.