How do we respond to a show thats no more than smut in a Gucci belt?
Sex/Life,Obsession,Tiny Pretty Things, and, now,Fatal Seduction.
Naked butt cheeks slowly slipping out of tight boxer briefs.
Prince Grootboom in ‘Fatal Seduction’ | Netflix
Bathing suit bulges leaving little to the imagination.
Side boob peeking out from a dress with a slit cut down to the small of the back.
Heavy breathing and moans of satisfaction accompany forceful thrusting and perfectly-choreographed position changes.
Open-mouth kisses on the lips and everywhere else.
You get the idea.
Its sex, sex, and more sex.
Prince Grootboom as Jacob in ‘Fatal Seduction’ | Netflix
Its been 15 minutes without a sex scene, you say?
Yet, what is it about these shows that work?
Netflix keeps pumping them out, critics keep raking them through the coals, and people keep watching them.
Beach in ‘Fatal Seduction’ | Netflix
Viewers are not watching for the plot, and the creators are not writing with a plot-centric focus.
So, whats the deal?
Unbridled wealth meets unfettered desire.
Kgomotso Christopher as Nandi and Thapelo Mokoena as Leonard in ‘Fatal Seduction’ | Netflix
It is this specific combo that makesFatal Seductiona candy store but for adults.
A candy store is a childs favorite spot.
Bright colors and endless options of forbidden fruit edible choices parents limit due to their unhealthy nature.
More, more, more.
But, at the end of the day, its all sugar no substance.
Similarly,Fatal Seductionis all magnificence, no meat.
Replace those bright-colored Skittles with red Ferraris.
Replace the heaping marshmallows with silk-covered pillows.
The endless chocolate fountain with an Olympic-size pool and flowing waterfall.
On-screen wealth, and the privileges it affords, provide adults with their candy store.
But, what about the forbidden aspect akin to a childs experience in a candy store?
If you have money to spend, should it be forbidden to spend it?
This is where desire-fulfillment comes into the picture, for sex outside of the home becomes the forbidden fruit.
The betrayal is not functioning asbad.
Though morally wrong, it merely becomes a part of the shows overall emphasis on beauty.
The perfect sex is an extension of the perfect architecture, the perfect wardrobe…the perfect life.
The sex with a new, younger man is steamy and adrenaline-raising.
Its oh-so-bad, but oh-so-good.
Its beautiful, but its trapped within a world most audiences will never have access to.
The level of wealth on display here is in the 1% territory.
Meeting a hot man at a yacht party.
Sex up against floor-to-ceiling windows in a white mansion overlooking a yard that goes on for eternity.
Its so unattainable that its guilt-free escapism to put yourself into the shoes of those whose behavior is questionable.
This is not true when the people themselves are figments of our imagination.
When the people themselves, not just the always-orgasmic sex, are representations of an alternate, dreamlike reality.
Give us designer clothing thats so expensive it falls to the floor as if defying the laws of gravity.
Give us cars that cost more than our homes.
Its a moment of escapism into lavishness and lust.
Yet, it is because of the former that the latter thrives unthreatened by viewer morality or righteousness.
Such an offer, in such a context, will never be available for us to accept or reject.
The affluence is a bridge to relishing in bad behavior.
And, raging in the water beneath?
All your morals and values youre happy to let drown for a spell.
Youre too busy looking at the big shiny things to notice them down there.
In visually depicting the highest degree of opulence, the woman becomes an unrelatable entity to the masses.
She becomes a canvas adorned with the most beautiful hues that we just want to stare at.
Its messy, but we feel good in the mess.
Its a mess we dont recognize.
Its not forgetting to pick up the kids at soccer or leaving dishes in the sink.
Its driving your Audi to have sex with a steamy mechanic on top of a shiny hot rod.
Its not just cheating at the local Holiday Inn.
Its an intricate dance.
A dalliance between the brilliant and beautiful.
Can it even be bad when it looks so good?
We feel good eating all that candy before we return to chicken and broccoli tomorrow.
