So… let’s talk television… something that has been on my mind for some time. Why talk now then? Well, basically because we have been invited to participate in a television program and this time we accepted. For those living in the Netherlands the program is called “Spuiten en Slikken”, is aired live on March 13 (2006) at 22:45 on BNN (Ned 3). The program has 3 block of 15 minutes, each block we get 5 minutes for either an interview or some real life bondage action.

In the past we have been approached by tv networks to participate in one of their programs. Most of the time it was to create a portrait of us (Bob and Chantal) as a couple with an out of the ordinary lifestyle called “bondage”, “shibari” or “kinbaku”. The people of these programs follow you around for a few weeks to film your lifestyle. With interviews and voice-over the viewers get to learn who we are, what we do and most importantly -why- we do it. So far things sound good, however the bulk of these programs usually portrait you respectful but as a couple with a “sick” mind, this includes the way you are put on film. The programs aim is usually spectacle and the actual motivation is aired but buried under the spectacle of suspension bondage’s and bondage/S&M actions that we enjoy.

Short after accepting the “spuiten en slikken” invitation we got an other request from a network definitly focused on the wrong things of our relation and lifestyle but we accepted the in-take talk and will decide afterward if we continue with them. This is again a portrait of us where they wish to show the passion we have with our out-of-the-ordinary “hobby”.

I’m beginning to think that if we get filmed outside of the scene that we operate in (international fetish and S&M scene) we get portraited as sick minds but if a program is willing to go into “our” scene things are just filmed the way they are. Conclusions are left to the viewers and are not stuffed down the viewers throat by the way the program is cut. An example of a Spanish network interviewing us on the French La Nuit Demonia is online on RopeMarks .

Personally, I don’t think that what we do is that special. At least 80% of the Dutch people tried bondage at least once and there are a lot of wannabee-bondagist out there that would love to do what we do. However, our way of bondage has risen to a level that is not for the bedroom anymore, it has become a performance art. This level can be reached by anybody but it requires a lot of motivation and persistence, and that is the part the makes me feel “special”, our drive, our motivation, our passion. We focus on creating beautiful and sometimes painful images of the beauty that the female body is. It’s a fetish 🙂

So why did we accept the offer to be on television this time? There a number of reasons

  • The program is live. So after the shooting they can not cut it to create something “sick” from our air time.
  • All questions are given beforehand and we get to steer the direction of the interview. Should they change things during the show we can still steer things because it is live.
  • The program handles serious topics that are of interest for young people. It deals with drugs and sex.
  • In general the topics are discussed “in-depth”. How “deep” can you go in a limited time? But at least they try, we appreciate that.
  • The focus of the program is providing information and the sensation part is IMHO a shared focus but definitely not the main focus. Again, we appreciate that.
  • The female presenter is looking good and I would love to tie her on national TV. But this is a secondary motivation to participate 🙂

After the show we know if it was worth it or if we got portraid as sick-minded people with a blurred view on society… time will tell.