He doesn't make the lover's choice, but the poet's

Part 1: I love dipping sauce

In 2021’s Spencer, Kristen Stewart plays the role of Princess Diana and the viewers follow her around in a decedent fairy tale filled with opulent attire and incredible shots of what I can only assume is cuisine that tastes so complex that my small imagination can't even begin to understand it. I bring this movie up because Spencer is a fantastic movie partially because of how good is portrayed in it. Due to the themes of Princess Diana's self image issues, these gratuitous shots of food are portrayed as horror. We are not supposed to be looking at these grandiose shots of food with envy but be disgusted with how they are portrayed.

In Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma the opposite is true. Instead of being presented with grandiose complicated meals we see only a few foods in the movie; Candy, sugar cereal, and fried chicken. Two foods that are considered bad for you and should be consumed in moderation. But they are not portrayed that way in the movie. They are portrayed as pleasure. Our two main characters Billy and Kris show the audience their chemistry by bonding over fried chicken. And not even fried chicken but dipping sauce. The pure hedonism and oil coursing through their veins as they are not satisfied by just the fried chicken but the saucey lucious flavor bombs that they need to dip their food in. I promise I am just an awful writer because this scene is hot.

Camp Miasma has quite a few themes running through it but one of the easiest ones to spot is that it is pro hedonism. Throughout the movie you will see needless full frontal nudity, beds of candy, barely dressed women running through a field and of course blood… lots and lots of blood.

Gore Porn is a derogatory term used for movies that have gratuitous amounts of gore. Despite horror being defined by being capable of eliciting feelings of fear and disgust apparently there is a limit to how much gore you're supposed to enjoy. Of course Camp Miasma does not abide by these rules as the “original” movie contains a sequence of constant dismemberment as “Little Death” rips through the camp as if he was tearing open the wrapper of a candy bar. Leading to a sequence where the “main character” (a younger Billy) is murdered with a noise that can only be described as pure fear. That is, of course, you are not a pervert.

It is impossible to separate the horror genre from sex and queerness. For as long horror movies have been made there have been gratuitous penetration with phallic objects, horny final girls, men in leather, masks, with strong grips, ect… So Camp Miasma takes this to the extreme by saying the quiet part out loud. Kris and Billy take pleasure in imagining themselves in a bloody beautiful fantasy where everyone they know does and then they receive the ultimate hedonistic pleasure of being overwhelmed in the feeling of pain until reaching the ultimate relief.

Part 2: Flesh and Fluids

Once you scratch the surface of hedonism and pleasure you reach a deeper theme of desire and more importantly shame around desire. This is explicitly discussed in the movie. Kris is ashamed that despite being a critically acclaimed director she will often imagine herself as the dumb sexualized victim in a horror movie. This goes even further because despite the obvious love she has for the Camp Miasma franchise she will dismiss her job as the director of the reboot as a means to extend her career. Her shame about the way she feels about the movies is so pervasive that she is willing to play it safe and appease producers than to lean into what makes camp miasma wonderful. Flesh and Fluids. The amount of times I have seen people ask why they are into specific kink with a hope that the answer can be elevated or reasonable. To be able to look at Psycho from the perspective of the shower curtain. But sometimes you have to realize that the kink is just Flesh and Fluids.

There is a theme through out the movie that every single kinkster will recognize. That what is happening at Camp Tivoli is just play. That you can stop at any time. But despite Kris’ curiosity she is still unable to bring herself to get to the point of accepting her desires until she watches the integral scene of the “original” Camp Miasma. She watches the scene from the view point of Billy. Billy purposely moves behind Kris and wants to see Kris watching the movie. As the future facilitator to Kris' play the parallel between Billy seeing her own “death” through Little Death and Kris is seeing her own “death” through Billys eyes is just perfect. Kris says “I have watched that scene a million times and I've never seen it like that” and that's right because she's no longer seeing it through Billys eyes. She is seeing it through the eyes of someone who cares for her and wants her to be safe but also someone who wants to “scare” her. Who wants to play with her.

But I cannot help but see something more in this movie. As someone who is a very amateur writer. I do think that there's some discussion to be had about making art that you want to make and that is for your own pleasure. It can be very easy to want to make art that is “right” and is unproblematic. But to let that control you and to ignore the hunger to make art that “needs” to be made is a useless endeavor. It is totally ok and encouraged to make “selfish” art. Billy understands this, she is not a recluse living sadly with the trauma of what happened to her on the set of Camp Miasma. She is an artist making art for her. Even her scribbling art while watching Camp Miasma next to Kris is erotic. She is playing with herself. Once Kris has realized this truth she makes a movie where she is the main character and she is running half naked and bloody. Her girlfriend and her well meaning but hilarious boyfriend are killed brutally. Her coworkers are killed, except the head producer who doesn't even get the satisfaction of being killed in the movie, just regressed to a small throwaway joke. She kills her new lover, who just happens to be the object of her own sexual awakening, on top of her as the two of their flesh is morphed together as they are penetrated with a spike, their blood pooling together in a disgusting erotic mess. This is a fully self indulgent fantasy and it's incredible art. The fact that Kris gives into her desires is not evil or bad, in fact it is freeing. Making art about the desires you want to live is ok. It isn't real. You aren't evil for having desires.

Part 3: Dealer’s Choice

There's something I noticed about this movie and it's relationship with speaking up for yourself. As much as Kris is shameful of her desires she is also really afraid of acting on her wants. This is obvious with the scene where she is unable to tell Billy how she likes to be pleasured but I think that it is also acknowledged through out the film. One scene that sticks out in my mind is the scene where Billy is talking in the other room and Kris is curious about who she could possibly be talking to. Kris looks through the crack but immediately removes herself, feeling ashamed that she is even trying to understand something she is curious about. So the next morning Kris indirectly asks about the situation by asking if someone is in the house. Instead of just dismissing Kris’ question Billy tells Kris to go look in her room. Billy understands what Kris is desiring and forces Kris to take action.

Obviously this is a hot topic in the bdsm community, bottoms across the board are struggling with their communication. Hell everyone is but there's something to be said that Kris needs to be coached to get to this point. She is so worried about how she is being perceived that she is unable to communicate what she really wants. Only after being provided a safe space does she really open up. Once she opens up she is rewarded because Billy sets up for her to get what she wants. Something I suspect that Billy was aware of from the letter. There is a strange familiarity in the letter scene for me. Kris says in the letter that she wants to understand what was actually going on in the scene where Billy dies in Camp Miasma. Billy read Kris’ letter; she understands that Kris wants an experience but Kris cannot name exactly what she wants. Asking someone to give you an understanding is pretty impossible. Things need to be explicitly understood and defined.

Part 4: the Golden Age of Gummies

Oh yeah did you guys remember that this is a movie about a remake of a problematic movie? I don't think it will be a shocker that I believe that there is a themes of being ok with acknowledging that problematic art being important to someone. Billy is very clear that she does not outwardly care that Camp Miasma is problematic and that it's not deep and it’s important to her and that's ok. But I can't help but think about how despite saying these things that I think the parallel between Billy and Kris’ experience is very similar but Billy is much more ethical in the way she facilitates. Billy has her kink awakening by a guy she is disinterested in and a company that tossed her to the side when she got old. She seems pretty ok and happy with that but despite her experience she is much more kind to Kris. She is understanding and reassuring throughout the movie. She tells Kris that no one is bad at sex when Kris is struggling with them connecting in the middle of the movie. When Kris is scared and thinks that the horror is too real, Billy is soft but encouraging. It is not real and if we need to stop that's ok. They cuddle after their experience and then take a trip to the store to get some sweets.

The world is different now than it was 50 years ago. I think Billy understands that, there's a discussion about Kris' previous movie and Kris assumes that Billy hates it, but I think Billy understood it. She may not enjoy it but she understands what Kris wants out of horror (or in this allegory, kink) and wants to give it to her despite having a different world view. Kink is what you make it and the kink community is getting better. There's a lot more safe options and communities out there right now. We are more aware of ethical guidelines and consent right now.

Epilogue: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is about ageplay

I have decided that I am going to write this bit despite it being totally me pushing my kink onto this movie. After all there is no shame in making selfish art right?