Abstract

This study is an explorative journey into the realm of eroticism. A primary emphasis is placed on the necessity to differentiate erotic experience from the pornographic one. The claim here is that eroticism cannot unfold where the notion of an "indispensable other", and hence the element of love, do not come into play. Eroticism, as this study will attempt to demonstrate is not a game to be played solo. In the fire of desire, eroticism or the red flame, embraces recognition, alterity, mutuality, empathy and unity--all of which constitute the blue flame: love. Once both flames collide and dance together in celebration of sexual desire, a new kind of reality unleashes. In order to delve into erotic reality, partners are supposed to transgresses everyday life and its binding confines. How successful the endeavor turns will be depends on a couple's ability to slide in and out of both realities with subtlety and equilibrium. Developing a theoretical framework based on the works of Bakhtin, Paz, Bataille, Giddens and Gonzalez-Crussi, I review five Films ( Eyes Wide Shut, Lolita, Exotica, The Lover and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love ). These films debate the issues of eroticism, love, taboo and obsession in different but illuminating ways, expand our understanding of heterosexuality and explore the relationship between the blue flame of love and the red flame of eroticism.