{"id":924,"date":"2019-07-31T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T19:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/?p=924"},"modified":"2022-01-28T17:21:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T22:21:18","slug":"a-commentary-on-monxa-mala-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/2019\/07\/31\/a-commentary-on-monxa-mala-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"A Commentary on Monxa Mala: Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


by Rich Moreland<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
https:\/\/3hattergrindhouse.com\/2019\/07\/16\/a-commentary-on-monxa-mala-part-two\/<\/a>\u200b
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Leticia\u2019s single-mindedness and her strength are brought to light in the bedchamber where ointment is applied after her scourging. She says with grit, \u201cI will leave this place . . . maybe broken up into pieces, but I\u2019ll leave from here alive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leticia\u2019s pronouncement reverberates through the film as each novice\/nun seeks a way to ameliorate her own situation.
The challenge for the viewer is to interpret what \u201cleave alive\u201d means. Is Jac Avila telling us that faith conquers death? Internal strength survives the pain of torture? Church oppression is never final? Or, is Leticia offering us an undeniable feminist statement, thus transforming Monxa Mala into a feminist film?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, is paganism pro-woman because it flies in the face of Church patriarchy? After all, some nuns get what they want, don\u2019t they. . . ? Which brings us to the malleable Julia.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Tidy Little Masochist<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia is central to the film if one considers it to be a sadomasochistic horror tale with enough whipped backs and boobs to fascinate dedicated BDSMers. The novice is itching for her punishments and can mete out a bit of sadistic pleasure herself.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MaleficarumMonxaMalaTheFilm_00133601.jpg\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She uses the Father, seducing him in ways she knows will work. Julia confesses she is \u201ca great sinner\u201d who has \u201csinful thoughts about your Grace.\u201d She fawns at his feet and extracts a kiss from him. The perfect toady. Important because another novice, the whipped Barbara, ends up on the wheel . . . and Lucrecia will endure the collar, then the rack.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, when he kisses Julia, the Father pulls down her garment to bare her breasts, triggering her sexual excitement. Julia\u2019s conflation of pain and sex is well noted in the film. When Leticia\u2019s bloody marks are being treated, Julia says, \u201cDid it hurt very much?\u201d Leticia replies, \u201cYou would have loved it.\u201d Later as Julia is being lashed by Barbara\u2019s hand, Leticia walks in and watches with a half-smile. Julia closes her eyes in ecstasy and hardly flinches. \u201cYour dream becomes reality,\u201d Leticia says with a degree of sarcasm. \u201cI\u2019m doing my penance with humility,\u201d Julia says softly, \u201cbut I don\u2019t feel the pain.\u201d She smiles with smug superiority.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is being manipulated here? Julia is the masochistic delight of Monxa Mala so don\u2019t miss her whipping scene on the ladder. She is arrogant in her own way when she says to the Father that it\u2019s her turn \u201cwith the flagellum.\u201d \u201cMy wish is to be whipped by your grace,\u201d she declares, so there are no shackles or restraints. This is Julia\u2019s fun and she gets another kiss for her submission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MaleficarumMonxaMalaTheFilm_01051727.jpg\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The scene is back side\/front side and a naked Stephanie Vargas is eye candy. We hope to see her in future films. Beyond the Red Feline series, rarely has the Pachamama\/Decadent library captured a better pure masochist on film. By the way, Julia is a switch of sorts. Using the needle probe, she increases Leticia\u2019s agony when she gets the chance. Just goes to show you that pain lovers can be feisty if the opportunity rises.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The needle has a deeper meaning, however. Julia\u2019s fascination with it is a thinly veiled comment on her own raging need for penetration of another sort. Oh yes, there is something else this moment reveals. Competition and revenge festers among the women. During Julia\u2019s earlier whipping, Leticia pokes her in the ribs with a nail used in crucifixion. Turnabout is fair play, is it not? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MaleficarumMonxaMalaTheFilm_01021509.jpg\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Part Two, we\u2019ll examine Monxa Mala as a sadomasochistic horror tale<\/span><\/strong>
https:\/\/3hattergrindhouse.com\/2019\/07\/16\/a-commentary-on-monxa-mala-part-two\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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by Rich Morelandhttps:\/\/3hattergrindhouse.com\/2019\/07\/16\/a-commentary-on-monxa-mala-part-two\/\u200b Leticia\u2019s single-mindedness and her strength are brought to light in the bedchamber…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redfeline.com\/chronicles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}