From: Betty Ragan bragan@aoc.nrao.edu
My understanding of the concept of "Suffering Beautifully" was that a character is physically or emotionally hurt, and that this pain makes him more attractive in the eyes of the reader and/or writer. Which seems to me have a sadistic twist to it, even if there's not actual S/M sex.
I'd say that this is an accurate description, but that the "sadistic twist" conclusion does not necessarily follow. "Sadism," I believe, means enjoying inflicting pain on others (whether in a sexual context or otherwise). I think, for those who enjoy watching a character "suffering beautifully" the attraction is usually not in the infliction of pain, itself (which can often be rather unpleasant to watch or read about), but in the way he *behaves* under physical or emotional pain, the way he handles it, the way he responds to it.
But isn't that, though, the attraction of sadism too? I think Wendy's got a point here, because as I argued in the recent thread on this subject, not just any old injury will do. The debilitating injury is carefully contrived by the writer in terms of its physical effect on the victim and the circumstances in which it occurs, analogous to the ritual elements of BDSM - costumes, masks, procedures (how the hell do I come to know all this stuff?) etc. And like all ritual, it's purpose is to lend a sense of importance to an otherwise mundane event.
I suspect this varies a lot from person to person, and I don't pretend to speak for any particular individual, but I think one thing that appeals to people about Avon, in particular, is the dignity with which he bears up under pain, as well as the very human vulerability he shows only under extreme stress. It's something that has a lot more to do with the *character* than with the *pain*, if that makes any sense.
But is that really different from hearing the agonised screams/ecstatic moans of someone as you flog them or drip hot wax over their back (how the *hell* do I come to know this?). The pain of sadism is not the end, it is a means to an end - sexual gratification through a sense of control. The gratification in h/c might not be sexual (though I suspect it is in most cases, especially those involving Avon), but an essentially similar process is at work.
In the case of "hurt/comfort," the emphasis, most usually, is more on the *comfort* than on the *hurt*. Indeed, instead of a sadistic desire to *inflict* pain, it's entirely possible, I think, to regard h/c fic as a manifestation of the desire to comfort those in pain.
This, I think, is true - it's the comfort, rather than the hurt, that provides the gratification, but in order to have the comfort you must first have the hurt.
Neil (who is now expecting people at Redemption to give him curious sidelong glances as he walks past)