Perversion the Social Relation

IO4Nina SchwartzDuring this talk, in which Christina refers to Francis as "a very particularcase," we also learn of Francis's importance to Christina. Whenshe first explains to Thomas why Francis was banned from the club, shesays, "He touched me. And when you're dancing for the customer, theycan't touch"; this last line is uttered emphatically, but more importantlyin a tone that suggests a child's absolute commitment to and faith in arule. Christina goes on: "Francis and I have a very special type of relationship.And I've never minded. But then he chose to violate it. . . .We've always had this understanding. I mean, I need him for certainthings and he needs me for certain things. I mean that's the way it'sbeen.... He violated that in his—his, in his role and what he was supposedto do for me . . . because I was doing things for him and he'sdone things for me" (she cries). Christina's sense of betrayal emergeshere clearly: despite her inability or unwillingness to say exactly whatthe two did for one another, her sadness at the loss of this reciprocity ispowerful, as is her desire to continue talking to Thomas.When Francis discovers that it was Eric who had tricked him intotouching Christina and had thereby orchestrated his expulsion from theclub, he confronts Zoë and begs to be readmitted to Exotica. Zoë issympathetic, but she emphasizes the importance of the rule that Francisviolated. When she asks Francis why he touched Christina, his answerinadvertently forces her to confront how her club has come to functionin Francis's resistance to his loss. Francis says he touched Christinabecause "I needed to make sure." Confused, Zoë asks, "If she had letyou?" And he replies, "I would have been disappointed It's not theway she was raised." Here, Francis's confusion of Christina with Lisaforces Zoe to speak the unspoken knowledge that all in the club possess:"We're all aware of what you've gone through. You've suffered alot." But Francis's answer obviously also frightens Zoë, because she refusesdespite Francis's mounting distress to readmit him to the club,thereby reasserting the limits of the club's function: it's for entertainmentonly, not therapy, and the people who attend are there only to havea good time.The night that he is beaten and thrown out of the club, Francis asksTracey, "You know that feeling you get sometimes .. . that you didn'task to be brought into the world?" To her affirmative reply, he continues:"If you think you didn't ask to be brought into the world, who