The images in question showed explicit acts of sadomasochistic gay sex — including shots of... Continued (provokr.com)
For a film that starts out with a brutal rape and eventually works its way toward the rape victim temporarily entering a strange sadomasochistic relationship with her rapist, Elle has strangely not inspired the kind of firestorm of controversy that greeted many of Paul Verhoeven's 1980s and»90s Hollywood films. (moviemezzanine.com)
The standout of the two exhibitions, Mapplethorpe's «X Portfolio» — images of homosexual sadomasochistic sex — was shown in full at the Getty. (artnews.com)