Primal Fetish: Power, Fantasy and ‘Superheroine Shame

By Mallory Hall

“In 2010, we started making content and failed completely,” Michael Masters shared.

He explained that, back then, his wife was getting booked for basic lingerie, glamour and nude work via Model Mayhem -- and then she started getting contacted by fetish producers.

“After a while, we decided that making our own content could be a good side hustle,” Masters continued. “At the time, I was a personal trainer.” If you’re unfamiliar with who Masters is, go on over to Clips4Sale. There, you will see Masters’ leading-edge work – currently nearly twenty studios’ worth – in all its kinky glory. As Primal, Masters masterminds everything from Primal’s Mental Domination to Primal’s Taboo Family Relations. His work is consistently at the top of the site, making Masters one of the top clips producers in the industry today.

But none of this happened overnight.

Two years after their initial foray into clips making, with a $300 handycam and desk lamps for lighting, Masters

and his wife decided to give it another go. The duo started shooting content in their one-car garage, with shower curtains hanging to hide the shelves.

“Whenever we sold a single clip, we acted like we’d just scored a touchdown in the Superbowl. When we broke 100 clip sales for a month, we were so excited you would think we hit the Lotto,” he shared. “Now, seven years later, we average 3,000 clip sales a month and are gaining popularity on other platforms.”

“It wasn’t magic or overnight success,” Masters said. “It was literally one clip at a time.”

We recently got the opportunity to speak with Masters about his work and his creative process, specifically regarding two of his most popular studios -- Primal’s Superheroine Shame, which started in 2012, and Primal’s Disgraced Superheroines That site came one year later in 2013.

YNOT: Your work, via any number of your various studios, is consistently at the top of Clips4Sale. What about it draws viewers in?

Michael Masters/Primal: I think the main things that have helped us is attention to the fine details of the specific fetish, casting performers that I can truly visualize in the role, listening to the fans on the various forums and constantly being critical of our own content. I think the parodies are similar to the fake celebrity nudes or sex pics in that the audience wants to fully sexualize a person or character that is “sexy” but unattainable in that context. Also, we can’t match their budget.

Our content is more based in fetish, which generally is grounded in what a person first sexualizes. For a time, Linda Carter on television or very well-drawn female comic book characters -- many often drawn in what could be called softcore sexual depictions when I first started reading comics -- were the sexiest thing for teenage boys to see. And if your first crush was a gorgeous redhead, you probably will always have a thing for redheads.

Between “shame” and “disgraced,” why do viewers want to see lady superheroes taken down a notch?

The most popular fantasy depiction is a helpless damsel in the hands of a villain, who’s then rescued by a male hero and then rewards him sexually. But what if the woman isn’t helpless? What if she is the hero? Does the man fantasize about being helpless and rescued by the woman? Then for the female hero to be expecting to be rewarded sexually?

I think the “taking down a peg” is mostly targeted at women because of a feeling that, for many men, women already personify the attributes of a superhero -- strong, confident, charismatic, adored and powerful. The “power” in this case is, of course, tied to sex. Men want it, and women have the power to give it -- or not. Even more so as women find equality and superiority in high-level employment, income and political and social influence and are not dependent or subordinate to men in any way.

Women have more power than ever in every aspect of society, with male “dominance” fading away. For many in this fan base, it would be a sexual fantasy to want to

be dominant over a powerful woman – or, at least to be equally as powerful. The superheroine personifies a way they see women now: powerful, confident, beautiful and perhaps cocky or condescending because of their power. Also, for our fanbase, it is key that the superheroine either secretly wants to be “taken down a peg,” as she has been wanting to find a man that is “strong” enough to make her want to submit, or that she sees it as a challenge to see how much she can take.

Is it the same, do you think, for guy superheroes?

When the hero is male, I think the fantasy is more that the villainess seeks to use her incredible sexual power to break his will and make him give in. Even the ultimate alpha male is weak when confronted by a woman’s unleashed sexuality. I mean, if ever Batman’s iron will is no match for a woman’s charms, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

There are different fan bases of this genre though, so I can only speak on the audience we cater to.

How much of your content is created on the basis of feedback from viewers versus what you personally want to create? How much is based on what’s (supposedly) trending within the context of adult content overall?

I would say it used to be fifty/fifty, but we are moving more and more into what is trending. A lot of the content we shoot is “ageing out,” as the fanbase for it gets older and consumes less product. Also, there is saturation of many types of content as the means of producing and distributing content becomes simpler and simpler.

Starting next year, eighty percent of what we shoot will be based on pure analytics. The other twenty percent will either be “passion projects” or testing out new ideas.

About the Author

Mallory Hall is from Central Texas. She has worked in journalism since her university years and enjoys exploring unexpected occurrences in ordinary places.