How the exploration of voyeurism in ‘There’s Something About Mary’ forecasted the explosion of OnlyFans
Peeping Toms, perverts, and penis injuries, the Farrelly brothers‘ There’s Something About Mary is not a boy meets girl tale of sexual conquest. It’s more so the tale of a desirable woman relentlessly pursued by a posse of pillocks. Hell, even the magnificent Jonathan Richman breaks out of the soundtrack and plays the songs from a tree where he can eyeball the majestic Mary in all of her glory rather than being stuck in a darkened studio. “There’s just something about Mary,” he sings, “that they don’t know.”
However, there is a slew of stalkers throughout the film who do, in fact, know exactly what he means. They are infatuated by this certain something that the beloved Mary exhibits. They find themselves cuckolded to her friendly ways, incapable of looking beyond her to such an extent that they can barely spend a moment without taking their peepers off her. She entertains them from afar, and they find themselves deeply, madly, truly infatuated.
Their infatuation even prevents them from ever really communicating with her in such a way that might form a connection beyond falsehood. If, for instance, Tucker (Lee Evans) was ever to somehow snare a date with her and a relationship blossomed, how on Earth would he go about getting rid of his crutches? How would Pat (Matt Dillon) get around the fact that everything he knows about her has been observed through binoculars beforehand?
These hurdles imply that, for the most part, they are simply content with being subordinates to her splendorous je ne sais quoi. Provided she remains single, to ensure that the little frisson of hope remains, they are happy to get their kicks as voyeurs. When they do interact, they are also happy to do so as avatars of themselves, fake personas designed for maximum sympathy—the next best thing to genuine compassion.
If you swapped her window for a webcam, then all of the above could quite easily apply to OnlyFans. The beloved, beautiful woman with a dominion of devotees. The modern world is full of relationships conducted from afar, and There’s Something About Mary seemingly – whether inadvertently or otherwise – put its finger perfectly on the dynamic of a one-way internet fling.
If Mary had offered to sell her soiled socks, then they would have gone to a fortune. This sort of premise has propelled OnlyFans towards a $1 billion dollar valuation in 2022 following a mere $11,000 (£10,000) investment in 2016 by a pair of brothers (N.B., not the Farrelly brothers behind There’s Something About Mary, chance would be a fine thing).
In the past, there have been countless movies about one woman faced with the choice of many men. However, back in the days of Audrey Hepburn, her suitors were genuine and valiant in their attempts to coo her—they wanted to be with her. That is subverted in There’s Something About Mary, where the pursuit is not quite in vain. It’s not even a pursuit; it’s a fantasy gone too far in the eyes of many and merely a friendly encounter at best to the beautiful Svengali who has them under her spell.
