The erotic film industry is always getting new material and films that either go into “adult” theaters or Cinemax. However, “50 Shades of Grey,” directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, was able to receive a public theater release. The movie is an adaptation of the first book in the 50 Shades book series, written by E.L. James. Naturally, fans of this book series were thrilled, worried, and skeptical on how the film would turn out.
The story is about undergraduate college student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson). When she goes to interview corporate executive, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), for her college newspaper, the young man begins to show signs of interest in her. After the interview is over, he randomly shows up at her part-time job, as if he is stalking her. Taken aback by the surprise visit, Anastasia asks for him to do a photo shoot to help with her article. When he agrees, he continues to show interest until they finally begin going out together and dating.
Anastasia soon signs a contract stating she gives consent to have a sexual relationship on Mr. Grey’s terms. They begin to experiment as Mr. Grey shows her how far his tastes of erotic bondage and BDSM go. However, when Mr. Grey’s tastes get a little bit more rough and disturbing than Anastasia had expected, she realizes she might have picked the wrong man to get in a relationship with.
This film has been very controversial for a variety of reasons. Some members of the fan base and the public in general see the film as a distasteful public display of pornography. Though it is changing the idea of what can and can’t be placed in movie theaters, the film is still in regular movie theaters for everyone 17 and older to see.
One of the biggest arguments against the movie is that the contract gave Mr. Grey almost full possession over Anastasia. Many feminists see this as a way of making male domination of women socially acceptable.
“Christian’s possession of Anastasia is the cause of much of my disgust and fear of the book’s influence on people and how they view romantic relationships,” said blogger Carry Purcell.
Another argument is that it promotes the sexist stereotyping that women will be okay with stalking and other disturbing actions as long as the man doing it is rich and attractive, rather than a financially lower and unattractive man.
The movie itself is full of many issues as well. The acting is stilted, the sexual scenes are very boring, and the movie is just not pleasing to watch. There are many scenes that are supposed to be sexually pleasing, but they just come off as uncomfortable and difficult to watch.
The film is also missing some of the interior monolog that makes the book more enticing to read.
“Above all, we are denied James’s personifications, which are so much livelier than her characters,” said Anthony Lane of “New Yorker.”
“50 Shades of Grey” is a movie that should’ve been put instantly onto Cinemax or any other appropriate place online for extreme erotic fiction. The whole film feels dirty and just wasn’t meant for regular movie theatres to show. For those who are into BDSM, this movie may or may not be for you as even some fans of BDSM have stated that the film negatively portrays them. This movie gets the rating of 1/5.
