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The message is clear: by turning these same behaviors around to market them as “romance,” this film effectively silences the experience of millions of victims of abuse. The abusive behaviors are treated as adorably flirtatious interaction here, domestic violence is met with the enthusiastic approval of the story’s protagonists. The marketing for the film is sickening: posited as “an incredible fairytale love story,” encouraged as a date-night movie, and set to release just in time for Valentine’s Day, Fifty Shades barrels ahead without an ounce of self-awareness-or, perhaps, of conscience. While there have been several well-rendered and moving depictions of abuse in media, all of these recognize domestic violence as a cardinal sin none are as bafflingly oblivious as Fifty Shades of Grey. When Anastasia asks, “Why are you trying to change me?” he replies with the saccharine, “I’m not. “I exercise control in all things, Miss Steele,” he says in the trailer. Another shows Christian Grey with a tie wrapped around his fist. The BDSM community itself has been outspoken on the issue, distancing itself from the horrific lack of safety or consent in the novel: “ Fifty Shades is not about fun,” says BDSM practitioner, Sophie Morgan, in The Guardian. Even though it’s supposed to seem “sexy,” the book even includes several instances of rape, where Ana is coerced into or outright forced to have sex. The thought is depressing”).įar from “empowering,” Fifty Shades seeks to remove agency. As a consequence, Ana is afraid of making Christian angry, afraid to talk to her friends, and insecure in her own personhood (“He’d probably like to beat seven shades of s*** out of me. He belittles her, threatens her and blames her. He controls her behaviors, her food intake, and dictates who she is allowed to spend her time with, isolating her from friends and family. Both exhibit textbook signs of abuse: Christian, the so-called love interest, actively stalks Ana, purchasing her place of work and tracking her whereabouts through an app on her phone (“No place to run. A thorough 2013 study of the book concludes that “emotional and sexual abuse is pervasive in the novel,” appearing in almost every interaction between the protagonists, Anastasia and Christian. And, worst of all, it doesn’t seem to realize this.Īmy Bonomi, professor and chairperson of Michigan State University’s Department of Human Development and Family studies, has made some disturbing findings. Upon closer inspection, Fifty Shades of Grey is not just harmless “mommy porn.” it clearly depicts a deeply abusive relationship in which its protagonist suffers emotional and physical violence at the hands of her partner. Although I correctly characterized it as pornographic, I didn’t make the link that so often comes with pornography: the encouragement of violence against women.
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In my shallow judgment, however, I overlooked several key problems in the text.
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I made fun of the snippets of prose I heard and wrinkled my nose at descriptions of the plot. I’m sure many of you, like myself, have sat on public transportation silently judging those around you who toted around the paperback, wondering at the appeal of the depiction of a BDSM relationship in this Twilight fanfiction. The book has sold over 100 million copies around the world, and the movie is set to open at $60 million. James’ bestselling erotic novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. By this point, all of us have heard of E.L.