By Lily Jones | Arts and Entertainment Editor
(Spoilers ahead)
This past weekend saw the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, an adaption of the erotic novel written by E.L. James in 2011. While I myself have never read the books, a countless number of women did, making Fifty Shades one of the most highly anticipated films for this year. I have always been curious about Christian Grey and his suggestive story, so I figured going to see the movie would be an interesting experience to say the least.
Criticism of Fifty Shades included many people on social media preaching not to go see the film because of the type of relationship main character Anastasia Steele has with brooding businessman, Christian Grey. Critics have suggested that this movie gives those who safely enjoy BDSM a bad name. According to them, the book and its adaption portray a both physically and mentally abusive relationship, with Anastasia starting out as a willing submissive and transforming into a battered woman as time goes on.
Like I have stated, I have not read the books, and film adaptions tend to leave the details found in the literature out. I did not see an abusive relationship between Anastasia and Christian in this film. Sure, their relationship was highly unusual and there was some allusion to Mr. Grey having some severe emotional issues due to his childhood, but any rough sexual behavior Anastasia experienced from her lover was fully consensual. The one scene that I felt could have been construed as abuse was when Christian whipped Ana with a belt – it was clearly painful, not pleasurable, to her. However, she had asked him to do that – to physically show her the pain that he felt inside. This scene undoubtedly causes a rift in their relationship, as she stands up for herself and seemingly leaves him for good.
This film is rated R, and for good reason. I found myself shifting uncomfortably in my seat during some scenes, and thinking to myself, how could these actors do this? In my opinion, both Jamie Dornan (Grey) and Dakota Johnson (Steele) played the roles wonderfully. I believe that this film was executed as well as it could have been, as it was based on a book with that type of subject matter and writing.
This is definitely not a film to go see with your mother, considering how racy some scenes are. It may push you out of your comfort zone, but not so much that you leave the theater feeling like you’ve seen too much. One thing is for sure – many scenes in Fifty Shades of Grey will have you blushing fifty shades of red!
