Warning: this review uses adult language and probably spoils the whole movie. Because that's how I roll.
Oh, Fifty Shades of Grey. The book that brought feminists, evangelical Christians, literature professors, and dominatrices together under the loving umbrella of a mutual enemy. I haven't read FSOG, but I've heard tales of its laughably ridiculous prose, its questionable ethics, and its magical ability to jump start sexually dead marriages.
I can't speak to the book's virtues and vices, but after reading Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty series, Pauline Reage's The Story of O, and some selections of the Marquis de Sade (I don't recommend that last one), I think I can safely say that there is nothing new under the sun, and very little that shocks me.
I'm a feminist, and I strongly believe in women's bodily rights and women's sexual freedom. Looking at the whole Fifty Shades phenomena, the only thing that truly shocks and upsets me is that 1 out of 6 women in America will experience an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime, and those women who are brave enough to go forward and speak about their rapes, press charges, etc, may face blame, ridicule, intrusive questions about their sex lives...and yet instead of working diligently to eradicate rape culture, we as a society focus on whether or not it's "ok" for women to enjoy a heavily derivative, poorly written erotic novel.
Yes, yes. I realize that aspects of the book (and, yes, the film too--more on that in a second) are informed by rape culture: the seduction of a young, virginal woman by an older, wealthy man; Christian Grey's aggressive pursuit and control over Ana; the fact that Ana goes from zero sexual experience to multi-orgasmic simply by Christian's magic touch (side note: the trope of the "magic peen" that turns a mousy girl into a sex-crazed woman is very common in romance novels, FSOG didn't invent it). These are problems. These are unrealistic. If someone says no to you, you don't push harder. The process of becoming sexual is often clumsy and embarrassing, and it takes years and years--one's whole life, in fact. One does not instantly become "sexually awakened" by having the perfect lover.
Imagine if we lived in a world where we weren't so invested in controlling women's (and men's, but mostly women's) sexuality and telling women how and when and why to be sexual. Imagine if we took sexual consent seriously, and taught young people how to get and give consent and to know what they want and that it's ok to say "no"--and that it's also ok to say "yes". Imagine if we saw beauty in everyone, not just people who have the right kind of looks and the right kind of lifestyle. In a world like this, Fifty Shades would cease to exist.
Fifty Shades is just the latest in a long line of books and films that recycle dated myths about women and men: that women are naturally into being controlled, that women prefer men with money and power, that men prefer sexually inexperienced women. The problem isn't the books, but us. We are the ones who are invested in these myths and allow them to define our lives. Collectively, we buy into and enforce these myths time and again. Yes, many people are working tirelessly to dismantle and fight these myths, but there's still a long way to go. And the solution isn't to mock or shame people about what they choose to read and what turns them on. Shame may be effective, but I consider it to be unethical--and just plain annoying. Fuck shame.
Ok, enough lecturing. Onto the movie review. I found Fifty Shades of Grey to be at times cheesy, at times problematic, but also--to my surprise--fun and even....dare I say it? Hot.
There's a lot to discuss, so let me lay it out in list form:
Point: Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (a female director, thank God), the movie apparently downplays the more troubling and awful aspects of the book. Ana's "inner goddess" dialogue is gone. Christian's controlling nature is softened (though not eradicated).
Counterpoint: The film does suffer from a weird lack of awareness, though. Christian Grey is sexually dominant. He gets off on having sexual control over a woman. Ana Steele is completely sexually inexperienced and whether or not she is innately interested in dominance and submission is a mystery. Why would Christian push Ana so hard to be his submissive without knowing (or caring) if she actually likes sexual submission? There is no dearth of women who enjoy sexual submission, and who would, presumably, jump at a chance to be the sub to an extremely attractive billionaire. Why doesn't Christian find one of those women? Oh, right. Because this is an unrealistic love story and Ana Steele is "special". We can see the elements of the Twilight fan fiction that FSOG started out as: amazing vampire/Dom and unremarkable, yet irresistible, girl/sub. Nothing new under the sun, right?
Point: But what a nice surprise Dakota Johnson's performance as Ana was! She may not be the most flamboyant woman in the room, but she's no Bella Swan. Johnson, who has very real natural beauty, plays Ana with just a hint of a smirk. When Christian has her over his knee and is spanking away, we see her irreverent smile and she flirts with him even while being "disciplined". Thank God. If Johnson had taken the role too seriously, we would have been deep in cheesy Lifetime movie territory. Sex--including the non-vanilla variety--can be silly and is supposed to be fun. Johnson makes Ana's sexual awakening all the more real and human, which is exactly what this story needed. A dose of reality.
Counterpoint: Sadly, I can't say the same for Jamie Dornan's performance as Christian Grey. Christian is supposed to be "mysterious" and "fucked up". Dornan plays him as wooden and irritatingly opaque. Ana asks him over and over "Why won't you talk to me? Why can't I touch you? Why do you like this?" And his answer is always "It's the way I am". Well, if you're such a terrible fucking conversationalist with the depth of a fucking pancake, maybe Ana can go find a Dom who actually knows how to tell a joke and be a human once in a while.
Point: The sex scenes were surprisingly not terrible. I know that sounds like weak praise, but I was expecting much, much worse. Fifty Shades walks a very fine line between a Cinemax softcore adult film and the movie Secretary (a film that strove to realistically portray a BDSM relationship, and did it pretty well). The moments of cheesy breathiness and up close mushing of faces together is tempered with a certain sexy elegance. If the two leads had more chemistry, it could have been way better. Unfortunately, their chemistry was limited.
Counterpoint: The movie makes a whole big to-do about Ana's desire for a boyfriend who talks to her and sleeps in the same bed as her, while Christian basically wants a fuck buddy sub who doesn't ask too many questions. Oh, the drama. Why don't Ana and Christian find partners who want the same things as they do? Oh, right, because the book and movie polarize what Ana wants as "right" and "normal" and what Christian wants as "fucked up" so that the plot can revolve around Ana "saving" Christian from his unnatural inclinations, while simultaneously giving the audience/reader a thrill from seeing/reading about those very inclinations. This is perhaps my biggest beef with FSOG: The hypocrisy of titillating the audience with the very thing it condemns. And the faulty notion that people who are into kink are inherently abnormal, screwed up, and unable to love or be truly intimate.
Point: The film gives Ana the upper hand. As Ana realizes that Christian desperately wants her, she begins to ask for what she wants. The scene that most clearly displays this is when she and Christian negotiate the Dominant/submissive contract. (Side note, y'all: Christian Grey is obsessed with this freakin' contract. Half of the movie is him pushing Ana to sign it. It almost suggests that his fetish is not the Dom/sub dynamic itself, but the formalization of that dynamic. Again, this is problematic because it's pretty clear that while Ana enjoys the kinky sex, she's really not into the whole full-time Dom/sub thing. Which means that Christian should utilize kinky online dating sites or the Millionaire Matchmaker lady to find a more appropriate partner. But I digress.) I give credit to the director for refusing to let Ana be a naive, shrinking violet. She pretty clearly knows what she wants and insists on having it. And when it doesn't work, she has no problem leaving Christian.
Counterpoint: The end of the film is....well, incomplete. Fifty Shades of Grey is part of a trilogy and, obviously, Focus Features is going to milk that for all it's worth, but it ends so abruptly it practically gave the audience a seizure. It ends with Ana asking Christian to punish her and show her "how bad it can be". He smacks her butt with a belt six times, and although he's spanked and smacked her behind before, she freaks the fuck out and leaves. THE END. Cue credits. Come. On. I mean, I know you *sorta* have to stay true to how the first book ends, but give me a break. Maybe EL James insisted on ending the movie this way (apparently, she clashed with Sam Taylor-Johnson over every detail of the movie), and if that's true, then someone should have put a ball gag in her mouth. Most first parts of a trilogy end by setting up the next part in some way, or by having a satisfactory ending themselves. FSOG does neither. What a tease!
Consensus: Fifty Shades of Grey has problems both as a film and as a concept. However, there are critics out there claiming that it's worst movie they've ever seen. Yeah, right. I've seen dozens and dozens of movies worse than this one. All five of the "Twilight" movies are worse than this one. Fifty Shades of Grey has some laughs, has some sex, and is not a terrible way to spend an afternoon at the movies. I think I actually enjoyed more because I went in with rock bottom expectations. My feminist side was not enraged by it, and my movie buff side was like "s'ok". I realize now that there is really nothing to be in a tizzy about over this movie. Again, can't speak for the book, but it seems to me that just like with violent video games and "horrorcore" music, most people who enjoy controversial entertainment are not going to go out and kill people or abuse people or anything like that. More energy should be spent on educating people about safe, consensual sexuality and how to develop empathy (which can be taught) than on being upset over a naughty book.
Grade: A solid, well-deserved C. (it passes, but it ain't on the Dean's List).
To paraphrase Notting Hill: "I'm just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to sign his weird Dominant/submissive contract."
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