By Anthony Jauregui
Senior Reporter
“Fifty Shades of Grey” is a newly released romantic comedy based on best-selling novel E.L. James. Most, without viewing, have judged this movie claiming it perpetuates rape culture.
Although these claims are partly true, the biggest failure this film perpetuates is that abusive relationships are hot.
I decided to call this a romantic comedy because of its ham-fisted dialogue in and out of the sex dungeon, and its portrayal of a sugar daddy and his sugar baby.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re both hot, but what this film lacks is a believable plot line.
One of the film’s themes is control and how it’s harbored in a tightly dressed Grey. Once Anastasia Steele enters and introduces herself to Grey, his sexual discipline begins to crumble.
As the film’s plot unfolds, we see what makes it a portrayal of abuse in the relationship.
We begin with Grey. He seems like a knight in shining armor, but is more so a hot man who follows his crush around, including tracking her cell phone, justifying it as him caring for her.
About three or four times throughout the movie, Grey essentially stalks Steele. After a few gifts for Steele, including a laptop and a car, she decides to walk out on Grey.
The pull and tug type of relationship between Grey and Steele is abusive at its core, but what this film also explores is abusive pathology in people.
Grey hints at his abusive tendencies starting as a result of having a screwed up childhood.
Now, I for one know that having an abusive childhood sets you up for trouble in the future, such as perpetuating cycles of abuse, however, not knowing this as a casual viewer can be confusing.
As casual viewers with little to no research on BDSM, which stands for bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, it is easy to assume that kids who were subjected to abuse turn out to be into BDSM, which is simply not the case.
Another point worth mentioning-with regard to abuse in the film is that Grey was a sex slave to a much older woman during his teenage years. This also gives reason to his sadist tendencies, but again, is not totally accurate.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” is a portrayal of an abusive relationship in most categories.
Don’t watch this film as a substitute for porn; it’s hot but not that hot. If you’re looking for a reason to spice up your sex life, don’t watch the film. If you’re writing an article on the film, watch this movie, because that’s about the only reason you should.
