Curious? Embarrased? Appalled? Or all of the above?
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Fifty Shades of Grey...
What’s harder to believe? The boast that this movie features TWENTY MINUTES of sex
scenes? Or that it means the one hundred minutes movie has EIGHTY MINUTES of story? Whaaat?!
That’s a lot of talking! But then, do flirting and foreplay count as a sex scene or story?
Bottom line, Fifty Shades of Grey is a mystery where many of us don’t know what to expect.
On the one hand, EL James’ Twilight fan fiction has sold over one hundred million
copies worldwide. On the other, the entire country of Malaysia just banned Fifty Shades
of Grey, classifying it as pornography which depicts - and I quote - “scenes that are
not of a natural sexual content”. But some BDSM fans think it’s totally natural! A
considerable number of people swear by this mix of bondage and discipline - B and D - and
sadomasochism - S and M - and feel it’s actually quite healthy. However, does EL James
truly understand BDSM? Or did it simply seem like something “cool” to put in her fan
fiction, and therefore she hasn’t bothered to portray it accurately - both physically
and psychologically? Speaking of psychologically, some have also criticized Fifty Shades of
Grey for glorifying abusive relationships. Yet were the one hundred million people who
bought Fifty Shades of Grey FORCED to do so? The real truth here, and for some it’s an
ugly truth, is that for all the talk of feminism and equality of the genders, many women - when
push comes to shove - would LOVE to be a hot rich guy’s play thing. I mean as I said
in my trailer review for Fifty Shades of Grey, would all these women be as interested in
Christian Grey’s red room of pain if it was in a two bedroom apartment walk-up instead
of a penthouse? After all, Richard Gere didn’t exactly play a regular guy in Pretty Woman
either. Ah, Pretty Woman. Back in 1990, the idea of a light romantic comedy about a wealthy
corporate raider falling in love with a prostitute was also pretty shocking. But the Garry Marshall
film, made for just fourteen million, pulled in almost five hundred million worldwide - again,
in 1990! In fact, that year it was the third highest grossing film after Ghost and Home
Alone. And it made relatively unknown actress Julia Roberts, the hooker with a heart of
gold, a household name! Is Fifty Shades of Grey
just
the next
natural evolution of the Cinderella story? And if so, well, that
sounds
pretty innocent, doesn’t it?