*Old Comic-Cartoon transition cliché*
CinemaSins: "Also, millions around the world getting off to this story of... abuse...
...blatant emotional and physical abuse, most of it in a cultish, sexual setting."
*Blip!*
"Starting with a flashback."
MatPat: As you can see, we have company this episode.
[Film Theory Intro]
CinemaSins: 30 seconds of intro, for a WEB SERIES!
Hello internet, welcome to Film Theory!
The show whose host, a.k.a. ME! Went to see Fifty Shades of Grey
Purely for research purposes.
I swear. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I know you don't believe me, but why else would I willfully volunteer to enter a lion's den of
hundreds of thirsty women all looking to enjoy the R-rated exploits
of a 27-year-old billionaire playboy with a BDSM urge. Trust me, I have better things to do with my time.
Thomas, uh, show them one example of things I can do with my time.
[Ballerina Music plays]
Yeah, sure. Thanks.
But as I sat there, awkwardly slumping down in my chair to avoid anyone recognizing me.
One of the things I was dumbfounded by was that the audience saw this movie as romantic.
ROMANTIC! Maybe they were blinded by the fast cars, million-dollar penthouses, chiseled abs, perfect chin,
tousled hair, cute little twinkle in his eyes...(˘⌣˘ )
Woah! Hey, I'm sorry,
I don't know what happened to me there.
But what I do know is that Christian Grey, in all his brooding, damaged hunkiness
implements a clear pattern of behavior that goes way beyond bad influence.
Throughout the movie, Christian Grey engages in what's known as "Thought Reform".
Otherwise called, "Indoctrination".
As he seduces the young Anastasia Steele throughout the movie and when I say indoctrination
I mean that Grey follows the exact steps that real-life cults use to brainwash
innocent people. The same steps cults use to get people to drink poisonous Kool-Aid
or worship this guy who said that aliens gave him a pair of sex robots.
Seriously. '-_-
Except Grey wants to, you know... spank Anastasia really hard
That's it, really. She asks to see how bad it gets and he just
spanks her, with a belt. Kinda expecting more from a guy with ropes, chains, and whips everywhere.
Don't believe me? Well, let me show you just how fifty shades of f- (buzzing sound) -ed up this gets.
I still can't believe that that is THE signature line from the movie and books. Ah, Fifty Shades of-
GAH! Roll Credits
Ding!
CinemaSins: "Stealing another channel's cliché" cliché.
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
As I just mentioned, thought reform is a kind of indoctrination, defined as, "A series of
manipulative techniques used to get people to do something they wouldn't otherwise do." And when you consider that the entire
plot of the movie is one guy getting one girl, a girl who has never had sex, mind you, to sign a kinky sex
contract dictating all the things he's gonna do to dominate her? Yeah, there's a little bit of that going on.
But before we get into the specific cult-like steps that Grey follows,
let's take a second to meet our victim:
21-year-old, Anastasia Steele.
She's an immensely shy college senior, a loner:
Steele: Organized group activity isn't really my thing.
Who only owns one skirt and-
CinemaSins: Still uses a flip phone in 2015!
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
She lacks self-confidence:
Steele: I don't think I'd fit in here. Look at me.
Is unassertive, and honestly outside of that,
Steele: There's really not much to know about me.
And with her about to graduate, she's entering a very vulnerable part of her life
with no clear direction on what to do next. She is, in short, the perfect subject for thought reform.
Though cults will target anyone, researchers generally agree that those who are most susceptible are
individuals who are ignorant, unassertive, gullible, and lack self-confidence, all traits that we see throughout
Anastasia's first scenes with Grey, and I'm not the only one to notice. Christian knows her type very well:
Grey: You said you're an English major?
Grey: Tell me, was it Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, or Thomas Hardy who first made you fall in love with literature?
And this is a man who explicitly states earlier that very scene that he knows how to manipulate people:
Grey: I've always been good at people. What motivates them, what incentivizes them, what inspires them.
So immediately, we're presented with a young, poor, unconfident girl looking for answers,
being courted by an older, confident billionaire. The power dynamic for indoctrination is certainly there,
which means we should look at the progression cults use as they indoctrinate new members.
For that, we can follow a convenient eight-step process.
Yes, there's actually a standard, psychological step-by-step guide for building your very own cult.
It's kind of like building an IKEA coffee table, but easier because there's none of those funny little L wrenches.
CinemaSins: Host of really smart webseries pretends not to know the name of these wrenches.
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
Which, I know are called Allen wrenches, thank you very much.
CinemaSins: Never mind.
Anyway, the general philosophy about cult indoctrination is built on getting your target, in this case,
Anastasia, to get into the habit of saying yes, first to small, harmless things which gradually over time
become bigger, more extreme sex-lady things.
It's the classic story of frogs being placed into hot water. If you turn up the temperature slowly enough,
The frogs never leave the pot until they boil to death. So, how does Anastasia boil? Let's see.
Step One: The cult recruiter gets the target to say yes to a non-threatening event.
It can be anything from a workshop to a poetry reading to a party.
For Anastasia, there are a couple early yeses.
She takes Christian's offer of the pencil in the interview, she takes the business card at the hardware store,
but the first big yes comes when Ana agrees to have coffee with Christian for the first time.
It's the first time they're meeting independent of other reasons, just to spend time together.
"But it's just coffee, that's normal," you're thinking.
CinemaSins: "Telling the audience what they're thinking" cliché
*CinemaSins "Ding!"*
And yes, you're right, it is just coffee. If a cult were to just come out and say, "Hey you there,
cut off all your ties with your loved ones and jump aboard our space love comet,"
then you'd probably run away immediately. Same thing with Grey. It's a slow burn.
He can't just be like, "Butt plugs, activate!" and expect that to work.
I mean, you gotta at least buy me a drink first, and that's exactly what he does.
But it's at this coffee when the next phase of Anna's indoctrination begins:
"The Love Bomb".
No, we're not talking about a hippie's nuclear strategy.
This is when the cult showers attention, praise, even gifts on the target.
Basically, they're trying to create a positive association in the target's brain between the cult and feeling good.
That way, when the opportunity to spend time together comes up again, the target'll be more likely to say YES.
In Fifty Shades, starting with that coffee, Grey turns his charm beam fully onto Ana,
asking about her family, giving her food. And the next day, what does Anna find on her doorstep?
A big, steaming pile of Love Bomb, in the form of signed first edition books by her favorite author,
a gift that Ana recognizes must have cost a fortune.
She's being showered with presents as Grey works to associate positive feelings with her thinking of him.
And that's before he really cranks up the pressure with new clothes, computers, and even cars
Christian Grey be dropping Love Bombs all over this place!
And with it comes Phase 3 of his plan:
Dangling the prize right in front of her.
For cults, that prize tends to vary, from happiness to a sense of community and purpose to, well,
even the answers to the world's mysteries. It's the value for joining the cult.
So, what prize is Grey dangling in front of Ana? Well, it's his Mini Grey. You get what I mean. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
CinemaSins: "Cringe-worthy penis joke".
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
It's him, at least to begin. It's the promise of being loved by a sexy, rich, powerful man.
Ana admits to being a romantic, so to find her Mr. Darcy, the billionaire brooder with a cold exterior
and loving interior, is her dream, and Grey knows it. Twice, he almost kisses her but then doesn't.
The first time happens as they leave the coffee shop after a particularly romantic moment
where he saves her from getting hit in the street. The second comes after he (quote-unquote)
"rescues" her after a night of clubbing and drinking, a scene we'll talk about more later.
In both instances, notice that he lingers even after he says things like, "I should let you go."
He tempts her, but ultimately refuses the kiss that she clearly wants. This is an important step in Ana's
indoctrination, as he's dangling the prize just out of her reach until she gets to Step 4.
Soon after his second denial, he becomes more explicit, saying:
Grey: I would like to bite that lip.
Anastasia finally responds with:
Steele: I think I'd like that.
Then, and only then, does he bring up the contract:
Grey: Not until I have your written consent.
It's funny to us as the audience because it seems like such an odd thing to say, but for Grey,
this moment is entirely calculated. Step Four of the indoctrination process is getting an agreement from
the target that they want the prize. Don't you want to be financially independent?
You know you want the secret of life, don't you?
You crave signing a contract stating that you'll be my submissive sexual object, right?
CinemaSins: "Sign me up!"
Grey has led her on, taunting her with the prospect of kisses and sex,
but it's not until she verbally confirms that yes, yes she wants that, that he drops the bomb
about what his end goal is.
She's enough on the hook at this point that he knows he's not gonna lose her with a weird comment like that.
But then look what he does:
Grey: Not until I have your written consent. Ana: What?
Grey: I'll explain later.
He avoids it. He's planted the seed, but he knows there's still a longer game to play,
but Ana doesn't walk away, doesn't ask further questions,
and he rewards her good behavior with the long-awaited kiss, a passionate moment in the elevator.
He appears like he can't control his urges anymore.
But remember this is a man who explicitly states that he has control over every part of his life.
This kiss isn't a moment of passion, it's a calculated moment of conditioning.
So, Ana finally has her prize, or at least, the taste of it, and obviously she's being led on to want more.
Then, Grey ups the ante with his next date: a helicopter ride to his private top floor penthouse
And in the process, he willfully changes the game. The prize he's dangling isn't just a pretty set of eyes
and chiseled abs anymore. It's a driver, private flights, million-dollar apartments.
The prize has gotten bigger and Ana's almost got the winning ticket,
except for Grey's non-disclosure agreement on the table.
He doesn't pull this thing out until he's laid out all the benefits of being with him.
And watch this: she signs it immediately, with zero hesitation.
I mean she signs it so quickly
I doubt she even read the thing, and after she puts her John Hancock on the line,
what's her first question after reading it?
Steele: Are you going to make love to me now?
Just like the frogs, the heat's turned up and she's not even flinching. She signs the contract with the explicit
expectation of reward, but Grey is still dangling, and once again refuses her the intimacy
that she's looking for, because just having sex with Ana isn't his ultimate goal, and that leads to the
Introduction of the infamous playroom, the velvet gymnasium, and clearly she's freaked out!
I mean, who wouldn't be, really? She just wants her roll in the hay
and he's pulling out the handcuffs and the legalese!
Ana's not ready.
Enter Step 5:
Shutting down your dissent by threatening to withhold the prize.
This is where the cult starts to get serious.
The sell becomes a bit more aggressive. The target is encouraged to do things they might not want to do.
Devote more time to the group. Recuit on their behalf. Pay dues. Adopt more extreme beliefs.
But when the target expresses resistance to these greater demands,
the cult shuts down their arguments by withholding that all-important prize,
and in Fifty Shades, to Christian Grey, it's butt plugs or nothing!
CinemaSins: "Fifty Shades and my Saturday Nights."
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
Oh, sure, Ana, you can have this apartment, but you'll have to live here between Friday and Sunday.
And you'll have to be Grey's subservient, and kneel for him. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Oh, and by the way, he still won't sleep with you even after you're done in the X-rated romper room.
And when Ana hesitates, completely understandably, I might add, Grey is like,
"No? Okay, then peace out, dawg. This is how I do."
Seriously, she asks:
Steele: What if I don't want anything to do with that?
Nope, sorry, Grey has shut down her descent by threatening to withhold everything.
No penthouse, no helicopter, none of that hickory-smoked Grey sausage. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Not unless you sign that contract. Welcome to the cult.
Oh, and then he finds out that she's still a virgin:
Grey: You're still a virgin?
And just to sweeten the pot, has sex with her, a power-play all on its own, just so she can see what she'll
be missing. And, without getting too graphic, noticed that he pleasures her, something he's made it very clear
he's not interested in at all, as evidenced by this quote.
Steele: Why would I do that? Grey: To please me.
It's just a tactic he's using to sweeten the pot to make signing the contract a little extra special.
Then it's on to Step 6:
The establishment of guilt.
The target is in the door. So, now what do you do to reprogram their thoughts?
By shaming them, making them feel guilty for not appreciating the cult, its leaders, or its beliefs enough.
CinemaSins: Cult indoctrination techniques are starting to sound like my mother's parenting skills.
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
What this does is break down the recruits perception and replaces it with one approved of
by the cult leadership, in Grey's case, he makes Anastasia feel guilty by saying things like,
Grey: I've never taken anyone in the helicopter. I've never had sex in my own bed.
She's the only one to have received this treatment and should feel special about this gift he's given her.
He also tells his personal sob story, that he's broken, that he's 50 shades of f-ed up,
making her feel guilty for questioning his tastes
He's just a poor, wilting flower and the strain shows.
We repeatedly see Ana crying, on the phone, going to bed, conflicted about how she should be feeling.
Is she wrong to be cautious of this man pushing her into a realm that she's not comfortable?
Of course not, but those are the questions Grey wants her to be asking. It shows cracks in her resistance.
That isn't love, that's the effects of calculated, psychological torment.
Step 7: The carrot and the stick.
Let me cite this, word-for-word, from one resource on the subject:
That's a direct quote. Now, let's look at a quote from Christian after he reveals his playroom to Anastasia:
Grey: I have rules. If you follow them I'll reward you. If you don't, I'll punish you.
That too is a direct quote. Need I say more?
CinemaSins: Obvious rhetorical question is obvious.
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
Actually, yes. In psychology, this is called operant conditioning. Basically, it's using rewards and
punishments to incentivize one type of behavior over another.
Rewarding your dog with a treat because it rolled over? Operant conditioning.
Giving your sex slave a new laptop because she survived a flogging? Operant conditioning.
CinemaSins: Expecting a sin every time you hear this ding?
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
CinemaSins: Operant conditioning.
Which leads to step 8, the final phase:
Controlling the recruit's identity, information, and environment.
All these other steps are how the person gets sucked in, but this is how the cult keeps them in,
isolating them from friends and family, changing the recruit's name,
randomly alternating between praise and love and scorn and punishment,
removing the recruits ability to choose by controlling things, like money, food, and career.
And notice that Grey has been doing all of these things the entire time.
From the first moments of the movie, Anastasia repeatedly corrects Christian,
saying to call her Ana instead of Anastasia.
He willfully ignores this, continuing to call her by her full name.
At the coffee shop, he gives her the muffin and tells her to eat.
And again a few scenes later, there are the "Eat this" and "Drink this" cards.
When it comes to alternating between praise and punishment, he appears interested in Ana
in the coffee shop, but then rushes out to keep her off balance, punishing her for no fault of her own.
By buying her new clothes, computers, and cars, Anastasia's financial independence is virtually gone.
Grey is even so "generous" as to get rid of her old car for her.
And at the bar, like the fifth scene in the movie, he physically removes Anastasia from the party,
blocking out longtime friend Jose, and having his brother run interference on her best friend Kate,
taking Anastasia to a place he deems appropriate when, let's face it, there was zero
reason for him to insert himself into that situation in the first place,
let alone bring her anywhere other than her own apartment.
He's already isolating her in the first 30 minutes of the movie, shaping her identity and managing her resources
like the good cult leader that he is. But then things take on a whole new meaning once she's inside the
happy little love nest. Cult members are told what to eat, what to wear, when to sleep.
And look where Anastasia is: her schedule is dictated by his demands.
When he tells her to, she must do her hair in a ponytail, and wait for him kneeling by the door,
hands just so. The contract requires that she only eat foods from a certain list.
And when she seeks an escape, needs to clear her head with the help of her family back in Georgia, because,
you know, some of this she might need to talk to someone about,
who's there to interrupt? I bet you can guess.
Christian Grey.
How romantic.
But hey, that's just a theory!
A Film Theory! And...
CinemaSins: Host doesn't give special guests signature closing line.
Well then, go for it.
CinemaSins: OK then, that's just a theory, a film theory. Thanks for watching.
Special guest ruins closing line by saying it too quickly!
Ding!
Hey, you just survived a 16 minute long video about 50 Shades of Grey!
So I must be doing something right here. Might as well subscribe!
Speaking of your life 16 minutes ago, remember that cold-open?
If you want to see me collab with Cinema Sins to nitpick this movie to death, click right here.
Trust me, it is cathartic!
You're still watching this video, meaning you haven't clicked over.
Sin on you, viewer.
*CinemaSins' "Ding!"*
Or if you're not interested in either of those options, let me know by clicking.
Do you think Anastasia and Christian's relationship is abusive or not?
Did I convince you or you still head-over-heels?
Let me know by clicking an option. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go say,
"Oh my," because seriously I forgot to include a joke about that and script and need to tag it in somewhere
And it only seemed to fit here
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)Hey Guys( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)Be Nice( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)