Not so long ago, the only people who went to cinema to watch porn were presumed to be perverted men. But nothing indicates how mainstream this has become quite like Brian Williams teasing the trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey on last night’s edition of the NBC Nightly News.
I did not read this book. I just listened in utter stupefaction a few days ago as a female friend who did shared why Fifty Shades of Grey, by author E. L. James, is all the rage.
No doubt my friend would declare herself an unabashed feminist. And she has never struck me as the submissive type when it comes to sex.
This is why I was so taken aback when she expressed how captivated and stimulated she became as she read about the sadomasochistic relationship that plays out in graphic fashion between the main characters in this novel: the virginal, eager to please Anastasia Steele and her emotionally scarred and domineering Sugar Daddy, Christian Grey…
Mind you, I’m all for women harboring secret fantasies about anything, literally. And I see nothing wrong with whatever kinky, even abusive, sex consenting adults get into behind closed doors.
I just fear the very public swooning women are engaging in over this book is misleading women and men into a very grey area. But the romantic sadist in me can’t resist encouraging men to seize this opportunity to have fun finding out just which shade of grey gets their women off: some baby oil and silver balls might help….
(“’Fifty Shades of Grey’ – Mainstreaming Kinky, Abusive Sex? The iPINIONS Journal, April 20, 2012)
Granted, in this age when “normal” women are publishing Instagram selfies that look like portfolio submissions for Hustler magazine, my concerns might seem quaint, if not prudish. Just color me old-fashioned.
But any self-respecting woman or man would probably be well advised to skip the cinema and wait to watch this kiddie-porn feature on DVD. Especially given that, by most accounts, the sex depicted in the book, which will be acted out on screen, is about as titillating as “meatloaf.”
Better still, you might find Showtime’s Masters of Sex not only more titillating, but also replete with more socially redeeming value.
That said, I shall end by noting that the people complaining about actor Jamie Dornan being miscast as Christian Grey remind me of those who complained about Daniel Craig being miscast as James Bond. Of course, the Bond films featuring Craig have only been the most successful, by far, in the franchise’s history.
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