The Controversy on 50 Shades of Grey

M

Matie

Legacy Member
Now this novel seems to be the latest fad after the Twilight phenomena, and it has created controversy due to the way the female heroine is depicted as someone whose worth is only defined by the man she loves. And of course, there's the issue of the BDSM depicted.

I was reading yesterday this article on Forbes, that pretty much explains it. Welcome to Forbes

My stance is that the novel is a BDSM version of Beauty and the Beast.

Have you read it? What do you think?
 
Yes, I've read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The vocabulary and standard of writing is not great, but the characters are engaging. I was able to care what happened to them, and at the end of the trilogy, I was sorry it had ended. With all its limitations, 50 Shades is a rattling good yarn, and the sex scenes are believable and not just a little titillating.

As for the BDSM, it's quite tame, really. I've never been on the wrong side of a whip or a pair of handcuffs, but even I thought it wasn't too bad. I actually considered that Anastasia developed as a person through the trilogy - she certainly wasn't defined by Christian. In fact, I'd say she was his salvation. You can't get much more empowering than that.
 
I don't get what the fuss is about this book and haven't read it, but I'm also a gay male and don't have much interest in reading it either, lol. Mixed feelings about the "phenomena" around it though - on one hand I'm getting the impression it's breaking some walls down about women expressing their sexuality openly but on the other hand I kinda get the impression it's all just a bunch of corporate hype.
 
Read the first book. And then I didn't read anymore. I mean I am a big fan of literary fiction so 50 Shades really irked me on the writing quality front. Also I thought the characterization was a little sloppy.

But I wasn't looking for a literary masterpiece in 50 Shades.

It was sexy. It was a look into the world of light BDSM. It was thinly veiled fan fiction.

Overall, it was an amusing Saturday morning. But I really didn't care what happened next in or outside A & S's bedroom!

Anyone see any validity in the claim that the trilogy has revitalized the action in bedrooms across the Western world?
 
I haven't read it, but the girls I've talked to have mixed opinions. Some thought it was garbage and couldn't understand why it was popular, and others loved it and couldn't put the book down. Being a guy, I don't think I'd find much enjoyment in reading it, and I've heard more negative reviews than positive ones.
 
Found these interesting and amusing tidbits in a Superman blog, because actor Henry Cavill is rumored to play the role of Christian in the upcoming movie adaptation:


I read all 3 Fifty Shades of Grey novels, in part, because I teach college age women and I like to be up to date and truly in touch with what they are reading so I can talk to them about problematic material.

The sex itself is not the nature of why Fifty Shades is an offensive text. But make no mistake....it's not a good series and it's got a really horrible feminist message in it for young women.

The protagonist of this book (just like Twilight) is basically the anti-Lois Lane. She's a young woman who has no self-esteem, no self-confidence and it glamorizes women feeling "unworthy" of powerful, beautiful men and needing men to build up their self-esteem in their own beauty and sexuality. It's not a good book series.

I really hope Henry will not be a part of it. I hope he's not trying so hard to not get typecast as Superman that he doesn't take a role like this as a way to "shock" people away from his Superman image. It would be a poor choice.

The crappy part is that I could see the film makers wanting him for it.

It's well known that the author of Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, created the beautiful vampire, Edward Cullen with Henry Cavill as the inspiration. Ironically, the author also created the vampire brother, Emmett (the brother who is supposed to be gorgeous, tall and warm) with Tom Welling as her inspiration. Weird.

Fifty Shades started out as Twilight Fanfiction and the character in Twilight was created based on Henry CAvill.

In a twisted way, Cavill was actually the inspiration for Christian Grey. Yes this is real. This is an actual real thing.

So let's hope that the film makers don't see that connection and want the new Superman playing their abuser. It doesn't bode well for Cavill or the Superman film.
Click to expand...
 
The controversy stems from someone becoming offended with what they read. That's why it's so popular right now. Everyone wants to get in on the action. The books don't have to be well written if it captures the attention of someone who is willing to make some noise about it. Twilight is a prime example of that. The Twilight books were ok at best...as are the 50 Shades books...but the media hype is what makes them succesful.
 
In an article I read recently, the author said: "Women like sexual fantasies because the most erotic part of her body is inside your head." Who has the power of decision is the man, then make devices to sell, of course. But you can't sell 500 pages of pornography. She is excited as any human being, but still feels the weight of social rejection on his body, and the same goes with sex toys. Men enter without any problem to buy them, but generally women do run or purchase online. Then, in the case of these books come in a wrapper that allows them social buy it without any guilt. :)
 
I have not read it yet but I will soon. I also don't understand why the BDSM is controversial. If you don't like it, that's fine but there are a lot of people who do. I've actually never been with anyone who didn't like at least a little bit of pain during sex.
 
I have not read the books yet. So I guess it really isn't fair of me to really comment on the books. Nonetheless, calling it a "BDSM version of Beauty and the Beast," makes it sound quite interesting. But is her worth really only defined by him in every aspect of her life, or just in their sexual relationship?
 
I haven't read it, and I have no clue what it is about lol. I only know the title, and have no idea why it is such a big deal. It kind of sounds depressing, just by the title. So I don't think I would read it. I'm already depressed enough as it is lol.
 
An ex of mine tried to read it, she got maybe 20 pages in and couldn't continue. She said it wasn't even the subject of it that was the problem, it was just not written well at all.

I don't see what the controversy is, if someone wants to write or read a novel about BDSM, have at it. But crappy literature I will not stand for
 
As I like good literature, I haven't even touched one of these books (afraid they'll rub off something horrible...). It makes me so sad that this is what's hottest in today's literature :confused:

I don't usually bash anything without trying it first, but the hatred this series gets is (as I've come to understand) all very deserved. Then again I understand how the subject can arouse some interest in certain people (mainly those who do not read much otherwise). I do understand that's it's a fad and that it will go away. So here's waiting for that day...
 
To me, 50 Shades was a gimmicky book that used "unusual" sexual acts to draw a crowd. I've only read excerpts from the book, but I can't imagine ever reading the whole thing. I'm generally interesting in the kinds of stories that sell books, not because I think that makes them necessarily better, but because of the way it reflects our culture's interests. But I agree with some of the other posts on this: it doesn't really matter what the book is about, whether it's a vampire romance or a weird sexual BDSM fantasy. If it's poorly written, it's poorly written.

A good foil to 50 shades would be Nabokov's Lolita, since it tells the story of a relationship between an older man and an underage girl. That notion turns a lot of people off, but it doesn't change the fact that it's one of the most well-written novels of all time. But like 50 Shades, I don't think people should have to feel ashamed for being drawn in by the subject matter just because it's taboo.
 
I would definitely have to agree with you on this. I began to read 50 shades very briefly (just to see what the hype was all about), and I couldn't get any further than the 1st chapter. It's identical to Twilight in that it's gimmicky subject matter, but is, like you said, very poorly written. I think that all literacy has its own place and should be respected, but I don't count this as quality literature by any stretch of the word. It's a gimmick and should be thought of as nothing more than that.
 
I haven't read it yet but I have heard good things about it by close friends who have. Hopefully some time later in the Summer I would get my hands on a copy of it and hopefully get why there is all this controversy surrounding it. Thanks for the heads up about it you guys.
 
novasparker said:
The controversy stems from someone becoming offended with what they read. That's why it's so popular right now. Everyone wants to get in on the action. The books don't have to be well written if it captures the attention of someone who is willing to make some noise about it. Twilight is a prime example of that. The Twilight books were ok at best...as are the 50 Shades books...but the media hype is what makes them succesful.
Click to expand...


I completely agree with you, in terms of that the only reason that it is a popular series in the mainstream media is because somebody has created noise about it because they were either offended or found the material to be too risky for their liking. I did delve into the first book for a few chapters, and found that the characters were engaging to the point of their conversation was interesting, but other than that, the characters, in my mind, really have no depth at all and are a typecast of a formulaic structure. Furthermore, the series is not well written and reads like a mere fantasy dream (like Twilight does). The difference I am finding between this series and the Twilight series is at least the Twilight series brought in some myths about vampires, at least it had a fantastical element about it that offered a different world to the readers. Not that 50 Shades of Grey doesn't offer this, but it offers it in a sexual format, which to mainstream media provides a major outlet for controversial dialogue.

I truly believe that if it weren't for the media hype about this series, it would be just another erotica on the shelves that may or may not sell to a select group of readers. Now there is nothing wrong with reading books that have BDSM in them, or erotica for that matter, but it is only due to the subject matter that has made it into the limelight and even then I am still baffled as to why... considering the amount of books you could find with almost the exact same content o_O. That's what happens when someone makes noise, either the book is shamed and painted in a negative light, or it is embraced. Lucky for the author, they've made some money off of it, and even a movie deal... that's pretty amazing considering that the writing quality is not even close to what I would call good literature.

It's fluff, pure and simple; something people do like occasion.
 
Only yesterday I read and commented on this thread, and out of the blue, today a lady sits right next to me in the bus reading a copy of... you guessed right... the beloved '50 shades of grey'. What a coincidence right? I think that is a sign that I must get a copy asap lol
 
Good grief, this really is like the second coming of Twilight. The discussion just doesn't die.

50 Shades started as Twilight fanfic. In fact, if you run both texts through a similarity program, they will be something like 90% the same because the author only changed the names. That's it. The book gets a lot of negative press because the relationship in it is abusive at best and completely non-consensual in the worst. Seriously, BDSM is about trust and consent; without those, you might as well just call it abuse.
 
Back
Top