Fifty Shades of Grey

Okay, apparently, Fifty Shades of Grey is commercially successful enough to have someone to basically... parodying it.

I might get banned for this, but whatever. Basically, I like your opinion: If you have to choose between the book or this film, which one you choose?

I thik I choose the film. Cheap laughs.

That's actually funny.

Really, really funny.

I don't know how it would hold up for an entire movie, but I'd watch the hell out of that trailer for a while. I'd even consider watching the movie as long as that idiotic fucker who wrote the original books didn't get a penny for the flagrant abuse of her work.

I mean of course Stephenie Meyer. And no, I'm not going to explain the joke.

So, the third movie has come out and we're finally FREED (hahahaha) of this nonsense in our public consesnsus.

Ok, I do have a genuine question. I've looked into this over the years trying to understand why anyone likes this and I've come to my own conclusion that this could be a very good series... if the book took the stance that Christian is instead abusive and it had been a story of Ana finding his gestures romantic and the arc being entering and then escaping an abusive relationship.

I have to ask, has anyone ever reframed the story this way? Written their own version with the explicit point being that Christian is an abusive fuck and that the relationship is unhealthy?

I feel like making that the point would solve most of the book's issues.

The thing is that there is a genuine desire for dark and mysterious romances with dangerous people.

The issue is that very few people have the skill to write it without making it creepy, and thus those that get popular are often horrifying.

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Then, dare I ask, what is a GOOD example of this genre if Fifty Shades is the bad example.

Well there really aren't many mainstream. Like I said, most are niche and over the top. When there are more commonly accepted versions, it's usually done either in fandom or in a non romance. So you get things like Zutara, or the people who are fans of, say, Han Solo/Leia (which still had its own problems, but since it's not the focus, you can ignore it).

I'm sure that if you knew someone who was bigger into vampire fiction, you'd be able to find actual good ones (and not twilight lol) as vampires as an archetype are sort of inherently that dark sexual metaphor.

edited 10th Feb '18 8:50:50 PM by MrAHR

Read my stories!

I haven't read many romance novels yet, but if you're looking for reviews this site is fun. I have no idea how you'd filter for "kind of fucked up, but actually well written," but I get the impression that Romance/Erotica is a huge genre, so they're probably out there somewhere.

I kind of wonder how much of the popularity of the books is people who genuinely enjoy them for what they are, as opposed to people checking them out because they're 'taboo'/easy to poke fun at? The minimalist covers probably help as well.

From what I understand... the books themselves kind of do that. Only it's framed as "Christian is into BDSM because he was abused when he was younger, and only the love of Ana can break him from it into a normal, vanilla relationship." While at the same time presenting waaaay too much of his behaviour (which would even be considered abuse in the context of a BDSM relationship) as okay. No wonder people who are into that subculture usually hate the books.

edited 10th Feb '18 9:19:11 PM by Pseudopartition

I really suspect it's just circular. It's popular because it's popular. That means people who would never otherwise interact with such things encountered it.

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That's true, too.

(And then a thousand copies end up in secondhand books stores - I know of some who will refuse to take 50 Shades, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc. books because there's just so many damn copies. One store I worked in had literal drawers filled with identical VC Andrews books.)

It seems to be very popular amongst middle aged women who want to live out sexual fantasies that used to be way more taboo 50 years ago. But yes, it's unfortunately very bad.

As for more respected erotic fiction, "Story of O" comes to mind. There is also the Sleeping Beauty trilogy (plus one), which is well regarded and pretty safe as far as kinks go (you better have a taste for paddles and tears, though).

Optimism is a duty.

I'm sorry to burst everyone's bubble...

...but E.L. James is not done yet.

She has released The Mister.

Of all the terrible porn novel titles, that one takes the cake.

Optimism is a duty.

Is it just the perspective flip of the original novels which was fucking terrible when I read the preview? (Although that was long enough ago that I may be wrong. )

No, though that exists.

This is... a Earl/DJ/Photographer/Whatever from England falls in love with his illegal immigrant virginal former (read: almost) sex slave maid.

I shit you not. I fucking shit you not.

God I which I was at my PC so I could copy paste some quotes of that garbage fire.

Edited by InkDagger on May 25th 2019 at 2:51:58 AM

Oh, let me guess, and she calls him "mister"?

I can already imagine the movie going with some thick Puerto Rican accent for that.

Optimism is a duty.

I'm just here almost one year later to see if there's anyone that actually liked this series or if this thread was just nothing but a hate sink.

Myself? I enjoyed it fine. First book was best then following books I liked less. Not for any common reason that I've probably heard over and over. I just didn't like Ana. She became a worse character over the course. Kinda like Bella did in Twilight.

What really annoyed me was her screwing up her birth control because of course she did and then deciding to keep the baby because of course she did. And Christian just had to be so willing to be a parent if only to keep her around because of course he was. There simply aren't enough stories that don't have babies ever after as the endgame. I'd like to read something that doesn't go that direction.

Anyway, yeah. It's not the best but it's not the worst. As far as being dark and encouraging abusive tendencies... *laughs* Oh... you need to read Addison Cain.

The common argument is that this is preaching a false idea of what BDSM is. I question when was it ever doing such a thing. I mean, it was clear Ana was meant to save Christian from his very damaging twist on it. A twist I believe was due to him being sexually assaulted by a grown ass woman when he was a teenager. A woman that claimed to be a friend of his own mother and blatantly used that to keep close to Christian so she could try and break the pair up until Mrs. Grey finally found out and almost beat the shit out of her.

No one ever seems to recall that. But maybe it's because backstory is boring?

So you're saying this was basically a botched "I must save him" plot?

Optimism is a duty.

Probably? Actually, yeah, I could see that. I mean, after a certain point, it turned into making Ana a damsel in distress so the author certainly lost the plot.

We should also remember that this was a Twilight fanfic, so we have the baggage of Bella's characterization to deal with.

Optimism is a duty.

Twilight always seemed like a much better series from what I know of it, to be honest. Certainly it seems like a lot more interesting things happen in it.

Granted, I like paranormal romances and fantasy stories so....

Honestly, I think the worst thing about 50 Shades, 365 Days, and your other fanfic-y smut novels/movies is the fact that despite being fairly blatant smut fics, there's this need to shy away from acknowledging what they are.

I can't count how many times I've had a friend or coworker tell me they read and watch these things and then insist it isn't porn it's a romance, without being prompted.

And I genuinely think if everyone just went "Yes, this is ridiculous, batshit plotted porn about questionable sex and saving crazy dudes, and I acknowledge it's flaws, but I think it's hot shit" it wouldn't be under so much fire. But our society shames women for having a sex drive, so we can't call it that; we have to say "romance", "erotic novel" etc. and prop it up as being something that it isn't.

"In 900 years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important."

Well, of course. There is a big taboo in Western culture (and probably cultures in general) against admitting you watch porn or masturbate.

And you can make a case that some of these works have literary qualities, and are not merely pornographic. Story of O is a prime example of that.

Optimism is a duty.

Yeah, in general people dont like to said "Yeah you are right, this is shit but I liked anyway" because is....kinda admiting is low content, and nobody like to rank the thing they love in that way.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"