Unwrapping FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, the movie...

When FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by E.L. James was first released, I paid my ten dollars for the privilege of reading one of the most poorly written romance novels ever. After finishing book one of what I then discovered was to be a trilogy, I swore I would never read another word written by this author.  I can say I have kept that promise.

Now the movie was announced. I immediately thought…holy crap, really? Someone was going to sink a boatload of money into making a terrible book into a movie. Well, I thought…I suppose it can’t be any worse than the book. In fact, it was even possible that it might be better than the book. Wouldn’t that be a first? We all know a book is most certainly always better than any movie created based on that book.

When the movie was setting to release, I watched the trailers. I listened to the hype and some of my friends’ excitement over the coming attractions but couldn’t get excited over the movie having read the book. I decided that after sinking ten dollars into an ebook that I will never ever read again I would never ever pay good money to see the movie, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. I can say that I never did, and never will.

Okay, anyone who has HBO knows that the movie, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY is playing on that movie network right now. One evening last month, I happened to notice it was on so I clicked on it and, out of pure curiosity, started watching it. I turned it off literally two minutes into the movie. I don’t think I got through the credits.

About two weeks ago, my curiosity got the better of me and I once more started up the movie. I freely admit that I watched the movie, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. All I can say is…that’s two hours and nine minutes of my life, I will never get back. To say that the book was horrible is an understatement in reference to the movie. The movie was worse!

It was incredibly horrible! It was boring, mundane, and so ridiculous in that it was missing every part of the book that made Christian Grey the creepy, insecure, arrogant, and misogynistic character that he was in the book. The actor playing Grey was unattractive, boring, and weak. The actor portraying Ana Steele couldn’t act her way out of a cardboard box but then again, it really didn’t take much to portray such a weak, inane character as Anastasia Steele anyway.

I cannot understand how anyone can rave over this movie…unless they never read the book, which would lead them to believe that this was a dom/sub relationship at its best. Oh well, at least I didn’t have to hear about Ana’s inner goddess…I also got a lot of work done because it was so boring that I had to do something to keep me awake.

If you saw the movie, I’d love to hear what you thought of it.

Happy Reading (Good Books) Everyone!

Unwrapping My Thoughts on FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, the Movie & BDSM in Romance Novels

With all of the excitement building over the upcoming release of the movie version of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by E.L. James, I got to thinking about the way BDSM (Bondage-Dominance-Submission-Masochism) is portrayed in romance novels today. I am not a fan of the FSofG series and do not expect to see the movie unless I hear some very good things about it – namely that it’s better than the book, but since a movie version of a book is so rarely better than the original, I doubt it will happen.

Have you seen the trailer? Some think it's really sexy, racy, or whatever. I think it's about as exciting as the book. Not.

There are many romance authors today who portray BDSM from mild to extreme so much more erotically, and genuinely that it got me thinking back to some older romance novels which were never labeled as BDSM but actually can be added to the list. One in particular is WARRIOR’S WOMAN by Johanna Lindsay.

Now, before fans of Johanna Lindsay jump on me and proclaim, NO WAY!, if you’ve read this particular book and its series, think about some of the sex portrayed. I loved this trilogy of sci-fi romance created by Johanna and wish she’d revisit this type of romance again.

In the year 2139, fearless Tedra De Arr sets out to rescue her beleaguered planet Kystran from the savage rule of the evil Crad Ce Moerr.

Experienced in combat but not in love, the beautiful, untouched Amazon flies with Martha, her wise-cracking, free-thinking computer, to a world where warriors reigns supreme - and into the arms of the one man she can never hope to vanquish: the bronzed barbarian Challen Ly-San-Ter.

A magnificent creature of raw yet disciplined desires, the muscle-bound primitive succeeds where no puny Kystran male had before - igniting a raging fire within Tedra that must be extinguished before she can even think of saving her enslaved world...

Many erotic romance novels today have a dominant male paired with a confident yet submissive female where mild to extreme BDSM is introduced between the couple but WARRIOR’S WOMAN was first released in 1990 by Avon Romance and for the time, it pushed the envelope further than most romance novels had ever gone before. There was a cultural traditionalism behind the behavior on the part of the hero, Challen, and the heroine, Tedra, was a self-sufficient, tough, warrior who challenged her hero every step of the way. Her refusal to submit to his dominant behavior resulted in a few punishment scenes, one of which even included an explicitly non-painful spanking scene, which left her hero with a very bad taste in his mouth. His punishment amounted to bringing her as close to orgasm as possible without allowing her the satisfaction desired by her. When she told him if he wanted to truly punish her, he should do it properly with a spanking. His means of punishment was never about pain but simply a means to make her understand he was in control of her, and her pleasure. 

Well, as women, we may not agree with that because we all know we are responsible for our own pleasure and it’s our willingness to share it with our men, which enhances it and makes our men feel triumphant. But along the lines of BDSM, Challen believed himself in charge, dominant if you will, but in truth, we know it was Tedra who led his heart and so led his desire to please her and keep her from pain.

So with this in mind, I’m drawn back to FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and its manner of pushing the envelope toward humiliation, Christian’s need to crush Ana, her heart, and make her feel as low as he feels. These are things which turned me off about this series. I’m all for reading erotic romance with BDSM themes, even when they don’t particularly make me comfortable. Voyeurism themes tend to make me uncomfortable but not necessarily because of the theme but it’s the idea of a man who loves his woman and yet still feels it’s okay for other men to watch her pleasure that turns me away. I believe there’s play and then there’s respect. Love needs respect to survive, just as it needs respect to exist in the first place.

True, in any games of BDSM, there is a level of mutual acceptance and the dynamic is supposed to be one of consensual play but again, I don’t feel that in FSofG the way I feel it in other erotic romance with BDSM elements. So my question to you is the same one I would ask a partner in real life, how far is too far when introducing elements of bondage, dominance, submission, and masochism into a romantic relationship?

Also, will you be seeing the movie? 

Feel free to comment, rant, blast me, or agree - I want to know your thoughts. Happy Reading Everyone!