Ewwww–very troubling that this is mainstream and considered romantic! Sounds much worse than I imagined.
If I was in college today I wouldn’t have sex with a woman student unless I first had written permission and had the contract notarized. (Just saw “Gone Girl”)
Ellen Degeneres attempts to record the audio version of Fifty Shades of Grey:
The Time article linked above was the best - hysterical!
Agree that the Times article is a blast!
I think everyone can save their breath re knocking the literary quality of the book or cinematic quality of the movie. Doubt any of the major fans were looking to enjoy an artistic masterpiece. some seem to think there is a brick wall between how women want to be treated.in their fantasy lives.and their real lives. It might not be that simple, especially among college students.when you factor in alcohol, drugs, immaturity, and an unstable sense of identity.
Ok, the Dave Barry column was very funny, and very accurate
I think that the major fans had experience with romance novels (and the like) but no experience with racier erotica, much less anything BDSM. And it was marketed to the mainstream instead of being a niche product for perverts (because we aren’t perverts, no, no, we’re good, decent people!) which made it easily accessible and even socially acceptable. So no, they weren’t looking for an artistic masterpiece, they were looking for something edgier and more exotic than romance novels but not so extreme you would call it porn, and this was made to straddle that divide.
In my experience women are much more likely than men to have a fantasy life that includes elements that they would refuse in reality. There are indeed factors that can blur the line, but fantasies often involve focusing on elements you like (a man so handsome, suave, strong, and rich that any woman would surrender to him) while ignoring elements that you don’t like (said man just wants to whip you). When you find that someone likes this franchise, you need to remember that there are probably very specific things that they like, and are ignoring big chunks that would freak them the %@$! out if their significant other even suggested them.
I would also note that the fan base appears to transcend any single age group - I mostly know people in their 30’s and 40’s and I still know a ton of people who have read the books and/or seen the movie. Poor, poor people.
Not a single laugh at the pun in Post #17?
Maybe it looked like a typo?
No, I think we all got it, @Madison85.
Puns are told for the pleasure of the speaker, not the listeners. Best not to look too hard for laughs…
No, regardless of a woman’s “unstable sense of identity,” her “immaturity,” and her fantasy life, a woman always wants to be treated with respect. Why would the fact that some college women like this movie make you think differently?
There are so many things in this thread that do not compute for me.
I love Harry Potter and the Fever series- but I’m not exactly keen on the idea of being an orphan fighting for my people or living in a Fae-infested Dublin… I just love these fantasies.
I know lots of people that like broadly-defined kink, including elements of SM- not a single one of them would tolerate being in a disrespectful relationship.
And so what if women use this as a starting point to explore elements of SM. Notice the HUGE if. Again, I will repeat, young people are really bad at having anything but the most vanilla sex. Anything more requires communication that is hard for people to have.
Honestly, if any one has ever used handcuffs- even the most benign furry handcuffs or enjoyed a slap on the butt during sex, you have used/enjoyed SM. I truly don’t think this is going to cause a bunch of “immature” or “unstable” young women to suddenly want to be beaten during sex.
Also, for what it’s worth, many people who are into hardcore SM report feeling these desires from a young age- the same way that many of us feel straight or gay.
“Furry handcuffs”??? What would be the purpose of something like this?
I don’t think the issue is going to be resolved on a thread.
While some fiction authors write because they have a message they feel just has to get out (les artistes, real or imagined, life changing or just someone’s drivel,) others just want to hit the formula and make the bucks. No question, this one made money for all. So the question, to me, is less abut personal freedoms and more about how marketing works.
In that vein, HP is also a franchise.
LOL HarvestMoon, it was honestly just the first thing that popped into my head 
Gawd, R, I thought you meant you…
They don’t leave marks as easily. People start to notice if you always have chaffing on your wrists.
Have no interest in reading the book or seeing the movie and have basically avoided any media reviews, etc. (but have seen headlines, so I know the reviews are bad).
But last Friday, I had a 30-something HVAC guy come do a furnace check-up, and at the end of the appointment, when he came upstairs, he must have been using delay tactics so he wouldn’t have to go to his last call of the day (it was about 4PM)… he started talking about how much he reads, and had to share with me his opinions of different books, including 50 Shades and American Sniper (he was former military). I’m sorry, but I had NO interest in hearing his opinion of how poorly 50 Shades was written, with detail. It was SO inappropriate. Then he turned to American Sniper and had to give his political editorial, which I completely disagreed with. Who does this in the customer service business? It was so uncomfortable - once enough time has passed, I’m going to call the HVAC company and complain. I DON’T want to be talking to a 30-something male about 50 Shades. I should have cut him off, but I kept thinking, “He’s going to wind down any minute now.” He was there for 25 minutes after he finished his work down in the basement. That’s 25 minutes I’ll never get back again. I guess he was trying to impress me, that he was a man-of-the-world, reading chick flick books. But it just disgusted me.
Thanks cosmic.
Teriwtt was there anyone else home at the time? Honestly, if a repairman brought up Fifty Shades when I was alone in my home I would have been running for the hills. I would have been out of that door in 2 seconds.