50 Shades of Controversy

The New York Times best seller "50 Shades of Grey" caused controversy when it turned into a movie. The plot centers around Christian Grey. Who is an emotionally damaged billionaire and sadist who seduces a seemingly innocent woman named Anastasia Steele. The two fall in love in a short amount of time and form an unconventional relationship that includes BDSM. Though sexually inexperienced, Ana plunges headlong into an affair and learns that Christian's sexual conquests push boundaries. A BDSM relationship goes beyond whips and chains and opens a grounds for trust between two partners. This is where the misconception about the movie's concept begins.

Upon the release of the movie many people gathered outside of movie theaters to protest against this film. Many of these protesters didn't read the book so they are only judging the film by what is said in the media. People claimed that the movie romanticized domestic violence and glorifies abuse. In retrospect, it is about the total opposite. It is all about trust and pushing limits.

But viewers could not see past their biased judgment. I asked a movie goer at a theater in Manhattan their opinion on the film and although they did not want to filmed they gave me a quote, “It kind on rebrands violence as romance. And what concerns us in society where 1 in 4 women are sexually abused we have a film that is eroticizing, glorifying and basically legitimizing violence against women.” Quite a few people agreed with this statement. This is a person read the book and watched the movie which caused them to change how they felt about the message afterwards.

Despite all the flak Fifty shades of Grey received, they movie pulled in over $500 million dollars worldwide after being in theaters for little over a month. Director Sam Taylor Johnson could not be more proud with the outcome and 50 Shades is said to come back with two more films (Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed).

www.fiftyshadesmovie.com