Movie Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey. Need I say more? To be perfectly clear, the uber-erotic, sadistic masterpiece adapted from the E.L. James novel was not something I wanted to see during my Valentine's Day weekend. However, when you're a single guy and three of your female friends suggest dragging you to the film for a "Galantine's Day," I could not help but throw myself at the occasion. But even though that eventually fell through, I had already sold my soul to writing this article, so I reluctantly ended up having to see it anyways.

I mosied on down to Northgate mall with a female friend—who I had bribed with a free ticket—on a Sunday night. After purchasing tickets and waiting 20 minutes past the official showtime for the movie to flicker on, one lady––furious at the late start––proceeded to repeatedly scream, "I WANNA SEE DA SEXY." And on that note, my Fifty Shades movie-going experience began.

For those of you new to the world of Fifty Shades, let me provide for you the Sparknotes premise. A college student named Anastasia Steele conducts an interview with the mysteriously charming, youthful billionaire Christian Grey. Grey ends up seducing Steele––but there is a catch! Mr. Grey is sexually interested in Bondage and Discipline (BD), Dominance and Submission (DS), Sadism and Masochism (SM) or BDSM. Invoking the words of the great Rihanna, chains and whips excite him. But what's more, Grey wants the whole relationship to be based on the premise that he is the "dominate" individual inflicting the pain on the "submissive" Steele. Essentially, the movie is Steele's struggle with whether to accept this sort of relationship.

From a technical standpoint, I found the film's cinematography for most of the plot to be pretty one-dimensional. Most of the scenes involved Grey and Steele talking and the camera focusing on the person talking while the other was out of focus. However, the sex scenes were captured pretty sensuously––which for a movie of this reputation would likely be desired by audiences. As an added bonus, we get a top view of the couple canoodling from Grey's ceiling mirror with a generous display of muscles. As expected, some of scenes saturated with BDSM were cringe-worthy.

I understand that the intent with Steele's characterization is that the virgin, innocent, girl-next-door is getting seduced by this big-time billionaire, but I felt that Dakota Johnson's portrayal was perpetually nervous and hesitant. However, Johnson takes the role to a point that goes from a-dork-able to sometimes just plain forced. Johnson's "emotional pleas" were more like inflection-less suggestions. On the other hand, Dornan succeeds in becoming a sexually-dominating Adonis. The movie also had a comedic aspect to it. The awkward dialogue is like comical repartee and some of the foreplay is just funny. However, the movie embraces this goofiness to an extent. It attempts to have various subliminal symbols that just end up being cheesy. For example, at the beginning of the film, Grey gives Steele a pencil which Steele proceeds to sensually bite. I'm sorry, but if that's her idea of giving pleasure, you can count me out. The audience roared in agreement as well.

Along with its explicitly sexual nature, Fifty Shades has also received backlash for promoting domestic violence and female abuse. Fifty Shades appears to be technically sound: Grey openly negotiates the terms and conditions of his sexual relationship with Steele. Also, Grey does not explicitly force Steele to agree to the contract; Grey discloses literally every five minutes that Steele doesn't have to continue with the relationship.

I'm all for every individual expressing their sexuality in the means that is most authentic to themselves, and if that involves BDSM, so be it. However, my issue comes with the language that Grey uses in this contract. By signing the contract, Steele agrees to be the submissive one and Grey her dominate. She cannot touch him, and only he can initiate the sexual activity. If Steele actively chooses this lifestyle, so be it, but a woman should not feel pressured to relinquish all of her rights and opportunities for other experimentations to be in a sexual relationship.

I asked my friend who accompanied me to the film for her thoughts. She felt that the sex was somewhat enticing, but that Steele was doing it for the wrong reasons. She was engaging in BDSM because she fell in love with Grey, not because she wanted to express her sexuality in such a way. In fact, Steele repeatedly notes that she wishes they could sleep in the same bed and that she could touch him like normal couples do. However, Fifty Shades of Grey finds redemption in the fact that the film follows Steele over Grey. By focusing on her, the film can be perceived as her exploration of a relationship rather than a true subjugation.