First off, I have not read 50 Shades of Grey. I've read all the Twilight books and I've seen all the movies except for the second part of Breaking Dawn (I decided not to torture myself that year). That being said lets move on to my rant, shall we?
I don't like Twilight, in many cases I've come close to really hating that series. It grew a fan base over night due to some odd thinking that the romance was believable and the characters were dynamic. They're not! I personally think that the main female lead, Bella, is a whiny block of clay that could be molded by just about any guy who shows a mild interest in her. Edward is a weirdo who likes Bella simply because she smells good and....well...I don't think there really was anything else that he outspokenly liked about her. But, all in all, this franchise is harmless. Bella is a very weak female role model and the foundation of the romance is very flawed and shaky.
Now, 50 Shades of Grey on the other hand is not harmless. Far from it. Like I said before, I haven't read it. This is because if I can't get behind a romance that has hardly any foundation at all, then I won't get behind a romance that is non-existent. From what I can get from friends who have read the story, and the information provided by the new trailer for its movie, our female lead, Anastasia Steele, chooses to enter into a physical, sex-driven, relationship with the very broken Christian Grey who is likes S&M. Is there love? I highly doubt it because (spoiler) the leading lady leaves Mr. Grey in the end. Although it is supposed to be believed that Ana falls in love for Christian, it is also true that Ana feels that Christian is incapable of a real loving relationship.
How is this more harmful than Twilight, you may ask. Did you read the part about BDSM sex?! I may sound like a ninny who can't take a little heat when it comes to sex but please, you have to have a bit more of a brain to realize that a relationship can't survive on sex alone. Ana herself leaves Christian because of the fact there is no love in the relationship! Twilight was a badly written romance that had badly written characters. Bella isn't a good role model because she won't DO anything, she just waits to be rescued by Jacob or Edward and plays the two like a violin. And that's it. Aside from being a boring read and a tortuous movie franchise, you'll simply forget it after a minute of reality. What makes me more worried about Shades of Grey is that Ana willingly enters this relationship with full knowledge of whats going to happen and we get an insiders look into her thoughts as she is being, well, violated. Some worry that Bella teaches girls to wait for their boyfriend and to give up everything in their life (including their life) just to be with them. Shades of Grey is telling girls to find messed up men who will tie them up and screw them into the wee hours of the morning and then says "Go ahead and leave the dude because he doesn't love you." Or at least "If you're a virgin, get rid of that card and have some hot, steamy, bondage sex and then you can find a real relationship."
Why am I worried? 50 Shades of Grey focuses on the sex and the messed up personality of Christian Grey. Does the book go into why bondage is good or bad? Does it make Anastasia Steele a good role model for girls? Does this book help young women make good choices about sex and relationships? I don't know. But I have a firm belief that stories hold a power in our lives. We have stories throughout history about heroes and villains with morals woven through it, stories that beat the test of time and are remembered today. What stories are we leaving behind and what are they saying? That girls should get into a relationship because the guy is hot and yet damaged? That sex is just another thing you can give away? Ladies, do the world a favor and skip this movie. Don't take you husband/boyfriend on Valentines day to go see this movie. Boycott it! Let the numbers speak to directors and authors that the world won't sink so low as to watch garbage like this. We already told them we like sparkly vampires and whiny females so lets send out a new message that we will not endorse a movie about S&M. We are all role models and we need to make sure we are showing off the best of womanhood! I truly consider myself a feminist and both Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey don't take us forward in the fight for gender understanding but instead takes us a few (if not hundreds) of steps in the wrong direction.
