Posted on 09/17/2012 5:55:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Why isn't the blockbuster trilogy "50 Shades of Grey" just another bosom-busting trashy romance novel? After all, the endless sex scenes should have relegated the books to the erotica section in bookstores. Instead, they have been mainstreamed to an adulating population begging for more.
Looking farther into the pedestrian prose of author E.L. James, aka Erika Mitchell Leonard, we find more than just a titillating tome. It's hard to believe that this story ever made it out of the online venue called "fan fiction." In a normal world, the author would have been ostracized by literary critics for her lack of plot and her juvenile language. But much worse than the poor writing are the disguised themes of pedophilia and child abuse.
We don't live in normal times, and we are bombarded with the results of the old maxim "sex sells," which now reads "BDSM sex sells." The trilogy which emphasizes BDSM has sold 25 million copies worldwide and has made its publisher $145 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The books have been on the NYT bestseller list for 25 weeks.
On top of all this, James is hitting the circuit with another media blitz in advance of selling her fourth book, which will be out "just in time for Jesus' birthday," according to a rep from Vintage Press. In addition to a U.S. book tour, a movie deal with Universal, and a how-to magazine launched on August 28 titled Fifty Shades of American Women Who Love the Book and Live the Life, James will be on Katie, the new Katie Couric daytime talk show, on Monday, September 17. From Fifty Shades magazine:
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Flying home two months ago and sat next to woman who was reading this book intently. She was a very nice middle aged black lady (lawyer). Prior to that, I had never heard of it. Now that I know a little bit more, I’m surprised. She didn’t seem to type to be reading such a book.
One has to wonder: why would all these strong, independent liberal women, who bemoan a “War on Women” by conservatives be so enthralled with a book on bondage?
Books like this just show how tired our culture has become. A media culture based on the “sexual revolution” depends on pushing boundaries further and further to titilate the readers and viewers. At a certain point, you have reached the end of what will titilate and the writing turns incredibly crass, boring or unintentionally humorous. You turn on TV and see people telling crude jokes. Its not funny and its not “outrageous” — its banal. Yet the writers want to believe that there are a bunch of ministers and old Christian women out there who get the vapors every time they push a sexual boundary on TV or in a book. No one cares. Its silly and insipid.
I suppose that it’s protected - unfortunately - by the First Amendment, that is, so long as it doesn’t say anything about Muslims. /sarc
Sanitized porn for a mass audience.
Have you heard Gilfred Godfrey audio book on Fifty Shades of Grey? Hilarious.
Ping
I think the “disguised pedophilia” claim is not well supported.
Haven’t read the book, and don’t plan to. However, all domination/submission scenarios by definition involve infantilization of the submissive partner. This is because the relationship is not one of equals, not necessarily because they are trying to recreate an adult/child relationship as such.
So those of us who call our wives or girlfriends “baby,” or occasionally swat them on the ass or find a creative use for a silk scarf or necktie, are all pedos. Moron.
How do color-blind people see porn?
In fifty shades of gray...
I have been asked ALMOST DAILY if I have read Fifty Shades of Gray. When I answer ‘no’, I am asked why.
My response is always “ I don’t fill my head with garbage.”
They act stunned.
In the end, the hero and heroine end up married with 2 children, living in a mansion overlooking the sea with a love life that involves some bondage and discipline, a little "kinky" perhaps but a long way from the depravity in which the hero is immersed at the beginning of the book.
I found it worth reading for the psychological insight into the characters, seeing how depraved behavior can be traced to childhood experiences and how, with love, understanding and compassion, it is possible for a person to reform themselves into a reasonable human being.
What can you expect from Perfidious Albion (aka England)? Like I have said many times before the UK is leading the West into the abyss of destruction. Here is another fine example!
Nuke the island from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Woe to the person that marries a person with such issues. The love story does sound interesting but isn’t that a dangerous message. Most of the time it doesn’t seem to work and messes us the “reformer”. That is how I advise my daughters anyway.
Excellent article...sick set of books. It is all about de-sensitizing the people...accept homosexuality as normal...accept gay marriage as normal...next?
One point of interest, however, is that HE sees his sexual experiences with an older woman as, to an extent, helpful. I think this is true of many victims of sexual abuse - they, themselves, cannot see the reality of the damage done to them, especially if they have not known any other reality. But the heroine struggles with him to open his eyes to the fact he IS a victim, who has in turn victimized others (though the hero never is involved with children in any inproper way; his adult relationships are pretty screwed up though).
I certainly wouldn't suggest it as a model for relationships - as a work of fiction one has to accept the premise that she loves him enough to want to help him change and that he loves her enough to want to change himself. Whether that type of love/obsession is common, I can't say. I think it would be dangerous for someone to get deeply involved with such a damaged person and think they can change them. I don't think reform of such deep seated isssues is the norm. But, I expect it does happen from time to time.
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