50 Shades of...Abusive? (An entertainment section article)
Every once in a while, a broad part of our society gets interested in something that most sane individuals would consider unhealthy. No, that isn’t a reference to bath salts or some other drug, but to the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. The book was only recently knocked from the top spot on Amazon’s bestsellers’ list after spending most of the summer at the top, leaving some of us wondering how it even got there in the first place.
For this writer, it was particularly hard to get through the first book in the trilogy. This can be attributed mainly to the fact that the book was not very well-written. Throughout the book, James misuses words—at one point in chapter eight, she uses the term “castigates” in reference to Christian Grey chastising the heroine Anastasia for being a virgin.
Putting aside for a moment the fact that he’s berating a girl for her sexual choices (or lack thereof), how often does the average person use the term “castigates” in their everyday speech? We’re guessing the numbers are somewhere between zero and none, even among the well-read.
Furthermore, James constantly refers to the color of Christian Grey’s eyes. How many times does an author need to remind their viewer what color a character’s eyes are? Once, maybe twice. How many times does James do it? Well over 30, and that’s just within the first eight chapters. She also mentions Anastasia’s “inner goddess” and uses the word “jeez” dozens of times, but trying to count them all could be considered a full-time job.
The sex scenes were laughable too. At the risk of the next few paragraphs getting censored, Anastasia orgasms at the drop of a hat. Christian touches her? Orgasm. Christian says her name? Orgasm. Christian eats an orange? Orgasm.
Okay, maybe a few of those were exaggerated, but it begins to remind the single-minded reader of the song “Jizz in My Pants” by The Lonely Island. Nobody has the energy for that, and one begins to wonder if they’re reading the sex fantasies of a sex-deprived housewife or a teenager with no sexual experience whatsoever.
As previously mentioned, Christian’s actions outside the BDSM relationship they share can also be considered abusive. Typically, BDSM relationships rely heavily on consent and trust, the latter of which Anastasia invests in Christian to a nauseating degree.
From early on, he belittles Ana for being a virgin—considering that he only just met her presumably days or weeks ago, that shouldn’t be his business. Even more, that’s something that she chose for herself, so the reader is left wondering why he even cares in the first place.
There is also a scene where, due to a pregnancy scare, Christian begins intimidating and cursing Anastasia out, calling her stupid. He also controls what she eats and isolates her from her friends, among other things. Needless to say, this has all the makings of a very abusive relationship.
Most alarming though is the fact that women of all ages think that this abusive relationship is acceptable, even hot. High school-aged girls, college-aged women, and women of every age have been reading this and maybe not realizing that the relationship is both abusive and completely inaccurate to how a real BDSM relationship works. Whether or not they realize it or even care has yet to be determined.
All of this isn’t to say that readers should avoid reading books like Fifty Shades, if that’s the sort of book they prefer to read. However, they should be aware that, among other things, the relationship between Anastasia and Christian Grey can be considered abusive and that the writing leaves much to be desired.
