My gripe with a lot of the crap I'm reading on the net about "50 SHADES OF GREY" these past few days (coinciding with the release of the movie) is that 95% of the commenters start out by saying - "I haven't read the books and I won't see the movie, BUT I think blah blah blah..." Kinda like saying... "I've never tasted asparagus, but I already KNOW I'm going to hate it, and therefore you should hate it, too!"Some of the outright militant reactions to this movie remind me of the insanity that erupted back in the early 80s when MAKING LOVE, one of the first "gay" films, came out. The line-up of protesters outside the theater was amazing - right wing political groups, Christian activists, "concerned" parents. It was like wading through the angry mob scene in some Frankenstein movie! Pitchforks and flaming torches all the way!
And guess what... it was just a movie. Fiction. Pretty good movie as I recall, and Harry Hamlin always did look good with his shirt off. (Scandalous!) I don't think it turned anybody gay who wasn't already gay. I don't think it harmed anybody's psyche by trespassing into the realms of the taboo. Who knows? Maybe it gave a few people the idea that they really aren't the pariahs society makes them out to be? Maybe it actually opened a few minds? But either way... it was just a movie and nobody forced anybody to buy a ticket - although a LOT of people tried to force us NOT to buy tickets... so who's the real monster in that scene?
Same thing happened when THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST came out. The hate groups were out in front of the theaters with picket signs, shouting all sorts of threats and hate slogans at those of us who DID bother to see the movie... and guess what? It was just a movie, too. Fiction. Worlds didn't end. Kingdoms didn't fall. Nobody turned into a pervert - except those who were out front shouting things like "You're going to hell if you see this movie!" "God hates fags!" "God knows where you live!" It was insane!
Humans are insane.
So when I read all of this pseudo-intellectual claptrap by a bunch of wanna be do-gooders (most of whom are only using the current hooplah to promote their own agendas), I just want to remind them that nobody is forcing them (or anyone else) to read a book or see a movie. But if you're not going to get up on your soapbox with an INFORMED perspective of at least having read half of one half of one of the books, why not keep your trap shut and find something you DO know something about to bitch about? Alarmist uninformed extremists have been the cause of far more harm than anything one could see in a movie.
What is REALLY annoying are these "professional" women (shrinks, teachers and self-appointed gurus) trying to say that just seeing the movie or reading the books will "harm young women" by making them think this is normal, or it will make young women think this is what they want. Er... did your mother drop you on your head, Dr. Dumbwitch? Kinda like telling kids they'll go blind or grow hair on their palms if they masturbate! (My palms are completely clean, and I still have 20/20 vision in my late 50s - so like everything else, most of what they tell us in church is a lie.) ;)
Unless someone is a completely vulnerable fool (which, admittedly, a lot of people may be) they aren't going to see 50 SHADES and then rush out into the street looking for a *real* Christian Grey. It's called FANTASY - and most of us know the difference between fantasy and reality. On the other hand, who's to say that some young woman who sees the movie might think for herself and decide this ISN'T what she wants? Who's to say that some young men who see the movie won't decide it's NOT who they want to be?
My god! The things humans can find to get upset about is unfuckingbelievable! If you have that much pent up energy, devote it to an animal rights movement or go build houses for the homeless or volunteer at a soup kitchen to help people who REALLY need your help. Sitting in your high tower telling other people what they *should* (a very dangerous word) think or do or feel is far more tyrannical than anything Christian Grey could ever do. After all - he's just a fictional character, confined to his role in a movie that will be forgotten in a month. YOU have a much broader responsibility to the world if you are at all *real* in any real sense of the word. Teach people how to think instead of encouraging them to cower in fear. Exemplify love instead of hate, acceptance instead of limitations and expectations.
And frankly, anybody who would be traumatized by 50 SHADES or almost any other work of fiction might want to spend a day or two in the real world where REAL problems actually do exist.
Put it in perspective. Get over it. Move on.
And most of all - think for yourself!
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| A return to my roots in erotica. WARNING: you might like it... but I promise not to tell. |
I've been writing erotica for over 35 years, and not all of it has been girl-in-a-white-dress-on-her-wedding-night stuff. That isn't real life - never was, never will be. Books and movies allow us to explore possibilities without having to get our feet dirty or our wrists chained to a bedpost.
To be honest, my erotica outsold my non-erotica by 10 to 1 back in the day. And guess what? The more "kinky" my erotica writings, the MORE they outsold the rest.
People enjoy feeling things they don't necessarily want to experience. It's why we have imaginations. It's why we write.
If we all colored inside the lines, the pictures would always be the same and we'd live in a very black and white world with no shades of grey.
Is that what we really want? Really?
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