On Fifty Shades of Grey Far Exceeding My Very Low Expectations
Fifty Shades of Grey far exceeded my expectations, which were very low.
After reading excerpts of the novels here and there, I knew I’d never have any desire to read them in full. The dialogue was ridiculous and, in general, I just didn’t see the appeal. But the trailers for the film piqued my interest. I’ve always liked Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan is super sexy, and the soundtrack was worthy of a film better than one I’d ever expected to be generated by Twilight fan fiction. So last night, I ventured to the movie theater among a throng of giggling women who were obviously brimming with anticipation. And I had a pretty good time.
First off, I’m not quite sure where all of the grumblings about this film being anti-feminist are coming from. I’m quite the feminist myself, and the only thing that set off my alarm bells was when Christian Grey gives Anastasia Steele a first edition of Tess of the D’Ubervilles, a Romantic period novel detailing a woman’s ruin at the will of her lover.
So imagine my pleasant surprise when, as Christian tells Anastasia about his dominant/submissive sexual preferences, that he only does things to women that they WANT him to do to them, both for their pleasure and his. Even when Anastasia, after demanding he tell her why he wants to see her punished (and receiving no explanation) asks him to punish her – and he does – it’s HER choice. And she gives him plenty of push back and sass throughout the entire film, which he demonstrates great respect for. In fact, while her mousiness may have initially attracted him, it seems it is her willfulness that intrigues him. Perhaps the books are full of twisted sexism – I wouldn’t know. But the film was not.
Some bits of the movie were a bit too drawn out, a tad dull, and very much on the unrealistic side. The filmmakers seemed to try to convey an instant magnetism between Christian and Anastasia at their initial meeting, but that, coupled with the immediate way in which Christian begins pursuing her, seemed pretty unrealistic. All she did was ask the dude a few questions, and now he is going to turn up at her hardware store and start buying BDSM equipment to see how she reacts? Also, she conveniently works at a hardware store. Insert eye roll here.
Minus some silly plane and helicopter rides, their relationship was fun to watch unfold. Christian is a more dynamic character than I expected, one who obviously has a complex backstory. At times, Dornan didn’t quite pull off a few scenes; there were some bedroom moments where he just didn’t seem as into it as his character was supposed to be. Overall though, he was fine.
Johnson played Anastasia with great humor and intelligence. The atmosphere in the theater was light-hearted and communal, which I think was owed to Johnson’s performance. Her incredulity was exactly what any other independent woman with an inexperienced sexual background would express as she went through Christian’s sex contract, bluntly asking what a butt plug is and expressing mild horror at the thought of fisting.
Their relationship was not uninteresting. Seeing two people with an intense connection and very different philosophies about life trying to come together is classic plot we’re all familiar with, and one that usually lends itself to enough drama and character development to maintain my interest.
Was it a great film? No. It was kind of slow and fairly unrealistic. But was it entertaining? Yes.
Admittedly, if I had had any expectations at all, perhaps my review would be less fluffy.