50 Shades - Great, or the Greatest?

fitfreakymom

They would have to have 100% trust in their partner which most dont.

Haven't read it. Will probably end up seeing it when it comes out on Video with my wife and/or daughter. Will be uncomfortabele just like Magic Mike was.

As far as realism -- from the little I have heard of it, it's not real at all.

And as far as women who get all worked up over the concept, in real life, they are not ready for submission. They think so, but, when confronted with it, they shy away or want to set boundaries that they can't even begin to approach.

I love it when they can, but it is rare.

RonnieLodge

r u for real? btw the trailer looks like a higher budget skinemax movie.

Please note I haven't seen the film. If it's half as thorough as the texts, it will likely become a classic; perhaps studied in college courses devoted to the subject matter.

:noway:

The books are woefully written smut. :noway:

I prefer my smut to be well written, thanks, not a terrible attempt at Twilight fan fiction that throws in a bit of S&M sex and replaced the words 'Vampire' with 'Billionaire'.

If you want to read some well written erotica with S&M, I would recommend this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_Beauty_Trilogy

EvgeniZyntx

Are these women reading about it likely to encounter this type of situation in real life?

Minus the lead male being super rich and hot, very likely actually. And they equate his actions with love rather than obsession.

My point exactly. It's a fun fantasy, because he's super rich and hot. Take that out of the book and I doubt it would be popular at all.

Of course not. Because these women are turned on by the "rich and hot." But they don't seem to have the thinking capacity to realize that he's a psycho and these relationships often end in someone dying. They think the way he treats her is desirable, but they only think that because of his looks and wealth, yet can't seem to separate the two. They think stalking is romantic. Granted, that was something a lot of women thought even before this book, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised.

It's frightening.

They think it's hot IF the guy is super sexy and rich, or IF he's a mysterious vampire. They would be filing charges if it was Joe from the gas station down the street. Yea, it's obnoxious, but I go back to my most people are stupid statement. My point is that the average woman reading and enjoying these books isn't going to go out and throw herself into an abusive relationship because THAT'S the part she finds hot. Taken out of the context of the fantasy, the behavior is no longer appealing.

Yes, it's Fantasy. Fantasy, people. People fantasize about all sorts of things that they will never actually do. IF someone wants to engage in BDSM activities then there are safe ways of doing that, but this is just a book, not a "how to" guide. I wholeheartedly agree with the criticism that it's poorly written drivel but I disagree with the criticism that it "encourages" or "promotes" abuse.

Or that it can only be read one way.

As an aside, as psychological and physical abuse go, I think "Story of O" is far worse. Of course, that was written in French and while criticized as being anti-feminist, it seems to be widely read and enjoyed in the BDSM "community" without the criticism that it isn't an example of SS&C.

Ever read Justine? Juliette by the M. de Sade? The characters there make Christian look like Mickey Mouse.

Stylistic weaknesses aside - the character development triangle between Elena, Christian and Ana could easily be borrowed from classic works like the Liaisons Dangerous. The author, like Laclos, works to maintain those tensions of lies, sexual betrayal and initiation.

And yet, for all the purported abusive relationship, perhaps it is the happy ending that upsets our readers in their protection of the "real BDSM lifestyle" - if the story had been more littered with corpses (which might not work for mommyporn) they might have kept in mind that it was a fictional construct.

The cries of "It's not the real deal!" will also be the subject of study; this mommyporn audience is voicing both a frustration of style and expectations of suburban standards of BSDM that must be "just so". Perhaps we can dig up Rudyard Kipling and ask him to deliver new volumes to Gothic sub-literature.

csman49

The author made a f8ck load of money hitting the RIGHT audience, good luck to her!

likitisplit

Are these women reading about it likely to encounter this type of situation in real life?

Minus the lead male being super rich and hot, very likely actually. And they equate his actions with love rather than obsession.

My point exactly. It's a fun fantasy, because he's super rich and hot. Take that out of the book and I doubt it would be popular at all.

Of course not. Because these women are turned on by the "rich and hot." But they don't seem to have the thinking capacity to realize that he's a psycho and these relationships often end in someone dying. They think the way he treats her is desirable, but they only think that because of his looks and wealth, yet can't seem to separate the two. They think stalking is romantic. Granted, that was something a lot of women thought even before this book, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised.

It's frightening.

They think it's hot IF the guy is super sexy and rich, or IF he's a mysterious vampire. They would be filing charges if it was Joe from the gas station down the street. Yea, it's obnoxious, but I go back to my most people are stupid statement. My point is that the average woman reading and enjoying these books isn't going to go out and throw herself into an abusive relationship because THAT'S the part she finds hot. Taken out of the context of the fantasy, the behavior is no longer appealing.

Yes, it's Fantasy. Fantasy, people. People fantasize about all sorts of things that they will never actually do. IF someone wants to engage in BDSM activities then there are safe ways of doing that, but this is just a book, not a "how to" guide. I wholeheartedly agree with the criticism that it's poorly written drivel but I disagree with the criticism that it "encourages" or "promotes" abuse.

Or that it can only be read one way.

As an aside, as psychological and physical abuse go, I think "Story of O" is far worse. Of course, that was written in French and while criticized as being anti-feminist, it seems to be widely read and enjoyed in the BDSM "community" without the criticism that it isn't an example of SS&C.

Ever read Justine? Juliette by the M. de Sade? The characters there make Christian look like Mickey Mouse.

Stylistic weaknesses aside - the character development triangle between Elena, Christian and Ana could easily be borrowed from classic works like the Liaisons Dangerous. The author, like Laclos, works to maintain those tensions of lies, sexual betrayal and initiation.

And yet, for all the purported abusive relationship, perhaps it is the happy ending that upsets our readers in their protection of the "real BDSM lifestyle" - if the story had been more littered with corpses (which might not work for mommyporn) they might have kept in mind that it was a fictional construct.

The cries of "It's not the real deal!" will also be the subject of study; this mommyporn audience is voicing both a frustration of style and expectations of suburban standards of BSDM that must be "just so". Perhaps we can dig up Rudyard Kipling and ask him to deliver new volumes to Gothic sub-literature.

You know, I used to think that Sade was a wack job. Then I read Balzac and realized that 1) English Novels of the same period of time followed tight conventions and 2) the French are insane.

God - there's an idea. Maybe I could just modernize some of the old French stuff and make a mint?

mjbowman821

http://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/to-the-christians-who-think-50-shades-is-all-sorts-of-awesome-please-stop-a

EvgeniZyntx

http://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/to-the-christians-who-think-50-shades-is-all-sorts-of-awesome-please-stop-a

A site that's into burning books. What idiocy.

zorbaru

im a guy and i didnt think the books were that bad. and yes, i read all 3 of them.

now certainly the sexual parts of the book may or may not be a good portrayal of that lifestyle, i wouldnt know, and im not really interested to find out. but i did think that the story itself had entertainment value. certainly its not a literary masterpiece, but i didnt think it was complete trash either.

also a lot of people are condeming the writing style use of the term "down there" etc. you must remember that the book was written in the first person, and it was outlined from the beginning that the protagonist was a very shy person and i felt the writing style was true to the character.

once again, not a masterpiece but not complete trash either.

however, im the kind of person that is easily entertained. i dont think that is a bad thing. i can turn my brain off and enjoy things for what they are. i find that to be a very enjoyable way to get through life.

likitisplit

Oh, god. I'd been avoiding them. So silly. Not Tess...Fanny Hall. They should have learned from the history of the genre and put a moralistic warning message on the frontplate and made everybody happy.

DamePiglet

I'll fess up: I'm jealous.

I want to make a buttload of money from writing badly.

MsBetteDavis

I'll fess up: I'm jealous.

I want to make a buttload of money from writing badly.

Same here. That is pretty much my dream job.

However, I despise 50 shades for all of the reasons mentioned in this thread. It's fine if you like it and if it gave you some sort of sexual thrill, it's just, I know a lot of couples who have and are willing to do the things that this book entails so it's nothing special to me. So because I can't get anything sexually from it, it just infuriates me because all I can focus on is how poorly written and misinformed about BDSM, rape culture, etc. this book is. I end up not giving a **** that he's hot and rich, all I can think of when I read it (AND when I watched the trailer for it, god), was "OMG ANASTASIA BE YOUR OWN PERSON AND TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE FOR GOD'S SAKE."

ValGogo

Bad, bad, and did I mention it was bad?

Sure, graphic sex scenes are hot but all the hubbub about this book....nah, not worth it.

As a person who crucified it before even reading it telling myself I knew, I KNEW it was going to be bad reading like all the other chick lit that seems to be plagueing the nation, I realized I needed to read it because I was making judgements based on heresay and my own experience with reading.

I'm proud to say I got through 5/6 of that book before I put it down and told myself "Well, I was right."

Yeah, it's garbage.

enterdanger

I'm sorry, but I found the books horribly written and stupid, as well as promoting an abusive relationship.

I have no intention of seeing the film.

This.

I read them but only because I made the mistake of buying them as a set and felt obligated. The story line was ridiculous, the dialogue trite, and I hit a point where I was so numb to the sex I just began skipping those parts.

ValGogo

The author made a f8ck load of money hitting the RIGHT audience, good luck to her!

THAT is the only thing I like about this book phenomenon. She is laughing all the way to the bank or she is just a bad writer who got lucky. I'm going to say she is a mad genius and went for the money shot.

TX_Rhon

I'll fess up: I'm jealous.

I want to make a buttload of money from writing badly.

^The Dame speaks the truth! :drinker:

OP - my choice is Great or the greatest? Can I have another option because, meh!!

DamePiglet

I'll fess up: I'm jealous.

I want to make a buttload of money from writing badly.

^The Dame speaks the truth! :drinker:

OP - my choice is Great or the greatest? Can I have another option because, meh!!

Rhon, that's it... we need to co-author a book.

fjanet

50 Shades - not so good... When the hype started and every where I went there was a women reading the book (dentist office, radiologist office) - I thought why not give it a read - but no way was I going to waste $ on it - borrowed it from the library...as it turned out either I read a extremely similar series or had read these way before the hype started.

I wasn't impressed at all. Have read far better erotica. It left me bored and far from hungering for sex...

Lilla35

Waste of time.

roxywho42

Horrible! Try the Anne Rice Beauty series, much better

115s

Lol that this even made it into a topic.