fifty shades of grey

We know many are tired of having this movie shoved down their throats, however we would not be doing our job as a weekly news and educational source without addressing the second installment in the franchise responsible for bringing (perhaps incorrectly) BDSM and kink into the forefront of society. I saw the movie with my partner Dexx on a rainy afternoon in LA. The theater was full of groups of women, couples, and perhaps not so surprisingly high school aged girls who provided plenty of titters and giggles during the film.

While I’ll avoid regurgitating the plot back to you; it was painful enough the first time, I will start at the top of this movie where Christian Grey immediately wins back Anastasia Steele. I was a bit miffed as to how he managed this. The previous movie had us believe that she was leaving him because he wanted a D/s relationship including punishment and play. In this next film, he shows up unannounced, they have dinner and they are back on. It is clear that Anastasia is not a submissive and is even judgmental towards Christian for his kinky inclinations. She is a very confused, emotionally immature woman, having no dating experience so the reassurance that Christian “has changed and doesn’t need BDSM” anymore is enough for her.

Christian on the other hand shows classic signs of potentially being an abusive or unstable Dom; possessiveness, extreme jealousy, moving the relationship along very quickly, saying one thing and doing another-just to name a few shortcomings. Having read the books prior, I can tell they dialed down his extreme jealousy and general lunacy in the movie. While he expresses signs of serious childhood trauma, he acts out in his life and attributes behavior to this trauma. For the record there are any number of practitioners of BDSM who have suffered trauma but are able to engage in BDSM in a safe and meaningful way. This movie, in my opinion, perpetuates the dangerous fantasy of meeting a “damaged” dominant, becoming his/her muse and somehow “fixing” them. This is a very dangerous path and a common tale within the BDSM community in terms of young or inexperienced submissive engaging with predator Dom/mes.

The movie comes to a crescendo when Christian finally admits that he’s not a dominant but rather a sadist. He acts out on these sadistic fantasies because of the childhood trauma. This is the main issue among the BDSM community, that people only engage in it who are emotionally damaged. This could not be further from the truth. There is also the argument that sadism and dominance are not one in the same-but to be honest that’s a topic for an entirely different article.

Interestingly enough, one of the “villains” in this film is actually one of the only people spouting truth! Nicknamed Mrs. Robinson, she’s an old friend of Christian’s. She is responsible for introducing Christian to BDSM at a young age as his dominant. Though they no longer engage in that type of relationship, she still tries to warn Anastasia that she’s not the right girl for Christian nor could she ever give him what he wants. She hits the nail on the head if I’ve ever heard it! Unfortunately she comes on a little too strong and also becomes a little spiteful and jealous to be much of an anchor for Christian and is cast out.

There is still one more painful installment left in this trilogy. Sadly, if you have read the books you know the ending. The movie was well shot and some of the sex scenes were slightly steamy-a spreader bar scene in particular comes to mind but still, it was VERY mild on the actual BDSM play. There was plenty of sex though. Dexx was also particularly fond of the soundtrack and musical selection. Those high school girls I mentioned at the top of this article were gushing in the bathroom afterward about how amazing the film was. Do we have some future kinksters? Or perhaps they are only after the rich billionaire who sweeps a young innocent girl off her feet?

anniebear is a submissive living with her partner Dexx in Los Angeles. She enjoys writing, modeling for friends, animal rescue, and teaching herself how to cook. You can catch her on Fetlife or Facebook.