Valentine's Day Nightmares
Content warning: 50 Shades of Grey, swearing, and sexual language in some links
Recently, Universal Pictures announced that they would be releasing their
movie adaptation of the disaster that is
Fifty Shades of Grey. On Valentine's Day in 2015. Yep.
Of course, this post isn't about Fifty Shades of Grey (
or more accurately). It isn't about why I call it a disaster (
you can read about that here). Or why it makes me question humanity. Question the writer, scriptwriters, actors, producers, sponsors and readers of the book and watchers of the movie for entertainment and education purposes (
because we definitely can take it as a reliable resource).
I'd rather not go into my problems with Fifty Shades of Grey. You can read reviews for all three books from my favorite review writer on Goodreads here (
first book,
second book,
third book). But I'll give you my favorite part of her review that explains why I hate this book with a passion and think it should be obliterated so it no longer is a part of human history.
"It's this kind of ignorant trash that sets feminism back decades. Women who defend this book are, however unwittingly, participating in some of the most blatant misogyny I've ever witnessed, giving the impression that some women enjoy being debased, abused, and controlled (outside of a consensual Dom/sub relationship). This is not a book about BDSM, this is a book about one sick, abusive man and his obsession with a young, naive invertebrate. It's a book about a girl who has absolutely no sense of self, who sacrifices any pretense of individuality in order to hold onto a man who doesn't even show her the faintest glimmer of respect. It's about two attention-starved individuals with the emotional maturity of toilet paper convincing themselves that their relationship is 'like, the best thing ever, OMG'. It's trite, insulting, and dangerous. I fear for any impressionable young women who read this and think that this is how an ideal relationship should operate. If nothing else, it should be issued as a guidebook to mothers around the world to show their daughters the kind of man to avoid at all costs. This book does good men (and indeed, all of humanity) a disservice."
In any case, this brings me to my actual reason for writing this post. Reviews.
Both before and after reading a book, I like reading reviews and general critique for said book. What do people think, how did they like it, is the writing any good, is the plot intriguing etc. And I found that there are two major ways for people to review books. One is to focus solely on writing and the literary aspect of the book, critiquing the language and the lexicon. The other is to focus on the characters and their relatability and how likable they are.
For me, it has always been a mixture of both with some other elements depending on the book. How realistic is it if it's set in the modern world with modern technology and laws? How historically accurate and appropriate is it? Does the terminology match the era? Where are the resources and where is the research? Are there plot holes and lost potential for characters? Can I justify problems? How are women treated? What tropes are used? What are people learning?
In the case with Fifty Shades of Grey, as you can see, people are not learning anything. In fact, if there was at least a seed planted in the readers' minds from before to respect women as people and care for them as humans, it will rot and die. It will then become fertilizer for a different seed that will bloom and make the readers think that it is completely okay to be in abusive relationships and women are the weak, submissive, unintelligent beings men always say they are.
Books are important because they introduce people to new things and help them think beyond what they know. Books help us speak up or reconsider our actions with their heroines and antagonists. They are important because they influence us. And that influence cannot be measured only in the sophistication of language or the allure of certain characters. We need to look at books holistically because it's upsetting to know that some people will never like/read Austen's
Emma or Huxley's
Brave New World because they can't stand Emma or care to follow Huxley's prose.
Lots of bookmarks,
~Belle