The highly anticipated “Fifty Shades of Grey” movie was a financial success with masses of mommy bloggers and impressionable teenage girls flocking to see the controversial and taboo movie Valentine’s Day weekend. However, having high commercial success doesn’t make up for the fact that “Fifty Shades” is a dangerous film.
In “Fifty Shades,” naive college student Anastasia Steele gets into a sexual relationship with the charming and wealthy entrepreneur Christian Grey. He lures her into his “enticing” world of whips, chains and expensive gifts galore.
The scary thing about “Fifty Shades” isn’t the BDSM aspect — which the franchise also misrepresents — it’s Christian Grey himself. What the fanbase sees as “romantic” is actually abusive and emotionally manipulative, but they decide to dismiss that because Christian is handsome, rich and alluring. It’s frightening to see how fans, especially young and impressionable ones, use Ana and Christian as a model for a romantic relationship.
Chicago college student Mohammed Hossain, 19, was charged after sexually assaulting a female student because he was reenacting scenes from “Fifty Shades.”
If the terribly written prose, the horrible script and bad acting isn’t enough to make you step away from “Fifty Shades,” then consider this: Christian Grey is a stalker and an abuser who takes advantage of Anastasia, who is emotionally immature herself. The franchise doesn’t empower sexuality, it promotes toxic relationships.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.