ADULT CONTENT WARNING for any young adult readers…=)
SPOILER ALERT for anyone who has not read the novel…I finally jumped on the erotica bandwagon and read E.L. James’ novel Fifty Shades of Grey. I now feel much like Ana, the protagonist, does for most of the novel: titillated by some of the sex scenes, embarrassed for reading, and after what I found to be a rather brutal final scene, vaguely queasy.
Disclaimer up front: I know some people are into BDSM, and to each consenting adult their own. My complaint about this novel is not that it delves into a darker and lesser discussed aspect of sex – in that regard it is rather informative – but that it plays into the dangerous female fantasy of thinking that you can change someone you love.
If the novel was a stand alone, I might not have this critique. However, it is evident from reading blurbs of books two and three that in the end, Ana does change Grey and they do end up in some whips and chains version of happily ever after. If I am mistaken and James has the guts to write against archetype, I am impressed, but I gather from both blurbs and online reviews that this is not the case.
The female fantasy of being the Special One to change the man is perpetuated by both male and female writers and actors throughout film and literature. I call it the Myth of the Indiana Jones Girl. Indy is tough, but there is always one beautiful, spunky girl who can attract and hold his attention, who can break through his outer toughness to his softer side. I blame this myth at least in part for the appeal of the unattainable guy. He is appealing because we think we can change him, that we can be the Special One, the Indiana Jones Girl, the one person who can be enough for him, different enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc.
Fifty Shades of Grey finds Ana thinking all along that she can change Grey, that she can be the Indiana Jones Girl for him. The novel closes with her realizing she and Grey can never be exactly what the other one needs. In real life, that’s where the story would end. Instead, silly Ana! She’s got two more clumsily written books to go! Won’t she be surprised when Grey does change for her, and won’t we the readers be not at all surprised when everyone conforms to type. Part of the problem is that the novel began life as Twilight fan fiction, so it is based off of characters who perpetuate the fantasy of the Indiana Jones Girl. But James is in decidedly non Twilight territory here, and her vampire still sparkles in the sun.
Really, James?
Then there’s the myth of the cold, remote, yet beautiful man who’s so far above his female counterpart in at least one way. In this book it’s in terms of wealth and sexual experience; Twilight and several other YA novels seem to place the love interest at godlike heights in the heroine’s mind simply because he possesses a supernatural ability. It is as if the guy is another Messiah and the girl simply cannot believe he would stoop so low as to pay attention to her. This pisses me off even more than the Indiana Jones Girl, and James – and her heroine – fall prey to this fantasy as well, though not as one dimensionally as in Twilight. Still, Ana instantly feels she is out of her league in the presence of Grey’s wealth, private helicopter, shiny car, hard body, and career success. Meanwhile, poor Ana is a klutzy virgin straight out of college. The poor innocent woman has so much to learn from the experienced older man. Pass me a corset.
My final complaint about this book is the brutal spanking scene at the end, which is more emotionally than physically wrenching. As I said, if James was going to stop at book one, then that scene makes the point that Ana cannot change Grey, nor can she change herself to sate his desires. But since we know things are going to turn out happy by the end of book three, why put the reader through a scene of what frankly I consider abuse? Yes, James makes it clear that Ana chooses to have Grey punish her, but I almost threw up at her thinking she could bear just one more wallop with the belt. Jesus Christ. Literally – the cross on the playroom wall, the painful beating just prior to death (in this case the death of the relationship)? Do we really need our women to be quite SO self sacrificing? At least use the safe word.
I’ll admit it: I was sucked in by this often guilty pleasure of a story, but by the end I was simply tired. I’ll be looking for a more confident, self assured heroine in my next read, one who doesn’t need a man to teach her the ways of the world.
And to all my fellow writers at Bradford Literary and beyond who are doing an amazing job of writing exactly this type of female character: cheers. I offer you virtual champagne, strawberries, and a high five.
A very, very gentle one.
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The gorgeous journal!
