I Enjoyed Fifty Shades....

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2015)

First, let me begin by saying I truly enjoyed the film. I appreciate the complexity of the characters and the strained connection between them. I think, in my humble opinion, that many of the reviews I have read are more appalled by the subject matter and not the human experiences that define the story. When you read the novel, you understand that one of Grey's devastating flaws is his inability to connect with others....his inability to be emotionally intimate. So, those moments in the film where you see him actually emotionally present with Ana are accompanied by his inherent resistance to exist in spaces where he lacks control. The actor who portrays Christian does this beautifully. He is not warm and fuzzy. He is an adult coping with haunting images from his childhood, and an unusual sexual appetite born out of an inappropriate relationship that an adult female began with a wounded teenage boy.
That's the story. It is what it is. I hope that reviewers are not hating on the film because the subject matter makes them uncomfortable. For me, I can't watch scary films or films with gratuitous blood and guts or films that depict rape of any kind. But I'm not going to be critical of a film for covering subject matter of which I personally might be uncomfortable. Shawshank Redemption was an amazing film, but I didn't watch the rape scene. Never will, but its inclusion in the film doesn't take away from the authentic representation of complicated and exquisitely developed characters and a truly compelling story.
I believe that Fifty Shades of Grey was a beautiful depiction of a very complicated relationship between two people with parallel desires that reside in two vastly different planes and their struggle to find a place, mutual ground between them, where they can both feel safe. And at the end of this film, the end of the first book, Christian learns, maybe for the first time in his life, that physical punishment is an inadequate means to control someone else's emotion. He wanted Ana in his way without her genuinely wanting him in return. That didn't work...neither did his punishment. It hadn't occurred to him that in his desperate attempt to control everything, he could lose the one person who'd genuinely cared for him. Let's not forget Ana is no helpless victim. She was very clear about her position and when Christian crossed the line, she walked away.
Just an alternative perspective.....
-TDSWALK