So does a mid-film beat where Christian does cross a line in the “red room” and acts out not in sexual arousal but rather in anger.
Maybe he really is annoyed at her annoyance, or maybe it’s roleplay, but their post-sex conversation (“Why do you insist on defying me?” “Because I can…”) speaks volumes about their relationship. This is highlighted in the third film when he catches Ana rolling her eyes while in his private jet. Steele asserts herself and embraces her own voice. While Dornan’s Grey may be incredibly possessive and (to paraphrase Taylor Swift) seems to get drunk on jealousy, he nonetheless turned every time Ms. No, the best scene in the first film, if not the whole trilogy, is an extended bit where Anastasia and Christian sit in a conference room and hash out what will and won’t be allowed in their newly budding romantic and sexual relationship via contract negotiation. Truth be told, the sex scenes in these films are painfully dull and the bondage is about as hardcore as an episode of Inspector Gadget. The best scene in Fifty Shades of Grey is not a sex sequence or a bondage adventure. And throughout the three films, especially in the first and third chapters, the relationship is not just rooted in consent but framed around affirmative consent as a kind of flirtatious game. Grey isn’t the world’s best role model as an ideal long-term romantic partner, it is Anastasia Steele’s (still a great name for a 007 villain) story. James books on which they are based, yet the film adaptations (both the original helmed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and the sequels helmed by James Foley) are framed as female-targeted escapism via two guiding principles: Its heroine is A) always free to say "Yes" or “No” and B) never has to worry about retribution, penalties or threats as a result of the choices she makes or does not make while in the company of Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey. Much of it is rooted in the idea that women who desire, request and consent to unconventional sexual activity either sign away their right to turn down non-consensual activity or make life harder for women who have been victims of sexual violence to be believed.īoth notions are insane and are to the benefit of would-be oppressors, but I digress. I discussed this in my first review of the first Fifty Shades of Grey, but it’s worth revisiting the notion because the films have come under renewed scrutiny due to recent revelations concerning Hollywood’s not-so-secret history of workplace sexual harassment and assault and systemic gender-based discrimination. The fantasy of Fifty Shades of Grey was one rooted in affirmative consent and the ability for women to be sexually adventurous without fear of negative repercussions.
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