On Valentine’s Day, I joined many other men in being forced to watch “50 Shades Darker.” My disinterest in the movie was originally due to the fact that I do not generally enjoy romance movies. Interestingly enough, by the time the credits were rolling, I felt disdain for the movie.
“50 Shades Darker” hastily explores a borderline-abusive relationship between a manipulative billionaire who embodies everything that is traditionally attractive in a man and a fresh-out-of-college writer who loves to pretend she is independent.
Really, the movie centers around traditional gender roles and backwards thinking, while hiding under the paper-thin guise of progressiveness. It also sprinkles in bits of ultra-vanilla BDSM sex.
Somehow, the movie franchise is quite successful in a society that abhors emotional abuse. According to Box Office Mojo, “50 Shades Darker” has made a worldwide profit of over 276 million dollars as of Feb. 19.
The movie begins sometime after the first movie in the series ended, with Anastasia Steele having broken her dominant-submissive relationship with the perfect man, Christian Grey. Ana is determined to keep him out of her life, but Christian yearns for her to return to him.
Within 10 minutes of the movie, he has convinced Ana to go to dinner with him simply by asking more than once, and she excuses her weak will by stating it is “only because I’m hungry.” This act sets the tone for the rest of the film.
Over and over again, Ana pretends to put her foot down regarding her boundaries and her insistence that the relationship should be different than it was in “50 Shades of Grey.”
However, Christian flaunts his endless supply of money, yells very loudly or initiates sex every time she tries to be independent, and Ana either gives in to him completely or gives in to 95 percent of the original demands.
Michael Smith from the Tulsa Times states accurately, “The movie is mostly a wash-rinse-repeat cycle.”
To be fair, the movie often addresses that his insistence on dominance is an issue, but this matters little when everything magically resolves itself anyway. Whether it is Christian hiring a private investigator to create a profile on her or him screaming at her for being gone for three hours without a phone, Ana allows things to happen that would never be appropriate for a healthy relationship.
The worst part is the further Christian takes his antics, the more Ana falls for him. It baffles me that a movie can portray a relationship like this as ideal and it not be some kind of social satire.
It really is like a sort of parody to me. Christian will do something that screams possessive and controlling, then the film will cut to a Disney-esque romantic scene that, in some cases, makes Ana forget about an extremely important argument her and Christian were in the middle of just moments before.
By the end of the movie, the audience is basically told that Christian has a heart of gold and he is a changed man, but there is no real evidence to support.
Of course, why would a guy that has already claimed he does not like movies like this care enough about “50 Shades Darker” to write an article on it? Well, I heard some very concerning reactions to it while in the theater.
Women around me frequently gasped in happiness when Christian performed his romantic gestures (spending a lot of money) and said “awwwww” when things worked out for him and Ana. To me this indicates that not only does the film showcase itself as a model for romance, but the people watching it take that message to heart.
I can confidently say as a man that I do not want to be in a relationship where I dominate my significant other in every aspect, and from what I have seen from the women I know, they do not take kindly to this kind of abuse.
For some reason though, I have heard quite a lot of praise for “50 Shades” from the same people who would be miserable if someone they loved treated them the way Christian treats Ana.
I believe that because the movie says it is romantic, people think it is romantic, but I challenge those who do to really think about what occurs in “50 Shades Darker.” This is not the example men and women deserve to have ingrained in their minds when they think of a successful relationship.
