Writer's Choice: Fifty Shades of Grey Review

While Fifty Shades of Grey, written by E.L. James, was the number one best seller in 2012 in countries like the UK and the United States, and sold more than 100 million copies world wide, I do not believe it deserves the praise it has been given.  So as to create an unbiased blog post I did my research and read a few excerpts of the first novel, and what I read appalled me.   The book centers around a young, impressionable college senior who falls for a traumatized multibillionaire who, unbeknownst to Ana (the main character), is into a BDSM lifestyle.  Don't get me wrong, I have no quarrels with an alternative sex lifestyle, to each their own as one might say; what I find disturbing is the unwavering devotion Ana displays for Mr. Grey (the dominant and sexual partner of Ana).  Mr. Grey shows an abnormal amount of interest in Ana, stalking her place of business, tracking her phone and running an extensive background check on her; uncovering her bank account number and social security number.  Ana finds this a little bit unusual, but not enough to seriously examine the relationship she is about to undergo with this man.  Not only does Mr. Grey show this uncanny ability to interfere in this aspect of Anastasia's life, he also buys out the business she begins working with (a publishing company) solely to keep an eye on her, he also dictates the clothing she wears, who she can and cannot see, and refuses to let her travel anywhere without him or a security agent.  Ana follows all of his commands, basically without question.  When the couple does fight, usually when Ana shows a hint of displeasure, Mr. Grey uses sex to redirect Ana's thoughts, making her forget her quarrels with him and essentially winning the fight.  I could point out so many more flaws the book includes, but I'm trying to keep this brief.  I explained the nature of the book to shed some insight into the article I read  on the website called Slant.  The article explains briefly about Fifty Shades and provides a review about the movie I found interesting.  Because I did not, and will not, see the movie, I found the review intriguing.  The article talked about the acting and chemistry between Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey) and Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Stelle), stating that Johnson's acting was far superior to Dornan's, capturing her characters innocence and sexual lust.  I hadn't thought of the novel in the movie prospective, but as I read the article I did come to realize that even though I disagreed with the books premise, the movie may have been well done.  That's not to say the author of the article praised the book.  Quite the opposite in fact, for we share many of the same views on the novel.  In this sense we do agree on the works by E.L. James.  Another parallel between the article and my own experiences and beliefs is the fact that the author and I understand that both of these types of personalities exist in real persons.  I have met many people that display an uncomfortable amount of control over other individuals, and in the same breath I've met people who are all to willing to follow another person, no matter what they ask of them.  Overall, I think the article I read was unbiasedly researched and well written about the novel and movie Fifty Shades of Grey.  

Disconnected

In my opinion, the biggest thing that stood out to me was one of the participants felt uncomfortable with, what he described as, human contact; i.e. calling his mom on the telephone.  It baffled me that he considered a phone call intimate.  What does it say about us as a society if people feel more comfortable talking through a computer screen than in person, especially if it is with whom you share a deep connection -in his case a girl he liked.  When he said that I instantly remembered the movie Wall-E and how the human race had all become obese, sluggish couch potatoes that literally sat in floating chairs all day and watched movies.

Even crazier is that this movie was made in 2007...at the university the documentary was being filmed at they had just switched over to a computer system.  Think about how much more we use our computers now a days!  If I looked really, really hard I could find maybe one typewriter at Stevens Point, at that school there was a whole wall of them! -like kids actually used them regularly.  Students now use technology to contact employers, co-workers, parents & siblings, friends; we plan our day on online calendars and do almost all class work online.  Due to the massive technological kick our generation went through in the last decade I believe it would be so much harder conduct this experiment, yet definitely more beneficial.  Harder because so much of our lives revolves around our phones or our computers, but beneficial because I do believe we are addicted to our devices and a strong detox is what we need sometimes.

As of the beginning of January I haven't had a phone at all (it hadn't been working properly since early November though), and it really hasn't been so bad.  At first not being able to listen to music or upload to Instagram was hard, however after a while I got used to it.  In that sense I think it would be easy to give up technology.  Giving up my computer would be a lot more difficult because I do use it for so much.  I could live without the entertainment (movies, shows, Facebook...) but completing corse work would become a big challenge.  Without all the distractions I'm sure I could focus on schoolwork more, but that's even if I can do my homework.  Professor's here puts their readings online and sends emails correcting schedules...I feel like it would almost be impossible to completely get your work done.

         

The String Cheese Incident - Wake Up

           Music is definitely on of the most important things to me; not only does it make doing homework or being alone much more enjoyable but I have met some of my best friends during or at concerts.  The songs I am about to name are incredibly special for many different reasons.  Some of them hold sentimental value, while others I have actually seen at their respected concerts or festivals.

In no particular order:

1. Franklin’s Tower - The Grateful Dead
2. Casey Jones - The Grateful Dead
3. Wake Up - The String Cheese Incident
4. On the Road - The String Cheese Incident
5. Marlborough Street Blues - Evergreen
6. Fishing the Milkyway - Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
7. Sugar Magnolia - The Grateful Dead
8. The Vilas Hilton - Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
9. Wisconsin Water - Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

         All The Grateful Dead songs and On the Road by The String Cheese Incident are important to me because they are all about having fun and mainly enjoying the moment.  My class mates would learn that carpe diem is sort of my life motto.  The other String Cheese Song is important to me because it is about one of the band members who was addicted to heroin and his friends wanted him to realize and understand what his addiction was doing to him.  Lastly, all of the Horseshoes songs and the one Evergreen song are important to me because they are all local (Milwaukee and Steven’s Point) bands.  Their songs remind me of how important it is to remember where you came from and the memories you can make while there.  Lyrics can be awfully telling however.  People may assume that I do some of the things mentioned in the songs, or that everything sung in the song has relevance to my life.  However, there are limitations where learning is concerned though.  Class mates would not be able to learn deeper things about me, such as; what my most important memories are, or who my closest friends are.

I’ve connected with many of these bands because most of the members (I like to think) are very similar to me.  I believe in many of the same principles the band members do and I think one of the biggest connections I have with them is how they have all influenced my life and the people with whom I associate.  Some of the biggest life decisions I have made are because of these bands (which is insane, I know).  Take Horseshoes for example; the only reason I came and visited University of Wisconsin Stevens Point was because they were playing a free show here and my best friend wanted to see them.  As soon as I got to this school I knew I would have to transfer here in the spring (which I ended up doing, yay!).  If I had decided not to come and listen to these guys play, I may have never discovered the wonderful group of friends I have now or even come to school here.  

Test Post 2

The Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia

Test Post 1

Windows Default Pictures

This is a test.