ok so i just watched 50 Shades of Grey for the first time and im about to belatedly contribute to The Discourse despite having read none of it : a thread
3
2
68
Conversation
Christian, a billionaire, falls for Anastasia, a hardware store shelf stocker. This is unrealistic and also unattractive; why is Christian falling for her? I assume he must be lame somehow which is why he can't get more successful women who are his own equal.
Replying to
But probably this is why it appeals to the 'average joesephina'; a billionaire would never fall for a store clerk, so this is precisely why the movie is appealing.
anyway he then gets obsessive/stalkery in classic Twilight-esque fashion
3
40
What's interesting is that he does lots of low-status behavior; he pays her way too much attention, he compliments her, follows her around, actually literally stalks her location. But this is interspersed with equivalent displays of extreme power.
1
32
It's almost an exact escalation; he tracks her down at work, then takes her on a helicopter ride. He triangulates her location from a cell phone call, then gives her a car. Often it's *mixed*; he has someone nonconsensually enter her home to give her a laptop.
1
23
So he's obsessed and hot enough to pull it off. Great:
But he is Emotionally Damaged; he refuses to "do romance" with anybody. And here's the true hill for the heroine to climb; there has to be a *reason* he hasn't been caught by other hot ladies; his manly heart is walled off.
1
25
He's also sadistic, elaborately so. Interestingly, our heroine is very not into this, which confused me a bit. Half or most women are into powerplay like this as a sub; why would they want to see a woman who's *not*? My theory is,
2
27
this is a method of convincing the audience that he is really, really into this, no actually. He's into this not because our heroine wants this, he's into it *despite* her not wanting it. That's a strong signal, a true signal that his dominance urges are not 'for her.'
1
32
But yet as another comparison, despite being authentically dominant, he is also authentically restrained; we get to see him repeatedly not harm our heroine when she refuses him because of some nebulously defined care. He is a dangerous beast, only barely tamed by our lady.
1
24
Back to the emotionally damaged bit - we see him often around other hot women. His office staff are lithe blonde ladies in heels. He says he's had 15 contracted partners.
But early on he gives a few special concessions to the heroine, implied as him 'giving in'.
1
22
This immediately tells us that she's beaten the rest of the women; she got something they didn't. She's at a farther level (despite it being unclear why tf it's her of all people). This, combined with him visibly associating with her in front of others, raises her own power.
1
24
Other people are now jealous of her (implied by seeing other girls gossip about how hot Christian is, or by her picture with him in newspaper). She not only conquered him, she conquered the world *through him*. She's harnessed his power for her own.
1
24
So: How To Be Hot, according to 50 Shades of Grey:
1. Have power
2. Be obsessive in proportion to your power
3. Be authentically, independently dominant
4. Have restraint
5. Reserve 'hard-to-unlock' levels for her
6. Have social power you transfer to her by public association
10
2
87