Anniversary
A Decade of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’: 9 Reasons Why It Doesn’t Deserve the Public Lashing
Ten years later, it’s time we all admit it: Fifty Shades of Grey wasn’t that bad.
When the film adaptation of E.L. James’ smutty novel that lit book clubs ablaze finally hit theaters on February 13, 2015, the reaction from some made it seem like we might be witnessing the end of movies as we know it. The film starred Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a fresh-faced college grad and aspiring book editor who tumbles into a torrid relationship with eligible bachelor billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), despite learning his sexual proclivities veer into BDSM territory.
Looking back on the firestorm surrounding the book and film, it was all a little bit silly, was it not? Some groups took issue with the unapologetic eroticism of the book, which relies heavily on Ana’s sexual awakening; and heralded it as the coming of the apocalypse that would scar a generation forever. Others were unfazed by the sex, but lambasted the movie for being an unwatchable mess because it couldn’t possibly just be entertainingly bad. Even those within the BDSM community decried the film for not going far enough to faithfully represent the pleasures and pains of a dominant/submissive relationship.
Truly, no one could win in the fever dream that was the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. But with a decade of hindsight and much bigger problems facing our world and our movies, we are here to tell you the movie is actually a blast on rewatch. If you are looking for a dumb, fun and somewhat steamy time with a movie, it’s time to give Fifty Shades of Grey another shot.
Why are we going to bat for a franchise that fizzled out by the time it reached its third (horribly titled) installment, Fifty Shades Freed, you ask? Well, while our collective memory of the movie may be colored by the public shaming/humiliation of its stars and the intertwined narratives of protest and horniness, the movie has more than a few virtues to its credit. It will make you laugh in the wrong places, cringe in others. But it is never a bad time.
Here’s why Fifty Shades of Grey, which is available on Peacock, leaves its mark.
1. Dakota Johnson is actually good!
That’s right, we said it. Dakota Johnson, the patron saint of movie flops with redeeming qualities (see Madame Web) isn’t the train wreck that people said she was as Ana. Sure, does her initial aw-shucks demeanor and impossible doe-eyed naiveté take some getting used to? Absolutely! But when you sit back and watch the way she playfully chews at not only her lip but also the flimsy scenery she’s given, you can see there is a real actress underneath the wardrobe of a librarian. It’s not an Oscar-worthy performance by any means, but it didn’t need to be. She’s endearing, she’s funny when she’s confused by the fine print of the BDSM, and she almost plays it all as a farcical take on the ingénue love interest brought to life by love and lust. Johnson has taken plenty of curious roles over the years, and not all of them have been a good showcase of her talents. But when you strip away the deafening throngs of discourse around this movie’s release, Ana gave Johnson a chance to dabble in subverting expectation and that’s when she’s at her best.
2. The way Jamie Dornan wears his jeans.
We are terribly sorry to objectify you like this, Mr. Dornan, but the way you wore your jeans in the Red Room like they were clinging to your hips for dear life was hypnotizing. Whereas the sex actually left something to be desired in some cases, the real tension lay in how much further those jeans could feasibly fall without showing off everything Mr. Grey had to offer.
3. This elevator kiss.
Say what you will about their chemistry (it gets better!), but the kiss in the elevator when Christian says “f**k the paperwork” is an all-timer. It’s hunger, as if he’s trying to inhale her. Her relinquishing control and letting him pin her hands above her head. The collision of their bodies, and then the panicked separation when the doors open to an unsuspecting audience of businessmen. It’s cheesy, for sure. But it is also exactly why we read romance novels and watch rom-coms — when the romance works, it works!
4. The music doesn’t get enough credit.
If anything is worthy of a reconsideration, it is the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Scoring Christian and Ana’s first real Red Room experience with a stripped-down version of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” that kicks in when the riding crop strikes her skin? Brilliant. Then there were the hits — The Weeknd’s Oscar-nominated “Earned It” (the music video for which featured a bound and suspended Johnson) and Ellie Goulding’s inescapable “Love Me Like You Do.” Having either one of those on a soundtrack would give it legs, but having both makes it rarefied listening.
5. The (second) flying scene.
This might just be a particular favorite of ours, but the second time Christian gets Ana in a plane is a soaring moment in a movie that is sometimes weighed down by its own obligations to its audience, and to the expectations of being the naughty movie everybody had an opinion about. In this sequence, where Christian takes Ana in an air glider plane, the movie is light on its feet and romantic. It’s the kind of sweeping gesture that shows why Ana is putting up with Christian in the first place. Not to mention, it’s scored by yet another banger from the soundtrack — Vaults’ “One Last Time.”
6. The negotiation scene.
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson didn’t have to go as hard as she did for the moment when Ana surprises Christian and requests a meeting to hammer out the details of the contract (which they will never actually use). Sitting on opposite ends of a conference room table with a blood-orange sunset backdrop casting them in intriguing shadows, it is a great example of why you adapt a book like this at all. As they debate the merits of hard and soft limits like vaginal fisting and butt plugs, the set is almost smoldering in tension. By the time she taunts him into nearly taking her on the table, only to leave him wanting more, the whole room is going to need a good scrubbing.
7. The sex isn't bad, it's just funny.
Quite frankly, the sex in Fifty Shades of Grey is less about sex and more about tension. With the limitations of a movie, there was never going to be as much, um, detail as author E.L. James put in her books up on the screen. As such, the movie rests heavily on foreplay, be it with ice cubes, peacock feathers, nipples clamps, or blindfolds. There’s gotta be a break in all that anticipation and the best release, in this case, is laughter — which is enjoyable in the context. There is something undeniably funny and engaging about watching the delicate dance of Christian’s earnest kink be met with Ana’s awkward inexperience. Johnson and Dornan commit to the sensuality, and it shows. But as an audience member who’ had an extra decade of desensitization in cinema, it’s hard to watch their best efforts with a straight face.
8. Mother Marcia Gay Harden.
This one is pretty self explanatory, but the maternal presence of filthy rich Marcia Gay Harden as Christian’s mother, Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey, who just wants the best for her even filthier rich son is a sorely underrated and underused part of this movie. And if you think she’s the sleeper MVP here, just wait until she slaps Kim Basinger in the sequel.
9. The punchline still lands.
There are plenty of reasons to poke fun at E.L. James’ book on which the movie is based. The scenarios are trite, the characters are paper thin at times, and the dialogue is a slog (“Laters, babe” being one of the many examples). But there are some diamonds in the rough that are so bad, they are good. And the line, “I’m 50 shades of f**ked up,” is the winner. Nailing this eye-roll of a line in the movie is crucial because it had to remind the audience that no matter how sleek it looks in movie form, this is still a story born from Twilight fan fiction. Delivering this line requires the right mix of sincerity and silliness, and having since seen Dornan kill it in Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, we should have never doubted he would hit it perfectly. It’s the kind of line a real person would never, ever say, and that’s why it’s entertaining. Frankly, that could be said about literally everything that happens in his movie. Rewatch it immediately!
