Activists call for Fifty Shades boycott as premiere nears
Broad coalition condemns film for depiction of violence, BDSM ahead of its Valentine’s release
Some anti-domestic violence activists and anti-pornography activists, including Antipornography.org, the London Abused Women’s Centre in Ontario and the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan, are calling for a boycott of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey, arguing that it promotes violence against women.
They’ve rallied around #50dollarsnot50shades and #Fiftyshadesisabuse, and are pushing the idea that people should donate $50 to women’s shelters instead of buying tickets for the movie.
Even Jamie Dornan, the actor who plays Christian Grey — the dominant character who introduces Anastasia Steele to his red room (that’s what he calls his den of iniquity) — expressed discomfort with Fifty Shades.
“Some of the red room stuff was uncomfortable,” Dornan said in an interview with Glamour about scenes with co-star Dakota Johnson. “There were times when Dakota was not wearing much, and I had to do stuff to her that I’d never choose to do to a woman.”
There’s a lot to unpack here because the coalition of parties opposed to this film is vast and their reasons for wanting to boycott can hardly be quantified as homogeneous.
“The idea of not supporting the movie Fifty Shades of Grey is great but supporting these anti-sex work organizations is not,” wrote artist Creatrix Tiara, referring to Stop Porn Culture and Pornography Harms, two organizations that have also condemned the movie.
There are anti-porn and anti-BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism and masochism) activists who refuse to draw distinctions between physical abuse and consensual BDSM play. There are those who are fine with BDSM, but who think the specific relationship depicted between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey is abusive.
And there are others who are horrified either by author E.L. James’ writing or her apparent lack of knowledge about BDSM and who think the book and the movie represent an irresponsible and inaccurate depiction of BDSM. Grey’s predilection for BDSM is “explained” by his abusive childhood, which makes it seem like people who engage in BDSM play only do so because they’re somehow damaged. People in the BDSM community argue that’s not the case.
It’s been pooh-poohed as The Story of O- lite.
“Fifty Shades has been roundly criticized by the BDSM community and its depiction of the lifestyle is inaccurate,” Susan Quilliam, a British relationship psychologist and sex advice columnist, told ABCNews.com. “Christian Grey’s initial seduction of Anastasia breaks every rule in the BDSM book.” Quilliam also called Steele and Grey’s relationship, “emotionally unsafe and not sane.”
It’s not just the anti-BDSM crowd that sees little difference between consensual BDSM play and intimate partner violence. That became clear when former CBC Qhost Jian Ghomeshi was ousted in a web of scandal over allegations by multiple women of vicious physical assaults that he characterized as consensual BDSM. In fact, in a pre-emptive move to defend himself, Ghomeshi invoked Fifty Shades as an example of the sort of play in which he was engaging.
“Fifty Shades has been roundly criticized by the BDSM community and its depiction of the lifestyle is inaccurate. Christian Grey’s initial seduction of Anastasia breaks every rule in the BDSM book.” SUSAN QUILLIAM BRITISH RELATIONSHIP PSYCHOLOGIST AND SEX ADVICE COLUMNIST
The women who accused him of assault insisted otherwise. Writing about the legal aspects of the scandal for the Globe and Mail, University of Toronto law professor Brenda Cossman pointed out that, in the eyes of the Canadian justice system, there’s no distinction between consensual BDSM and someone cold-clocking you across the face without warning.
“When it comes to BDSM — or at least its more intense versions — the law doesn’t actually care about consent,” Cossman wrote. “The Supreme Court has said that a person cannot consent to an assault that causes bodily harm. While the cases have typically arisen in the context of bar room brawls or hockey violence, other courts have applied the same reasoning to the sexual context. So, if a sexual activity causes bodily harm, a person cannot consent to it.
“This is pretty problematic from the perspective of the BDSM community. Carefully negotiated consent is rendered irrelevant, and effectively criminalizes all those who derive sexual pleasure from activities that involve physical pain, if it leaves a mark. But, it’s the law.”
Ticket presales for the movie, the fastest selling for an R-rated movie in Fandango history, were unexpectedly high in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and West Virginia.