I have a dirty little secret. I'm in the midst of reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. But that's not the secret. The secret is that I'm actually enjoying it! I'd seen it on the bestseller shelves of bookstores and Amazon, but when I read the synopsis ("erotic novel"), it didn't appeal to me. I'm not a harlequin-romance type of girl (not that there's anything wrong with harlequin romance, erotic literature just isn't my thing). But after reading through pretty much everything on my reading list and having hits & misses with my random Kindle selections, I decided to download the first book - after all, if it's been a bestseller for so long, there must be something good about it (I admit, not very sound reasoning).
My initial reaction was that the book was about some kinky a$$ stuff. Bondage, S&M....definitely not my thing. My second reaction was: DUDE, the sex is so gratuitous - the book is basically literary porn. However, by the time I finished the book, I was hooked. I had to know - why IS Christian Grey SO f#($ed up?? What happened to him in his childhood? Who is Mrs. Robinson? What will happen to him and Anastasia? Why does he like to punish his girlfriends? Why is he so freakishly controlling? Why isn't Anastasia allowed to touch him?
So of course, I immediately downloaded the second book and stayed up until 4:30 am reading half of it. The second book, while also filled with gratuitous sex, has a lot more character development and drama. We finally meet Mrs. Robinson as well as a former girlfriend/submissive of Christian who is armed and dangerous. And disturbingly enough...fifty shades of F'd up Christian Grey is starting to grow on me. Which made me think - what IS it with women and dangerous/brooding/misunderstood men? Why does the idea of a dark/dangerous/misunderstood man falling for the one woman in the world who can bring out the good in him appeal to women so much? Because we're suckers. Because we are the ones who are warped in the head.
Fifty Shades reminds me quite a bit of Twilight, actually. Both have a dark, brooding, misunderstood male protagonist (one sucks human blood for sustenance, the other likes to tie up and punish his sex partners). Both have doe-eyed, innocent, virginal female protagonists, the kind of girl who is not extraordinarily pretty (or at least doesn't believe herself to be so) but has that certain something that makes them the only woman for the male protagonist. And both have storylines where the man is desired by many other women but only has eyes for the female protagonist (on a level bordering obsession), and the man is a tortured soul but somehow the woman he loves can save him in a way that no one else can. Oh, and they're both based in the Pacific Northwest (Washington State).
I wonder what it is in the warped female pysche that makes such a plot so alluring. I'm told that Fifty Shades is taking the housewife population by storm - it's been dubbed "mommy porn". And as I admitted before, Christian Grey is starting to grow on me. And I find that ridiculous. Because he is a controlling, maniacal, sadistic, nymphomaniac stalker with an irrational and dangerous jealous streak and a "red room of pain" in his house!
But enough psychoanalyzing - I have to go finish the second book and download the final one. I read they are making a movie of the first book - my pick for Christian Grey would be Colin Egglesfield.
My initial reaction was that the book was about some kinky a$$ stuff. Bondage, S&M....definitely not my thing. My second reaction was: DUDE, the sex is so gratuitous - the book is basically literary porn. However, by the time I finished the book, I was hooked. I had to know - why IS Christian Grey SO f#($ed up?? What happened to him in his childhood? Who is Mrs. Robinson? What will happen to him and Anastasia? Why does he like to punish his girlfriends? Why is he so freakishly controlling? Why isn't Anastasia allowed to touch him?
So of course, I immediately downloaded the second book and stayed up until 4:30 am reading half of it. The second book, while also filled with gratuitous sex, has a lot more character development and drama. We finally meet Mrs. Robinson as well as a former girlfriend/submissive of Christian who is armed and dangerous. And disturbingly enough...fifty shades of F'd up Christian Grey is starting to grow on me. Which made me think - what IS it with women and dangerous/brooding/misunderstood men? Why does the idea of a dark/dangerous/misunderstood man falling for the one woman in the world who can bring out the good in him appeal to women so much? Because we're suckers. Because we are the ones who are warped in the head.
Fifty Shades reminds me quite a bit of Twilight, actually. Both have a dark, brooding, misunderstood male protagonist (one sucks human blood for sustenance, the other likes to tie up and punish his sex partners). Both have doe-eyed, innocent, virginal female protagonists, the kind of girl who is not extraordinarily pretty (or at least doesn't believe herself to be so) but has that certain something that makes them the only woman for the male protagonist. And both have storylines where the man is desired by many other women but only has eyes for the female protagonist (on a level bordering obsession), and the man is a tortured soul but somehow the woman he loves can save him in a way that no one else can. Oh, and they're both based in the Pacific Northwest (Washington State).
I wonder what it is in the warped female pysche that makes such a plot so alluring. I'm told that Fifty Shades is taking the housewife population by storm - it's been dubbed "mommy porn". And as I admitted before, Christian Grey is starting to grow on me. And I find that ridiculous. Because he is a controlling, maniacal, sadistic, nymphomaniac stalker with an irrational and dangerous jealous streak and a "red room of pain" in his house!
But enough psychoanalyzing - I have to go finish the second book and download the final one. I read they are making a movie of the first book - my pick for Christian Grey would be Colin Egglesfield.
1 comment:
kekeke. 50 shades reminds you of twilight because it started as twilight fan fiction. They changed names and repackaged it and voila!
-gus
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