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50 Shades of Grey - WTF?

10K views 82 replies 34 participants last post by  Worldkiller 
#1 ·
Hey everyone.

Why has everyone lost their minds over 50 Shades of Grey? I actually picked up a copy, had a flick through a few pages and couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

Plus, all the supposedly raunchy content is readily available for free and in video form if you just flick through internet for all of two seconds.

It's a worldwide phenomenon and has been hailed as a book that can save marriages because of how amazing it will be at spicing up entire nations sex lives ... really? Are you kidding me?

Anyway, what do you all think is going on, and have any Heresy members (or you wives/GF's) read the book yet, and if so is the hype warrented?

I personally think the whole thing is a load of marketing driven nonsense that is following the same mass pulp bullshit format of Twilight, Hunger Games, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and all those other fads that somehow leave teens and women screaming and crying in line at book stores and concerts across the world, and leave us guys going, "seriously, what is going on here!".

Like I said, does anyone have a clue what is going on with this freakin book?

(Also, the thing I hate about bringing up these damn fads is that you are essentially fanning the flames of the damn things, for example you can't go on any good bands music videos on youtube such as Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Korn etc without reading about Justin F*cking Bieber, but hopefully by discussing it we can open peoples eyes to the fact its utter bullshit.)
 
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#3 ·
Good call. Bondage Sluts 1-3 were pretty weak, but they really kicked things into gear from 4 onwards.

Anyway, I think that should actually one of the reviews included in the book:

"badly written porn for Daily Mail Readers" says normtheunsavory.

Lol.
 
#6 ·
Because women no longer have to get their jilly coopers off, well, jilly coopers.

Missus loves it, until I flipped her mid shag upside down and jammed a thumb in her wrong un. she didnt enjoy that.



 
#9 ·
As someone involved in the local BDSM community, it's nothing more then a joke to people that take it seriously. It's poorly written, and when the most extreme thing I've heard in the book is a little slap and tickle, and a little handcuff action I can only imagine the faces of the housefraus when they go to a real local dungeon looking for a similar experience.
 
#27 ·
As someone involved in the local BDSM community
I had to read that twice to make sure I hadn't had a seizure XD

My mum read it and she said it wasn't very well written. You want well-written porn in books, read Game of Thrones. But at least that has a good story and characters to go with it.

Myself, I'm not planning on reading it any time soon. I found out it was a Twilight fanfic and nearly collapsed laughing :p
 
#10 ·
Got it from the library (not paying to read that shit) to see what all the fuss was about. To be honest, its shit... Sooo badly written, its only popular because of it's shock value, and its given rise to a bunch of cheap knockoffs. Went to WHSmiths and the trilogy is 1,2,3 and then some other 'mummy porn' knockoff is 4th. Just frustrates me that women with the fucking IQ of an American Football Player feel the need to get wet and excited over the shightiest book in existance. Well done E.L James for single handedly fucking up literature....
 
#13 ·
#15 ·
But wheres the fun in that?
 
#16 ·
Well I'll give a little more balanced opinion (and probably the most positive so far).

I've read all three of them. Here are the pros and the cons as far as I can see.

Con:

One dimensional characters, predictable plot, hit and miss humour, too much sex (to the point where I was starting to skip it in order to get on with the story), events that stretch suspension of disbelief to breaking point, and some very badly written dialogue.

Made every local store sell out of riding crops.

Portrayed the Dominant as someone with a problem that needed to be fixed. The Sub is effectively a "normal" person, who enjoys a bit of kinky playtime in the bedroom, and the Dom is someone who is psychologically scarred, and requires the all-healing power of True Love to "fix" him. I find that a little condescending, and would have appreciated it more if the Dom had also been a "normal" person who simply enjoys being in the Dominant position in the relationship.

Pro

Has managed to bring something that most people only thought about for 10 seconds, thought "that's weird and wrong" and dismissed it again, into the limelight of the media and nation. Whenever a small "interest" gains the attention of a lot of people at once in a positive way, I tend to applaud it, regardless.

No, it doesn't have much "hardcore" BDSM in it. The worst thing that happens to the Sub is to get spanked with a belt, at which point she cries, and runs away. The rest is all very "softcore" relatively speaking. However that isn't the point of the book. The point is that anyone can find that they enjoy things being done to them that they had not considered before, and also that the Dom/Sub relationship style is not confined to the bedroom, it can extend out into every aspect of your lives, if that's what you both want. The option is there, and people have been made aware of it. The fact that it won't appeal to the vast majority of the public is irrelevant.

Overall, I'm ambivalent. It could have been better, it could have been worse. It introduces a concept in a certain way, and a lot of people are apparently exploring it, and most will find that they don't like it. Some will find that they do like it, and will keep doing it at the level it is in the books. Others will like it, and look for ways to explore the concept further.

In the meantime, the secondhand market for chains, whips, shackles etc will explode. As will hits on bondage websites, d/s websites, and ebay stores that sell leather goods. And you may see some of your coworkers sitting uncomfortably in their chair on a morning.
 
#17 ·




 
#18 ·
The only thing 50 Shades makes me want to do is write my own trashy erotic novel and make millions. Mine will be well written though, and it will have a plot.
 
#24 ·
The next step up in ludicrously sexist, cliched fiction from the Twilight books. The debates in the Metro are rather heated, but they range from perfectly acceptable craze to the dehumanising effect of 'poorly written porn for daily mail readers'. I just think it is a massive fad that will pass soon enough.
Has anyone heard of the spin offs, in which writers with no imagination turn characters in classic books and turn them into 'poorly written porn for daily mail readers' (No I will not stop using this)
 
#29 ·
I am happy to report my wife read the first chapter and threw it away in an underwhelming rush of apathy.
 
#30 ·
Book that general media is raving about that isn't primarily meant for children? - Very little chance of me reading it *

Book aimed at housewives - Even less chance of me reading it

Book thats already in talks about being a film - Less and less chance

Book thats popular amoungst people who like Twilight - Oh fuck off

Book that started out as Twilight fan fiction... why I am still typing.

I would rather be in a room alone with the entire cast of Twilight and not be allowed to punch them in the groin with a knuckle duster than read the shit.

*If a book is aimed at kids and is a best seller they might be decent see Harry Potter, Redwall, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Edge Chronicles, Terry Pratchet... hell even the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar and the Little Yellow Digger have more literary worth half the Times Bestsellers list these days.
 
#82 ·
hell even the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar...[has] more literary worth half the Times Bestsellers list these days.
I haven't read 50 shades, but this thread has had me in stitches and this comment particularlyxD

Also, as a side note, just because it sells well doesn't mean that everyone who bought it has read it. 80% (first majority number that came into my head) might have picked it up and gone "Wow, this is shit." and put it down again. Or they might not have.

In any case, having abstained from all other varieties of porn thus far, it is safe to say I will not be reading these book. I will however probably continue to follow this thread as I find it amusing :grin:
 
#31 ·
Anyone else actually read the books? Or do we follow the well established traditional internet school of argumentation which is "I heard from X that it was crap, therefore I will call it crap as well, despite not bothering to find out for myself"?

Because I can say the same thing about waffles.
 
#32 ·
I've heard that slamming your nuts in a freezer door is very painful. I'm not going to go out and try it to confirm that its a bad idea and frankly I think I'd rather do that than give the likes of 50 Shades of Grey a try.

Where do you draw the line at deciding to do something or not?



Heres a hint: in regards to 50 Shades of Grey kinda shit I'm a as soon as they step over the border nuke the fuckers kinda guy.
 
#40 ·
Im pretty sure theres a scene where he removed her tampon and does her on her period because he can't be fucked to wear a condom for contraception. What image does that send? Girls should bow down and be subservient to men, even if it means excruciating pain for a woman? I'm no feminist, far from it, but is this the image we want people to think?
 
#45 ·
In the spanish speaking world this book has recieved very little attention (unlike many other books published in english), basically becuase we are very sexually liberated cultures with very little "puritanism", so we'd rather be doing it than reading about it. Interestingly the whole domination thing gets very little attention here, perhaps it's a largely protestant culture fenomena?
 
#48 ·
Interestingly the whole domination thing gets very little attention here, perhaps it's a largely protestant culture fenomena?
I'm wondering what domination has to do with Protestants?

(Phenomena btw)
 
#47 ·
He was good before Da Vinci code. I read that one about the Nasa fraud (Digital Fortress?) abd it was reasonable.

As to josies comment, I guess despite being mr wonderful, he did miss that good parenting class.



 
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