‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ sends out a horrible message

The movie based on the horrifying book, Fifty Shades of Grey, is about to come out:

The most offensive aspect of the movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the phenomenally best-selling novel of the same name, is that it is being released for Valentine’s Day. This release date connects physical and psychological violence with “love” and presents this as erotic. These are very dangerous associations, especially for women.

As I write in my forthcoming book…, “Eroticized violence in fiction, whether in films or novels, is treacherous because it promotes the idea that women desire to be treated violently. Violence against women then becomes part of the very construction of the nature of love and desire in societies, orchestrating the eroticizing of bodily pain itself and deadening the impulses to compassion and empathy.”

Fifty Shades of Grey, film and books, is, in my view, just another moment in a long, long history in Western culture of erotic normalization of violence against women.

Actually, the most offensive aspect of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey is that it promotes semi-rape and fornication. The fact that it comes out in conjunction with the pagan holiday, now known as Valentine’s Day, is not the worst. Actually, in the early observance of this day, women lined up to be hit and many to become partners in fornication.

Notice something from NPR:

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled …

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right. http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

Fifty Shades of Grey is consistent with that. But it is considered ‘classier’ by moderns. But it is still wrong.

I wrote against Fifty Shades of Grey last Summer. Here is something that the group Morality in Media said about it then:

Morality in Media, a group devoted to fighting porn and indecency, blasted out a statement from its executive director, Dawn Hawkins, condemning the newly released trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey. The trailer, she says, “deceives the public with a visually appealing melodramatic love story that romanticizes and normalizes sexual violence.”

This argument came up when the first of the hot trilogy of “mommy porn” books was published in 2011, as the story centers around sexy millionaire Christian Grey, who is into dominant bondage sex with submissive, innocent, college grad Anatasia Steele.

The controversy has been a constant topic for discussion and debate. In August 2013, a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health found that Fifty Shades perpetuates “dangerous abuse patterns,” such as stalking, intimidation, humiliation and isolation. http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2014/07/24/anti-porn-group-warns-against-watching-fifty-shades-of-grey/

Before I saw the above news item, I had read a little about the movie and the book it is based upon. Notice also the following:

The mommy porn that shook the world had its trailer debut on the “Today” show Thursday, as “50 Shades of Grey” stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson introduced scenes from the film, which opens Valentine’s Day. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/fifty-shades-grey-trailer-hits-spots-article-1.1878932

“Fifty Shades of Grey” glamorizes violence against women…Kathryn Casey, a crime writer. “What I find unsettling is that in Christian Grey I see the attributes of so many of the men I’ve written about over the years, the ones who abuse and sometimes even end up murdering their intimate partners. Experts have said for decades that rape is more about control than sex. What I’ve seen over and over again is that a man who needs to dominate, humiliate and physically abuse a woman isn’t a hero. He’s not doing it out of love. That guy isn’t the man of any woman’s dreams. He’s a mistake, one she won’t end up rehabilitating but fleeing.” http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-trailer-beyonce-crazy-in-love-20140724-story.html

“It just really seems kind of excessive,” PTC director of grassroots education and advocacy Melissa Henson tells The Hollywood Reporter of Today‘s promotion of the first trailer for the highly anticipated erotic film. “We’re talking about basically the equivalent of a dime-store trashy romance novel. Essentially, what Today‘s doing is they’re promoting what people refer to as ‘mommy porn.’ That’s what it boils down to. Today is helping to promote mommy porn. That’s a pretty poor judgment on their part in terms of their attitude toward their audience.” http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ptc-fifty-shades-trailer-today-720985

Many are calling this ‘mommy porn.’ Pornography is not appropriate for men or women.

This movie needs to be protested as it encourages violence, including sexual violence, against women.

Yet, many believe it will be a highly popular movie amongst women, and perhaps men who want to be violent to women. This is sad.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Valentine’s Day: Its Real Origins Christianity Today suggests that Valentine’s Day is good for Christians to observe. Is this true? There is also a YouTube titled Should Christians Observe Valentine’s Day? A more detailed sermon is available and titled Valentine’s Day, Christianity, and Islam.
Pornography: A scourge on society Is pornography harmless fun? Does the Bible teach anything about it? What are the views of some involved with it? Here is a link to a YouTube video Pornography: Harmless Fun or a Scourge on Society?
Women and the New Testament Church What roles did women play in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles? Did Jesus and the Apostle Paul violate Jewish traditions regarding their dealings with women? Do women have any biblical limitations on their role in the Church? Were there female prophets? Do women have any special responsibilities in terms of how they dress? What does the New Testament really teach about women? Here is a related sermon titled: New Testament Women.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2015, or 2016? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2013 o 2014? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon video: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?