Fifty Shades Of (Truly) Bad Feminism
There is nothing wrong with wanting to give up control every now and then. This is one of the main attractions to dominant/submissive relationships in the BDSM community. However, what is wrong is abusing the nature of BDSM to glorify the subversion of women. While many argue that true feminism supports women in pursuing whatever relationship they desire, the relationship portrayed in Fifty Shades of Grey oversimplifies BDSM and glorifies rape culture and abuse, which is inherently anti-feminist. Christian Grey, the object of Anastasia’s desires, uses the pressure points of BDSM manipulate Ana into the relationship that he wants. This is clearly not what Anastasia wants, and she spends most of the movie trying to understand Christian’s resistance to emotional connection while being extremely uncomfortable with the sexual situations Christian introduces her to. The use of camera angles and props in the Red Room scenes can be interpreted as insight into the abusive relationship going on around Anastasia.
In opposition to this thesis, there are those who believe that Fifty Shades of Grey has no obligation to be a “feminist” movie and that the relationship portrayed specifically in the Red Room scenes is not problematic. Despite how it may look on the surface, not all submissive/dominant relationships where the woman is submissive are inherently anti-feminist. Many practices in BDSM involve women submitting during sex. The slogan of the BDSM community is “safe, sane, and consensual”. As Anastasia investigates Christian’s Red Room for the first time, she takes the lead as Christian follows, clarifying certain toys where required. The choice by the director to have the scene shot in such a way suggests the true power dynamic in this relationship; Ana, while willing to try the kind of relationship Christian desires, will also maintain her freedom. In this scene, there is some distance between Ana and Christian, a choice that also highlights that Christian is tuned into what Anastasia needs from this relationship as well: respect. In Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay says “there are many ways in which I am doing feminism wrong, at least according to the way my perceptions of feminism have been warped by being a woman”. She goes on to name all the things she considered to be “bad”, including pink, rap music, and, like many of the themes in Fifty Shades of Grey, the occasional desire to to “surrender, completely, in certain aspects of my life”. To desire someone to dominate you sexually isn’t bad feminism, she asserts, but shaming a woman for embracing her sexual fantasies is. The movie, therefore, is being unnecessarily shamed for embracing one kind of BDSM relationship.
Despite these observations, Anastasia’s character development ultimately serves male fantasies of gender stereotypes. Anastasia seems like a female protagonist whose entire arc is actually to serve Christian Grey, to feed his transformation in the story more than her own. How can this movie claim to be empowering women when the main female character acts more like a supporting role? The film seems to think that noting women can experience sexual gratification sometimes while playing typical submissive roles to male fantasies is some kind of empowering message. The message comes across as if bondage is a tool to force submission in a woman, especially a character like Ana, someone who usually defies Grey. Upon introduction to the Red Room, something immediately noticeable are the specific toys chosen to be featured in the scene. The first toys to be mentioned are floggers and switches, meant to inflict pain. The shot, when focused on Anastasia, frames in such a way that these toys are centered ominously behind her while she talks with Christian. As Ana stands in front of the toys meant to punish her, Christian promises rewards for following directions. With the way the scene is shot, it is clear that he views this relationship in terms of his pleasure, and ultimately Ana’s pain. R
oxane Gay, in her book Bad Feminist, says “When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement”. Gay allows that feminism itself is “bad” sometimes. Insight from Bad Feminist allows one to ponder the question, “is Fifty Shades of Grey absurd or insidious?” Solutions don’t seem to be the point of this text, maybe because Gay doesn’t think they exist, but probably because the path to the answer provides the most insight. The Red Room, while innocuous in and of itself, is utilized in this movie in a way that is unsuitable to feminist ideologies. The second time Anastasia visits the Red Room, the scene is completely different. No longer does the camera follow her. Instead, the camera moves almost rhythmically between shots of an extremely uncomfortable Ana, and shots where her face is out of frame entirely. Viewers witness Christian, while making half-hearted efforts at reassuring Ana, do exactly what pleases him under the guise of taking care of Anastasia. The camera angles stay predominantly in two places: zoomed in on Ana’s face, and with Ana’s back to the camera. One thing of note in this scene is that she never faces Christian. Though they speak to each other, there is minimal eye contact, as they are not even facing each other. Representative of poor communication, the director strategically placed the actors to highlight the message. When the camera spends time on her face, Ana’s body language gives away her immense anxiety; she bites her lip and looks all around the room. Anastasia is not comfortable in this setting and Christian is not doing enough to make her feel safe. Also of note is the absence of time in the Red Room hereafter this scene. After this foray into a world of not-quite-BDSM, the pair does not re-enter his chamber of pain. Most of the risque scenes in the rest of the movie involve more palatable BDSM in familiar settings; so what does this avoidance say about the message of the Red Room itself? It suggests that the movie employs BDSM as a plot point with no regard to safe practices, instead favoring it as a tool to sensationalize the movie. Ana is not being empowered by the Red Room, she is being overpowered by it. As proven by the misrepresentation of BDSM in the Red Room scenes, there are ways that feminism can fail.
Fifty Shades of Grey seems like a perfect example of feminism falling short if its goal. There would have been many ways to go about this scene in a distinctly more accurate and feminist way. Had the characters been facing each other, Christian may have recognized Ana’s discomfort and communicated more effectively on how to make her feel safe. In reference to the slogan of BDSM, this is a blatant failure of both “consensual” and “safe”. But, does this mean that there is an issue with feminism itself, that the movie could miss the mark so terribly? Roxane Gay responds to this question by saying: Feminism’s failings do not mean that we should eschew feminism entirely. People do terrible things all the time, but we don’t regularly disown our humanity. We disavow the terrible things. We should disavow the failures of feminism without disavowing its many successes and how far we have come. The quote highlights that calling out issues with feminism can actually be empowering of the movement itself. It is necessary to point out the flaws to uplift the message.
To say that Fifty Shades of Grey is anti-feminist is not to say BDSM is anti-feminist. The point of the Red Rooms scenes is not the conversion of a respectable woman to a salacious practitioner of BDSM; that is not actually a conversion at all, as the two roles are not mutually exclusive. If the scenes were to accurately represent a BDSM relationship, there would not be as a large a problem. The problem is that the scenes use BDSM solely to drive forward the plot, in such a way that emotionally, and physically, debases Anastasia’s character. Christian goes from an icy, heartless man who processes trauma by “consensually” hurting women to an icy, heartless man who comes to believe that Anastasia is worth his respect and effort. He hasn’t suddenly become a new, better person, but merely acknowledged an exception. The only thing being supported in this movie is the rationalization of abusive behavior, as illustrated by the pairs interactions in the Red Room.
In conclusion, Fifty Shades of Grey is not a feminist film. Those who support the movie see it as one woman’s way of expressing her sexuality and relationships with men, the overwhelming consensus is that it as a reflection of a sexist society that glorifies domestic violence. Fifty Shades of Grey exemplifies feminism falling short if its goal. This difference in perspective has sparked a discussion about patriarchal society, sexism, rape culture and ultimately feminism. The use of camera angles and props in the Red Room scenes can be interpreted as insight into the abusive relationship going on around Anastasia. Ultimately, there is a kind of truly bad feminism, and Fifty Shades of Grey is a perfect example.
