Blunt Words on Fifty Shades of Grey
When I write posts like this, I usually try to be careful with my words. I try to use tact, and avoid coming off as aggressive or angry.
This time is different. It's time to take the gloves off. Because not only are Christians losing the culture war, but some Christians are trying to play both sides.
If you've not heard of Fifty Shades of Grey, I'm glad. Really, I am. You should stay away. Why? Well, it's funny you should ask . . .
As you may not know, this book started as a Twilight fan fiction piece. There's interesting fan fiction, there's lame fan fiction, and then there's trashy fan fiction, with some particularly disgusting fans writing about their sickest fantasies. The lattermost segment of fan fiction is exactly the one that Fifty Shades of Grey started as. Even in the world of fiction that is not fan fiction, there's a name for that. It's called erotica.
"But it's a good story!" Really? A story about a sadistic millionaire who seduces a virgin, and continues a very violent sexual relationship with her. I don't mean violence in the typical sense of physical abuse in relationships. I'm talking about sadomasochism.
Oh, and that's the entire story. That's what it's about. It's not a backdrop for anything, not a side story. The entire story, literally, is sex. That's why it's called erotica. That's why it completely shocked me when I learned that some Christians, or rather, people claiming to be Christians, were saying that they can't wait for the movie.
Take, for example, this observation by Matt Walsh, a popular conservative blogger who has also denounced the book and upcoming film for its gross sexual violence, particularly the inherent and obvious misogyny to an extreme degree. Here's what he said:
I've noticed that some of the same women who say 'amen' to my anti-porn posts are now exclaiming excitement over the 50 Shades of Grey movie
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 24, 2014
I think that the most disturbing thing out of all of this is that the majority of people that seem to be excited about this movie are women. There's Matt Walsh's tweet, for example. My wife, who was a librarian when the book became popular, told me that it was women that would come in talking to the librarians about how much they loved the book and recommending it. And yet, it's women who should be the most offended. Scratch that. They should be enraged. Fight the New Drug, an inspiring anti-porn organization, posted on their blog five things that the "story" teaches:
If you’re good looking, rich, and successful, you can develop a violent sexual appetite and people will be okay with it.
Sex is completely for pleasure and all love/romance should be removed from the situation.
Girls: If you hang around long enough and put up with a guy’s “issues”, eventually he might love you and change.
Guys: You can do whatever you want to a girl and she’ll love it.
If you put a lot of highly explicit sexual material into a story, people will make it a best seller and it will even be turned into a big budget Hollywood film.
This is where I'm going to be blunt. Very, very blunt.If you are supporting this wretched, filthy, abomination of the film, you are not acting as a Christian. In fact, you are working for the enemy. You are, even if unintentionally, spreading the favorite curse of Satan.There, I said it.There's simply no way to get around this. God has very harsh words for those who are sexually immoral. They're consistently condemned, blasted, and entire nations have been brought down because of sexual immorality. We're told that we won't inherit the kingdom of God if we're sexual immoral. So here's my question. If, according to Matthew 5, we are adulterers when we lust, no asterisks, no footnotes, we are guilty of the sin of adultery when we lust, then how in the world can we justify watching porn under the guise of "a movie"?
You can't. There's no way out of it. It's time we stopped beating around the bush and emphasizing the "gray areas" and "judgment calls." This isn't a judgment call. To watch this movie, read this book, or in any way support this story, is nothing short of sinful.
Follow me on Twitter at @loganrjudy
This article was originally posted on Christian Entertainment Reviews.
