The only reason I am taking this on (because I could have honestly gone my whole life without acknowledging this books' existence) is because everybody seemed really concerned about it, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. Good and moral reasons to be sure, but let me paint for you the true travesty that books such as Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey have brought upon the literary world.
In 2005, Stephanie Meyer released her first installment of the Twilight series. Featuring a young malleable female protagonist whom, "all girls could relate to because she is so blank" and a young looking old vampire with stalking tendencies as this vampire will casually lets himself into her room, at night, while she's sleeping, and without her permission. The story started the engine in 50 Shades of Grey author, E. L. James' mind that created the now well known conflicted relationship between Christian, a millionaire, a victim, and an abuser, and Anastasia, yet another somewhat blank in easily molded female character.
Stephanie Meyer started Twilight with some good and moral intentions that she managed to keep. She wanted to make it a big deal that Bella and Edward had a pure love because they did not have sex until after marriage, however, her book failed to carry this message to the world at large. All anyone seemed to care about was the sexual tension in the series.
The soft pornographic nature and the possessive style relationships featured in this series combined with a young impressionable fan base that accepted it as credible mainstream material gave this work unprecedented power for the wrong reasons. Young girls were swooning at the idea of being wanted so much by powerful hot vampires and young boys were trying to figure out how they could emulate those vampires so they could attract the girls they liked. Scary right?
In short, Twilight became a series that didn't quite carry the message that its author wanted because of the louder sensational elements of the book. It is a tragedy when the author can't keep an audience focused on their point.
50 Shades of Grey, originally inspired by Twilight, also had a good premise.
Don't stop reading. Hear me out. The story is rubbish, but the premise isn't. At it's core, all it is, is Beauty and the Beast all over again.
The story does deal with certain human truths which is what we do want in our literature. Like most abusers, the male protagonist was abused as a child and perpetuates that abuse in his future relationships. This does happen in the world. It doesn't have to be discussed explicitly, but it does happen and it is a topic that can and should be discussed in some literature. Our female protagonist even becomes the hero by exercising an old trope where the pure virgin tames the brute and turns him into a well adjusted human being and defeats his abuser in the process. She doesn't manage to stay a virgin, but it's still based on that trope. It's a very Faustian story at it's core and there is a story there that can be told well.
However, like I said, only the premise in 50 Shades of Grey is a great idea. The topic of having an abused underdog overcoming the cycle of abuse is totally a story worth having.
Yet, this book, just like Twilight, has way to much in it that distracts from that potential message and I can honestly say that the author never intended to focus on anything moral at all. The only acknowledged theme here is sex, sex, sex, and more sex. Yet another great opportunity is lost in the literary world for a real story to be brought to light and relished. Sex can be a theme if it shows how it affects society, history, human psychology etc. Otherwise its just a thing people do. No meaning whatsoever.
This is horrible to those of us who seek out books to discover new perspectives and meaning in a chaotic world. Instead we're being drowned in sensationalist garbage that means absolutely nothing. Where are the philosophers? Where is Socrates, Shakespeare, Milton, and the unknown authors of Beowulf? Where is Ernest Hemingway, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, or Thomas Jefferson? Where is Gandalf for crying out loud! Books aren't just about entertainment, they're about presenting new perspectives on timeless ideas in this multifaceted world of ours. Trash books like these make us forget that.
Worse, people who don't take the time to read good literature and discuss it make us forget that.
We only have our illiterate selves to blame that books like these gain more conversation than Paradise Lost, because we decided long ago as a society that big old books are just too hard to understand.
I've always said that a true story teller can engage a large audience without having to fall back on shock factors like foulness, sex, or depravity. A genius, can keep an audience focused on a toothbrush for an hour without falling back on those easy paths.
This is the discussion that should be happening concerning this movie that's coming out. Let's talk about abuse. Let's talk about women's and men's rights. Let's talk about real relationships. Most of all let's beg the story tellers to give us more then sensation. Give us truth. Give us universal, deep meaning about the world and a new creative way on how to perceive it.
Only then will be able to regain some humanity in our words.
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