New Rule

[lederhosen]

Before you criticise "50 Shades of Grey" for being a badly-written unrealistic book that presents an unhealthy relationship model, think about two questions:

(1) Did you criticise "Twilight" for the exact same failings?

(2) Bearing in mind that "Twilight" is aimed at a younger audience who have a higher risk of taking the relationship aspects as a how-to instead of escapist fantasy... if you answered "no" to #1 above, please explain the difference.

I don't plan to read 50SoG. I'm quite willing to take everybody's word for it that it's dull and unrealistic and not a good model for dating. But there are THOUSANDS of books released every year that fit those descriptors, many of them quite successful, and rarely do they cop a backlash like this one. ("Twilight" caught some, but nowhere near this level.)

So while I agree with the criticisms offered, I have to wonder if that's really what's driving the reaction. Would we be seeing this same level of hostility if EL James had written the exact same book, without the kinky sex, as a best-selling romance novel?

Comments

[carolinelamb]

I haven't read it but the impression I got was (from other people's reviews) that it was badly written–not so much about the realism. The people who didn't like 50 Shades of Grey usually didn't like Twilight very much either (I am talking about my friends here–so not a very representative sample :P) ...

Might the hostility towards the book have to do with it originally being written as a fanfic? Maybe some members of the fanfic community feel resentful, or feel that the author didn't deserve her success? Or in short–might it be jealousy?

I can't imagine that the kinky sex was the reason for the hostility. Women like erotic fiction, no? It's our porn (that might come across as gender stereotyping). Women have always liked Lady Chatterly, The Story of O., the Viennese ladies always had a soft spot for Josephine Muztenbacher, while the English female readers all knew Moll Flanders. Since the introduction of the Kindle and the iPad, sales of erotica have increased, because now a lot of women can read their fix without having the husband and the kids see some lurid book cover :P.