A Review of Fifty Shades of Grey and Old Fashioned by Nick Olszyk
Fifty Shades of Grey
MPAA Rating, R
USCCB Rating, O
Reel Rating, One Reel
 |
| Fifty Shades of Grey |
Old Fashioned
MPAA Rating, PG-13
USCCB Rating, NR
Reel Rating, Three Reels
 |
| Old Fashioned |
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture and Tradition,
the Church has always definitively taught that the arts…are a grey area.”
- Anonymous priest of the Oblates of the Virgin
Mary
The controversy,
celebrity, infamy, and general “talk” surrounding the film Fifty Shades of Grey is a mania only matched by 2013’s Frozen, but hopefully there won’t be any
plush toys in the near future…oh wait, there already is. Between Catholic World Report and National Catholic Register, four
articles were written about the subject in the span of a week, not to mention
countless blog posts and endless airtime across EWTN and Catholic Radio.
Meanwhile, the smaller romance Old
Fashioned from PureFlix (God’s Not
Dead, The Book of Esther), in a
brilliant piece of marketing, positioned itself as the Christian alternative
leading to a David and Goliath matchup with roses and rope instead of slings
and swords. All this leads to a wonderful opportunity to share the Christian
message of love and intimacy to a thirsty world, or possibly spend your
Valentine’s date at nice restaurant instead. I recommend the Jazz Kitchen at
Downtown Disney.
Fifty Shades hits the ground running and barely pauses for two
hours to catch its breath or contemplate its better judgment. Ana Steele
(Dakota Johnson) is a mousy college student who volunteers to interview
billionaire entrepreneur Christian Grey (James Dornan) for her yearbook.
Grey immediately pursues her with the furious intensity of a wolf stalking its
prey. She is pretty but also vulnerable and curious, the perfect candidate to
groom for his perverse desires. He uses many psychological tactics familiar to
those in the pickup-artist community so devastatingly captured in Neil Strauss’
classic book The Game. He heaps
praise on her, then immediately dismisses her. He only gives her enough
information to want more but waits to reveal his true intentions until she is
wrapped around his finger. Finally, he “purposes.” He wants Ana to sign a legal
contract that will establish a BDSM relationship with him as the Dominant and
her as the Submissive. This would include fellatio, bondage, whipping, and
other forms of sexual punishment all at the whim of the Dominant. “What would I
get out of this?” she asks understandably. He flashes a charming smile, “me.” Any
sane woman would at this point run for the hills – to his credit, Christian
gives her this opportunity – but Ana has been so carefully manipulated that she
actually toys with the idea. People find this obviously abusive relationship
exciting because it flies in the face of everything they have been told by
society. Humans have an instinct towards natural law and obedience to the
Father, yet they are told from day one to fulfill every personal desire. If a
person cannot bring themselves to express this need in healthy ways, they will
be attracted to unhealthy ways.
If Christian Grey
represents indulgence to the extreme, Clay Shaw (Rik
Swartzwelder) of Old Fashioned
goes completely in the opposite direction, not merely exercising chastity but
abstaining from any form of sexual expression so far as to render himself
almost neuter. He owns an antique store in a quiet Texas town with only a few
friends and family as company. One afternoon, a bright, flirtatious artist asks
if she can rent the room over the store. Clay sheepishly agrees to help Amber (Elizabeth
Roberts) but is oddly immune to her charms. In a fun role reversal,
she actively tries to woo him while he quietly distances himself, which of
course only encourages her even more. She is a product of the sexual revolution
with a string of bad decisions including a divorce in her past. Clay is very
“old fashioned” with an arsenal of theories regarding modern romance,
especially that “dating only sets us up for failure.” That might be true, but
it does little to appease the obvious feelings these lovebirds have for one
another.
Very few people want to
hear about the story of these films, whether the cinematography is any good, or
if the supporting characters compliment the main ones. People want to hear
about sex. Usually, this would be really annoying but both movies center
thematically on the relationship between sex and love, so here it’s actually
quite an honest question. In Fifty Shades,
sex is not treated casually but there is a modern sense that intercourse not
need be tied to marriage. When Grey learns that Ana is a virgin, he is both
surprised and appalled. “Well, we must rectify this situation,” he announces,
as if she needs a vaccination before going on a camping trip. One can’t start
with gags and handcuffs; that would be rude. The sex scenes are quite graphic,
lengthy, and – in the astute words of the MPAA– feature “unusual behavior” as
the camera frequently glides across their naked bodies in a gratuitous fashion.
The most disturbing scene involves Ana being tied naked to a red bed as she is
whipped. With chanting in the background and Ana’s body strung out in a cross-like
position, the passion imagery is obvious and very blasphemous, implying that
sadistic sex is somehow spiritually freeing. Old Fashioned, of course, contains no sexuality or nudity of any
kind but also no fun or laughter. Even when Clay agrees to go out with Amber,
all he wants to talk about how they would manage their finances if they got
married. It’s understandable to avoid certain behaviors, but love should bring
joy, not frustration and certainly not physical pain.
For Christian, Ana is
nothing but a tool of physical pleasure, not just the carnal desire for sexual
release but the deeper pride of controlling a rational being. He is so sure of
himself that he hides none of this from Ana and delights in explaining what he
plans to do to her. “How many other women have stayed here before,” she asks.
He doesn’t hesitate: “fifteen.” Yet despite her vulnerability, Ana is more than
Christian bargained. She finds some unexpected confidence and demands that he
amend the contract before she signs it for good, and here’s where the story
gets interesting. She wants to go on real dates, be kissed, and sleep in his
bed; things that are forbidden in his fantasy because they smell too much like
the “L” word. “I don’t make love,” he scowls. “I f**k…hard.” Gradually, it
becomes clear Grey was not created a monster but made so by a horribly abusive
past. He speaks in the language of sexual pain because it is the only one he
understands. Despite the criticism regarding the quality of the source
material, Christian and Ana are very well written characters, performed
wonderfully. At the climax, Christian finally inflicts real, measurable pain on
Ana, and she has had enough. She will not be with him if he continues to
control her. For all its sexual content, Fifty
Shades ends with a surprisingly strong affirmation of basic human dignity.
Relationships should not be about control. Love requires supporting people
rather than molding them into a mirror of personal desires.
In a weird way, Clay is
just as controlling as Christian. When he arrives at Amber’s apartment to fix
her oven, he makes her stand outside in the cold because he refuses “to be in
the same room alone with a woman.” He loves talking to his guy friends about
his theories regarding the downfall of chivalry but won’t have an honest
conversation with a potential spouse. Like Christian, he treats women as an
idea rather than a person. Christian throws women in the dirt, Clay puts women
on an unreachable pedestal. Both reject the very first words uttered by a human
being to his beloved: “This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.” Men and
women may be different in nature but they are equal in value. This unhealthy attitude
also comes from a checkered past that in some ways is worse than Fifty Shades. Fortunately, Clay realizes
that he allowed his own pride to block God’s forgiveness and needs to move on
with his life, including expressing his love for Amber. She also learns how to
respect him; soon they are ready to begin a wonderful life together.
What constitutes great art? As a frequent connoisseur
of media, I am faced again and again with films of excellent quality that argue
for immoral ideas. Worse still, many Christians seems perfectly content with
movies that support great truth but are woefully boring or amateur. Fifty Shades is remarkably sophisticated
in its craft – visually stunning, bold, honest, and even quite witty – yet the
agony of its content seriously undercuts anything positive it might have to say
about healthy relationships. Its message isn’t earned. Old Fashioned has its moments but is nowhere near as clever. First
time director Rik
Swartzwelder makes a truckload of mistakes from long musical
montages to whole scenes out of focus to casting himself as the lead actor,
looking a million years older than his female counterpart. It’s entertaining
enough to start a good dialogue about Christian courtship but could have been
so much better. In the end, it’s simply a matter of good judgment. My judgment
is that Old Fashioned provides fun
and thoughtful if a bit unstable entertainment for a romantic evening. Fifty Shades of Grey does not.
Post-Script
Many have labeled Fifty Shades of Grey as pornographic.
The Catechism states that pornography “consists in removing real or simulated
sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners in order to display them
deliberately to third parties.” What does it mean by “simulated sexual acts?”
Does that mean just soft-core pornography where penetration is not visible?
What about nudity apart from sex or even simulated kissing?
Something helpful in this
dialogue is a list of “forty-five great films” the Vatican released in 1995 on
the centennial of cinema’s birth. Several of these films contain sex scenes or
nudity, but these scenes serve the story. Sexuality is an important part of the
human condition and was originally created by God to help people know His love
better. Thus, it is perfectly acceptable to portray sex using the arts. However,
due to original sin, any expression of sexuality should respect the dignity of
the performers and the audience.
Fifty Shades of Grey is not a sophomoric college comedy; it is a
film about sexual perversion and necessitates an honest conversation about its
subject matter. Yet, director Sam Taylor-Johnson is extremely imprudent in its
portrayal. This is not casual entertainment, especially if someone is prone to
lustful temptations. The only ones who might benefit from it are mature adults
who are genuinely interested in the Theology
of the Body and its comparison to sexual philosophies of the secular world
– basically Jason Evert, Christopher West, and me. Shades is pretty bad but not the boogeyman many make it out to be.
I can think of better films that are more graphic and many worse that are less.
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