I have not read any of the books nor do I intend to. So I have only the experience of having seen the movie to go by. The "glaring oddity" I speak of concerns the title, which is an apt description of both lead characters - Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. That is, both of them came across as grey - that is, totally lacking in color. It doesn't matter how many shades of grey there might be - grey is grey, which sounds pretty boring to me.
Anastasia (Ana, age 21) graduated with a bachelor's degree in English lit and Christian (age 27) is a billionaire businessman, so he's got to have some smarts. But you surely wouldn't notice any sign of intelligence judging from the content of their dialogue. And yet, at a late point in the movie, she tells Christian "I love you." Based on what, I wonder? If Ana had (only) a gut feeling that Christian might be someone she could love - after knowing him over a greater period of time - then, instead of coming out with the L-word so soon, she could have said something like, "I sense something profound, wonderful, yet inaccessible in you. So I'm starting to have feelings for you." I say, start there.
If I were Anastasia, I would hold back on the "I love you" bit until she'd learn more about the 15 other women who'd preceded her. Christian volunteered that number when Ana asked, "How many other women have seen your (S&M) playroom?" While I thought it out of character that he didn't say, "I don't want to talk about possible others," the sheer number alone should have prompted Ana to ask, "Did you cast them aside because you'd tired of them?" And "How long before you tire of me?"
Of wealth and impressionability
A lot of guys are painfully aware that rich guys have a powerful advantage in the pursuit of the women. Some might call such women "shallow." To be fair, though, there are equally shallow men, perhaps the vast majority, who don't look much beyond a woman's looks.
I kept wondering how the guys viewing this film were processing this question, "Is that all it takes to wow a woman, a ton of money?" When I had this thought, I remembered a scene in the excellent film Good Hair (starring Chris Rock, 2009). He was interviewing a group of black men in a barber shop about how expensive it was to maintain the hairstyles of the women they love. This movie explored the near-fetishistic relationship black women have with their artificial, store-bought hair, hating their own God-given hair. There were a lot of long faces in that group of men as they discussed the thousands of dollars they had to spend in response to her question: "You want me to look good, don't you?"
I feel, the best response to that question is: "I much prefer bald women or those with very short hair" - which in my case (I'm Caucasian by the way) is in fact my personal preference. Good Hair is a good study in why a lifelong pursuit of the shallow leads to unhappiness.
In Ana's case, she should be thinking, "What can a man like Christian see in me that could foster a long-term relationship? With all that money, he can indulge any desire, the natures of which will only become more intense and unusual over time - lest he get bored." Again, keep in mind that their conversations were totally devoid of any content of interest. Hmm...maybe she is incapable of even thinking along these lines.
Of their names
Christian Grey - that translates to "dull Christian," especially the kind of Christian (religiously speaking) who looks upon women as (at best) second-rate, inferior creatures or (at worst) property or objects. This is a man who is so controlling and insecure that he has to dictate the terms of his sexual relationships. A man who says he made his fortune by being able to read people. I ask, "How can a man be able to read people in all their subtleties if he won't let anyone even touch him?" Maybe he meant to say, "I'm good at sensing the weaknesses of people so I (like a shark) know when to move in for the kill."
Anastasia Steele - The name Anastasia comes from a Greek word meaning "resurrection." In order to be resurrected, one first has to die. It would be interesting to see how she dies and what forces work to resurrect her - and what her resurrected self will look like. Maybe her surname gives a clue - that she has a foundation that is as hard and durable as steel.
Overall impression
I liked this movie a lot more than I thought I would, even though her "I love you" spoiled it for me. Still, it was a beautiful piece of cinematography and the two lead characters had a nice, tense chemistry between them. And the end-scene was brilliant, in which they say each other's names as an elevator door closes, with Christian on the outside and Ana on the inside.
Largely, I would say, "This movie has value more as the basis for an exercise in 'How could I have made this movie more interesting?'"
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Steven Searle, just another member of
the Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and
former candidate for USA President (in 2008 & 2012)
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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