50 shades of grey: a version of its own

An erotic edition of Twilight—this is the initial impression I got after reading the first installation of EL James’ Fifty Shades Trilogy, the much anticipated and highly talked about book series across the globe. 

However, my fleeting fancy changes after reading and assessing the entirety of the bestselling, and a forthcoming movie adaptation (I heard) that is the Fifty Shades of Grey.

“When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.”

Christian Grey is a beautiful, goal-oriented, and successful young man, however, his enigmatic and unfathomable personality is due to, unknown to many, his traumatic childhood experience. Anastasia Steele, on the other hand is an open-book, the total opposite of Christian.

The strong attraction between the two blooms a relationship—an involvement that is both carnal and romantic. The ambivalence of Ana and Christian’s love affair is due to their clashing definition of relationship.

Ana has never had a boyfriend thus wants her first partner to be “normal,” usual in the sense that they should go on dates, cuddle every time and have sweet nothings. However, Christian wants Ana in his own terms. The concept of love is alien to Christian hence, he only seems to see Ana as a sexual companion.

Their seemingly irreconcilable differences have been tacitly pointed out at the beginning of their relationship, which draws the line between lust and love. Nonetheless, Christian and Ana insists their budding involvement, thinking that they can persuade and change each other’s perception on relationships.

The plot of the story banks on the attraction of opposite would-be lovers and the acceptance and/or resistance of their personalities. In the end, Ana, though unwillingly, decides to let go of their relationship because Christian cannot seem to offer her the kind of relationship she envisions.

‘Mummy porn’

I have been researching about the book long before I purchased it (which is quite extensive since the book is always sold out in bookstores), and the UK booklist dubbed the Fifty Shades of Grey as a “mummy porn.”

Okay, I thought, there would be the inclusion of Egypt and its concept of mummification. I thought Christian was a mummy of sorts, which justifies why he would not want to be physically touched. (For those who have not read the book, Christian resists physical touches because it brings back memories of his childhood, when he used to be abused.)

Do I ought to read the book twice because I haven’t encountered anything mummy concept? But lo and behold, the “mummy” the UK list is referring to is “mommy/mother/mom/mama” concept! HAHA. I forgot that there is a difference between the British and American spelling, shame on me!

I guess UK is right to classify it as such, only mothers are supposed to read the book. The 50 Shades is actually intended for the mature audience, but since I am curious and intrigued, I bought and read it. And in my defense, I am mature enough to read such stories. *winks*

The details on the sex scenes are detailed, vivid, and well, yeah, erotic. But setting aside its eroticism, the love story is just like any plausible romantic stories. I think that the story is very relatable.  

Twilight-ish

I have read the entire collection of Stephanie Meyer’s novels and I cannot help but compare it with the 50 Shades.

The characters of Twilight and 50 Shades have common denominators. For one, Edward Cullen and Christian Grey both have beautiful faces that left Bella Swan, Anastasia Steele and other girls swooning and drooling. The female protagonists on the other hand, are deemed witty and independent but possessed trivial physical characteristics.

Aside from the physical attributes, Edward and Christian both have secrets and dark pasts, which contextualized their personalities; their enigmatic behaviors both beguiled Bella and Ana.

Christian Grey also often wishes that he wants to read what is in Ana’s mind, which rings a bell when Edward could not fathom what Bella is thinking. Both men also would often remind their partners “to breathe,” as the two girls could not help but be mesmerized with their beauties.

Maybe, EL James simulates some details because the Twilight series is such a huge success.

However, I think that though, there were some elements consciously or unconsciously copied from the vampire series, Fifty Shades is a version of its own, and has its own fan-base.  

Two things though, are for sure: one, any novel injected with love stories and beautiful characters will garner huge followers, and two, I cannot wait to read the second installation of the book, the Fifty Shades Darker, I'm intrigued.