This Saturday is the day we’ve all been waiting for. No, not Valentine’s Day — I’m talking about the theatrical release of “50 Shades of Grey.”

Most of us know the plotline of “50 Shades of Grey.” Innocent college graduate Anastasia Steele becomes sexually involved with wealthy and mysterious businessman Christian Grey but their sexual relationship comes with a catch — Grey is a control freak and has a creepy sex dungeon.

With the movie’s release, there has been renewed conversation about the plotline and if it’s one of empowered sexuality or if it glamorizes domestic abuse. Although I’ve never actually read “50 Shades of Grey,” I’ve read a lot of essays about the book and Christian Grey’s character. My opinion of the books and movie lies somewhere between empowered sexuality and wondering if Grey is abusive. If bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism sex is something you’re interested in, that’s cool. But it’s also important to know when a relationship becomes overly controlling and potentially abusive.

The phenomenon that is “50 Shades of Grey” brought BDSM into mainstream society. Suddenly, it was OK to be more interested in the type of kinky sex the book contains. When the book first came out, there were “50 Shades of Grey” inspired sex tips, toys and lingerie, and more and more people were being adventurous with their sex lives.

Personally, I think any pop culture phenomenon that encourages people to try something that was more or less a taboo is a good thing. I didn’t really think about any of the negative aspects of the book series.

But recently, I came across remade versions of the “50 Shades of Grey” poster that were meant to highlight the way the controversial novel potentially glorifies abuse. Fast Company wrote an article about the eight images posted on the Tumblr page The 6th Siren. The posters took the well-known image of Christian Grey staring out the window and paired actual quotes from the novel with the poster in order to highlight the conceived unhealthy relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

One poster reads: “No,” I protest, trying to kick him off. He stops. “If you struggle, I’ll tie your feet too. If you make a noise, Anastasia, I will gag you.”

Another one of the posters reads, “Alaska is very cold and no place to run. I would find you. I can track your cell phone, remember?” which is meant to showcase Christian Grey’s controlling and slightly stalker-like behaviors.

This isn’t the only campaign that has surfaced in protest of “50 Shades of Grey.” A recent campaign on Twitter, #50DollarsNot50Shades, urged people to donate $50 to local domestic violence shelters instead of watching the movie. The campaign says on its Facebook page that “Hollywood doesn’t need your money, abused women do,” arguing that the movie glamorizes abusive relationships.

While I don’t think boycotting the movie is the right answer, I also don’t think moviegoers should consider “50 Shades of Grey” to be an idealistic portrayal of what relationships should be. On one hand, “50 Shades of Grey” is a movie about exploring sexual fantasies and has helped to make taboo sex seem more normal. But on the other hand, it romanticizes a potentially abusive relationship.

So if you do end up seeing “50 Shades of Grey” this weekend, just keep those things in mind. Maybe the movie will inspire you to be a little kinkier in the bedroom, or it will make you realize you never want to have the type of relationship Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele have.

Kate Beckman is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every week in Pulp. You can reach her at kebeckma@syr.edu or follow her on Twitter at @Kate_Beckman.

Published on February 11, 2015 at 12:01 am