But in Fifty Shades of Grey, no makeover is necessary. In any other movie, that scene would be a meet-cute that ends in disaster, only to be patched up later once Anastasia received a confidence-boosting makeover and some elocution lessons. Ana explains that she is there in the place of her flu-stricken roommate, who was too ill to make the drive - and then proceeds to not actually conduct the interview. Oh, and hands her a pencil, because she didn't bring one. She gets off to a cracking start by not correcting the receptionist at Grey Enterprises who mistakes her for her roommate Kate, then stumbles into Grey's office where she sits passively in a chair, all helpless guile, until he comes and sits close enough to her to be captured by her voice recorder. Within moments, Anastasia is back to not doing things, as God and E.L. This is a coy piece of misdirection, suggesting as it does that this character might, at some later point in the movie, take a second action of some kind. When the film begins, Anastasia is driving from Portland to Seattle to interview mysterious 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey. Fifty Shades of Grey's advice for young journalists: don't try hard, it'll all work out Rather, the film offers the comforting fantasy that if you have a true connection with your partner, all you need to do to drive him wild and keep him coming back is to lie there, existing.
This is the opposite of Cosmopolitan's ever-more-complex suggestions of how to blow your man's mind in bed, with their implicit warning that the gentleman in question will lose interest if you don't manage to master this one clever technique using some smooth stones and an iced donut. This is even more true of the film's heavily promoted, but ultimately fairly scarce, portrayals of sex, during which Anastasia lounges around, content in her lack of effort, and Christian does all the work. But in this movie, it brings expensive gifts, exciting adventures, and the adoration of hunky billionaire Christian Grey.
In the real world, that might have negative consequences for her professional and romantic future.
Her main proclivity, in sex and in life, is not submission but indolence.
Rather, it's an imagined universe in which women are free to resist all pressure to self-improve, need never worry that their professional mistakes might have negative consequences for their careers, and can reject every piece of sex and relationship advice a women's magazine ever gave them, and have it work out great for them.Īnastasia "Ana" Steele, the film's pulpily-named heroine, is a world-class expert at Not Doing Anything Ever.
It's not a window into a world filled with kinky sex, of which there is shockingly little in the film. The movie's primary fantasy isn't male control, it's female laziness. The movie's trailer, posters, ads, and numerous product tie-ins all suggest that it's a film about a young woman's sexual awakening via an at-first-reluctant-but-then-enthusiastic embrace of a submissive sexual role.īut that's not at all what it delivers.
Matthias Schoenaerts was also approached for the role of Christian Grey, but he said that he fell asleep while reading the script and his agent told him to stay out of it.There may never have been a movie as remarkably at variance with its own breathless marketing campaign as Fifty Shades of Grey. Alexander Skarsgård, François Arnaud, Billy Magnussen, Scott Eastwood and Luke Bracey were then front runners for Hunnam's replacement before Jamie Dornan was finally selected. Hunnam withdrew later due to scheduling conflicts with his show Sons of Anarchy.
Finally, Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson were cast, with Johnson beating out the likes of Shailene Woodley, Elizabeth Olsen, Imogen Poots, Alicia Vikander, Danielle Panabaker, Lucy Hale and Felicity Jones. Christian Cooke and Dominic Cooper auditioned for Christian, with Stephen Amell being reportedly in talks for the role at some point. The casting of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele was one of the most talked about throughout Hollywood, with fans pushing for the likes of Garrett Hedlund, Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, Alex Pettyfer, Ryan Gosling, Armie Hammer, Robert Pattinson, Matt Bomer and Chris Hemsworth to be considered for Christian, and Emma Watson, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Suki Waterhouse, Olivia Wilde, Emilia Clarke, Margot Robbie and Lily Collins for the role of Anastasia.