Fifty Shades Of Grey Actors- Grace Randolph’s sentiment on actors

Full text transcript of Fifty Shades of Grey movie review:

Hello and welcome to my spoiler review for 50 Shades of Grey. If you have not yet seen the movie in which to avoid spoilers, and you can click here for my non spoiler review. This episode is for people who have seen the movie and those who are considering seeing the movie and want to know exactly what they’d be getting themselves into. Now, we have a lot to discuss here, particularly with this movie. So as always, there are adaptations so you can skip around different topics of discussion as you so please. But then as I started to do just recently here on Beyond the Trailer, those times are also noted in the video description so that those of you watching on your phone could also skip around as you. So please.

Now, I said there is a lot to discuss here, and that’s because 50 Shades of Grey is a surprisingly complex film. Fifty Shades of Grey is a great title for it because there really are just so many layers. There are intentional layers. There are accidental layers. But then and this is where I think the movie really gets you, there are layers that are only hinted at that the movie only touches upon, I would think, 50/50 in terms of intentionally and accidentally and those layers that only touches upon because the movie can’t really afford when it does so intentionally to fully explore those layers, because then it wouldn’t be such a happy fantasy and it wouldn’t be something that would be targeted at the mainstream audience.

It would be more niche. So the movie goes as far as it can. But but just by touching on those layers, it opens the door for viewers to pick up on that and think about it themselves, which makes the whole thing very intriguing. I mean, if you need to write a paper about a movie, Fifty Shades of Grey would actually be an awesome choice because there really is just so much to discuss on, again, so many levels. Now, the first thing I want to talk about is my response to some of the comments that are already coming out of my non spoiler review. And that is, how can you grace someone who supports strong women and a strong portrayal of women in film, be a fan of 50 Shades of Grey. Isn’t this an appalling movie, a travesty against women? This just seems like a hypocritical move. So I want to explain that it’s actually not because I think it’s important for you to realize if you haven’t read the book. And I think the people who have read the book as this movie comes out and people finally get to experience it for themselves, will feel vindicated that they’re like, you see, I wasn’t reading trash. There’s actually a lot of interesting stuff going on here. And I think the movie has been misrepresented.

And so I think until you see it, you’re not going to understand that it isn’t this travesty against women, that it’s that kind of that image for which is snowballed. It’s actually going, as I said, quite complex and focuses on a female character, Anastasia Steele, who’s quite strong. And I’d also add that nobody should feel sorry for Anastasia Steele. As I noted in my non spoiler review, she is not only a terrific flirt like really, you watch her in the movie and you’re like, damn, let me get a pen and paper. I need to write down some of these moves. She is just I think that’s one of the reasons people like the book is it’s like everyone would like to be as good a flirt as Anastasia Steele. She always says exactly what she should. It doesn’t occur to her like a couple hours later, the next day being like, you know, would have been cool if I’d said she just actually comes up with it on the spot. It’s a marvel to behold. But the other reason you shouldn’t feel sorry for her is that she’s a master manipulator. She is as good as a manipulator, almost better than Christian Grey. And the move that she makes in this movie are very deliberate. And this isn’t the story of a Prince Charming who swoops in and talk some innocent virgin into the world, into joining the world of BDM.

That’s not what this is. And that has been it’s been misrepresented. In fact, 50 Shades of Grey is the story of a young woman who comes across by happenstance. She walks in to a chance encounter with a really successful, rich, famous guy. And lucky for her, this is where the luck comes in. He’s attracted to her. But then Anastasia Steele runs with that attraction. She makes the most of this opportunity. And it’s really the story of a young woman who sees an opportunity to land such a hot, you know, bachelor, just one of the most sought after men in the world. You know, again, that he’s world famous and incredibly successful, who’s available because he has this weird relationship with BDM. So it’s made him still on the market. So she’s she makes a very deliberate and, you know, she knows what she’s doing. She makes a decision to pursue this anyway and go, you know what? I think I can handle it. I think I can talk him out of BDM and that the reward is so great, I’m going to go for it. This is less Cinderella, more evil stepsister, as if you told the story from her getting to dance with the prince. And I don’t mean the Anastasia’s evil. I think she’s just a really complex, interesting character. Who knows exactly, again, what she’s doing and ends up, you know, when the movie ends.

We’ll talk about the ending in a moment. First, I want to touch on the sex scenes, but when the movie ends, she makes a choice. I don’t think, for one instance, that she thinks that’s the last time she’ll see Christian Grey. This is another move on her part in a very intricate game and a dangerous game to some degree that she’s playing with Christian Grey and the winner. If she wins, she gets to be Mrs. Christian Grey, which is an incredibly big reward for many women. So that’s what this movie is really about. And I think that, again, it’s been misrepresented by the public. And so it’s it’s it’s not, you know, the horrible evil. And I’m preying on innocents that people have said. Now, there are bad aspects about it which will also discuss. But let’s move to those sex scenes. OK, so. The sex scenes in the movie, something else people have been saying to me is so they’re like they’re not that graphic. They’re not as bad as some porn that I’ve seen. And that’s true, if you will, BDM, which I’ve had to do to look for pictures, for the videos that I’ve made to cover 50 Shades of Grey, you will see some shocking stuff. You’ll be like, man, I can’t believe maybe I should turn my filter on. This is ridiculous. I can’t believe this stuff’s just on there on Google.

But it is it doesn’t go to that degree, but it goes much farther than I think we’ve ever seen, you know, quote unquote. Professional actors go and I can see why they had a hard time getting actors to sign on for this movie. It’s like HBO is so graphic that there was that comedy sketch that was online about it’s not porn, it’s HBO, about loved ones hearing about the role that their their loved one would get as an actor and being like, I can’t believe we’re doing porn. And then the person says, no, it’s HBO. And then their loved ones are so happy for them because it’s such a prestigious, you know, channel, even though they’re basically doing porn. But this is more than you see on HBO. This goes further than that. So and like, for instance, I saw so much of Dakota Johnson that by the end of the movie, it stopped being shocking. Like I you’re naked again. What’s up? You know, I was just like so much nudity, more so on her part than Jamie Dornan, although he does have some nudity, a lot of blood shots. But then also he simulate some pretty lewd acts when you’re like, wow, this must have been such a weird set to be on. You know, what’s the dynamic between the two of you? And I think to some degree, I think it’s a little bit odd that acting has evolved to this place.

You know, I think when people first make the choice to be an actor, they’re like, I want to entertain millions. I want to practice my craft. I want to explore other psyches, not take my pants off and, you know, do a bunch of weird stuff that I might even be uncomfortable doing for reals in my actual life. And that’s the other thing that’s weird about the sex scenes. I think that what makes them so disturbing isn’t just the graphic nature of them, but in large part, Anastasia Steele is doing something she doesn’t want to do now. She’s not being talked into it. Christian Grey is so open about you can stop this any time you want. You can walk away anytime you want. There’s a helicopter on the roof. You can leave. But Anastasia Steele is like betting that she can handle it or at any moment, Christian or Christian Grey will be like, you’re right, this is weird. Let’s just go hold hands and walk off into the sunset. That’s a really big gamble. But it’s fascinating that her she’s the kind of person who would still take that risk. She’s decided to literally just not literally. But, you know, really, this is a great application of this term play with fire. And so that’s what makes the scenes also uncomfortable that she is, you know, going along with something that I think under other circumstances she wouldn’t go along with.

No, I thought it just got a little bizarre when you just bit the toast, you know, lean forward and bitter toast. And it’s like if you were mine, I would I would let you sit for a week. But I thought Dakota Johnson nailed the reaction to that. I mean, she was so good at doing exactly what the audience was thinking. So that’s what I feel about the sex scenes. And I also thought I have my notes here. If you’re wondering what I’m looking at a lot of notes from this movie. I also thought the sex scenes did a good job of portraying the emotional arc. Both characters, particularly, though, Anastasia Steele and how Christian keeps upping the ante. And she you know, it’s like almost like playing chicken and she keeps seeing whether or not she’s going to walk away. And, you know, at the end she does. Let’s talk about that ending now. Before I was waiting for the press screening to start, you know, I had to get there really early to make sure I got a seat there, like come as early as you can. Everybody wants to watch this. So I had, like, an hour to kill in the theater. So I was on my phone and I happened across an article in The Hollywood Reporter about how the director, Sam Taylor Johnson and E.L.

James were just fighting nonstop about the movie. And I was like, oh, wow, this is about the movie I’m just about to watch. What a perfect thing to read. So one of the big points the article focused on was a disagreement on how the movie should end. Now, E.L. James thought it was really important that the movie end, as she had written it, were the last word. That one of the last words, though, that it’s that last last one of the last words that Anastasia Steele says to Christian is stop when she doesn’t want him to. She’s he’s gone too far. Finally, he won the game of chicken. She she blinked. And so she says, stop. And he does. Now, Sam Tyler Johnson wanted to change it where Anastasia Steele said Red. And that, of course, is the safe word that they established through her contract. She never signed. I’m like, Christian Grey, this is girl number sixteen. Get the stuff right. That just shows you how good a master manipulator Anastasia Steele is, is that she managed not to sign that contract throughout this whole entire thing. But so Santillana Johnson wanted Anastacia to say, read the safe word for Stop, and the article that I read in The Hollywood Reporter said, Oh, that would been such a more intellectual choice. And I when I was like, OK, let’s see, Hollywood Reporter. So when I watch the movie, I was like, no, no, no.

E.L. James is correct to say Red would be incorrect because that would mean that Anastasia Steele was still playing the game. She was playing the game on Christian’s terms. She’s never been playing this game on Christians terms. She’s been playing it on her own. So she says stop because she’s pulling in the other direction. She’s like, no, I don’t want you know, we’re going back to my side and she’s fighting back. As I said, I don’t think that she thinks this is the last time she’ll see Christian Grey and she’s told to get lost before. And then he she but she really want him to show up. He did. And she was like, yeah, it worked. I’m such a good flirter. So I think the ending was perfect. E.L. James was totally right to stick to her guns and really does underline how important she is to this film and why it’s going to be such a phenomenon and why it’s so different than what Hollywood usually produces. Now, I’ll talk about that momentarily. And if you want to know about it right now, you can skip to the l’chaim section of this video. But first, I want to touch on BDM and abusive relationships. Now, I don’t think this movie glorifies abusive relationships. I think that it kind of says maybe you want to stick it out if the guy is a billionaire, which alone is a very dangerous idea to put forward.

However, I think it does explore why many women do find themselves in abusive relationships. It’s not always because the guy’s a billionaire, but because there’s something that he’s offering and the woman’s afraid to lose it if she leaves now, also sometimes just genuine fear for one’s safety, etc. But abusive relationships are also very complex. And so I think it’s wrong to boil them down to like, oh, he hits me, I can’t leave. The question is, why don’t you leave? And sometimes it’s because that guy is offering something that the woman wants or needs, so. I don’t think it glorifies abusive relationships, however, I was slightly disturbed by the fantasy element or the fantasy spin that it puts on an abusive relationship. For instance, when she tells him she doesn’t want to see him again, it’s fine that he shows up again. That’s great. But he should really just knock on her apartment door the fact that he was inside of her apartment and it was like sex time, you know, she smiled and was happy because she’s playing this game, you know, knowingly and she wants to win this billionaire. But in real life and even in this situation, that’s really too aggressive a move. That is something that should be a big red flag. And I felt uncomfortable with them, you know, trying to put a romantic spin on that, being like, oh, I broke into your house because he loves you so much.

Am I would have achieved the same effect if you rang the doorbell. So I had a problem with that. Now, also with the DSM, I think the movie did a pretty good job of trying to be respectful to DSM and why Christian Grey likes it so much, I think that they were pretty accurate. Obviously, I’m not a big DSM expert, but it seemed to ring pretty true to me or at least be believable, maybe doesn’t ring true for other BDM practitioners or maybe even most BDM practitioners. But I think they put forward a pretty good case for why it works for Christian Grey when he gets out of it. But the problem, as I discussed in my novel spoiler review, is that Anastasiya isn’t into DSM, so it’s really asking a bit too much. And again, her character’s willing to go there. So it’s her decision. She went in with her eyes and other things wide open so you can’t feel sorry for her. But at the same time, I think it’s an unhealthy portrayal of Bedzin. I think anyone who practices BDM for real responsibly would say you can’t practice it with somebody who’s not into it. And Christian has a responsibility to go. You’re saying? Yes, but I can tell in your heart that you really don’t want to do this and you’re only doing it because you want to have a romantic relationship with me.

And that’s something I’ve told you isn’t going to ever happen. Now, of course, Christian Grey makes it seem like that might happen. And maybe, again, as I said in my own spoiler review, he genuinely is open to the idea because Anastasia is almost like his his equal in terms of being, as I said, again, manipulative. And she’s very good at playing him. You know, I think I think he’s as much a victim here she is. So it’s a it’s an interesting situation to put to match up with Needsome. And I think that’s important to realize this isn’t just a straight BDM relationship. It’s two people playing a weird game into which BDM has been introduced. All right. Now, E.L. James. E.L. James has done a very good job here, and as I said in my non spoiler review, she’s really been able to tap into what women what excites women, both physically and emotionally and psychologically. She has a honey trap and it’s really impressive to see. And I also think that she really seems to know exactly what to get. And that’s why it’s so important that she had such strong creative control on the movie. It’s unusual for anyone to have this kind of creative control. J.K. Rowling had that level, but I think there wasn’t as much contention because J.K. Rowling told a cute little story about wizards and Hollywood was more into that. This is so outside of Hollywood’s wheelhouse that I think that a lot of the people involved in making the film were uncomfortable. So it’s good that James was there to keep them on track. And I think this speaks to a larger trend, and that’s outside voices coming into Hollywood, which are able to defy the formulas and stereotypes which are taken on, taken over for so long, particularly when it comes to the depiction of women. You’ll notice that all these outside voices are women. You had Stephenie Meyer first with Twilight, then you had Susan Collins with Hunger Games, then you had Jennifer Lee with Frozen and now you have E.L. James with 50 Shades of Grey. And in every single case, you have a woman creator touching upon and depicting real truths for women, basic truths that women have dealt with for four for almost seems forever. And they’re being explored on the big screen and in a very intimate and realistic way, not through the Hollywood or some might say male lens, although there are male ghostwriters on this movie. So I’d be very curious to know what they added. But still, it’s so feminine and so fresh and new that Hollywood again doesn’t know what to do with it. They wanted to change it and make it more like the kind of movie they would have made in the past.

But these new voices are so important, like E.L. James, because they know what women really want, just like that Nancy Meyers movie from a couple of years ago with Mel Gibson, which was kind of like the Hollywood version of what women want. But this is truly finally exploring what women actually want. And I think that’s why these movies are doing so incredibly well at the box office, because for the first time, women are seeing complex and sometimes not so favorable aspects of being a woman and the mistakes that we make, as well as our dreams and hopes explored in the big screen in a really honest manner. And I think that’s exciting. Now, there’s another strong female talent involved here and that Sam Taylor Johnson, the director, and while she fought with James and I think some of her ideas were not good, like changing the last word to read, I think that she should be commended for doing a really great job with this property and building a strong movie or a narrative around what E.L. James, his ideas, E.L. James, again, had great ideas, but her execution is so many people have lampooned in the media was incredibly poor grammatical errors, really poorly written aspects. All those people said the lines were poor and that they were it was unfortunate they were repeated in the movie. But never once during the movie there was I like, oh, that line sucks.

You know, it wasn’t like some of the, you know, Harrison Ford’s famous line to George Lucas of George. You could write this stuff, but you sure as heck can’t say it. Well, Dakota Johnson and to some degree, Jamie Dornan managed to say it in a very convincing and appealing way. But still, there were there were problems with James’s novel. So what happened is, is that E.L. James was able to maintain the integrity of her novel. But Sam Tyler Johnson deserves credit for fixing it up, kind of like giving it a makeover, but while still maintaining its heart and soul. So that’s I think that’s really commendable. And it’s another strong female talent who made something that’s incredibly commercial. She could have gone into she could have gone nesh, but she made something that’s really palatable to the masses, almost like Pretty Woman if it were made today. So I think that she deserves a lot of credit for that. Now, I want to move over to Dakota Johnson, who is so good in this movie, and she actually and some of her line readings reminds me a little bit of Melanie Griffith, her mother, who was very good at being a tease or here, you know, there’s a little Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele is a tease, but she’s able to intentionally put an innocent spin on it, which makes it even more compelling and intriguing.

And why, again, she’s a master of flirting. But again, it’s intentional. This isn’t part of her personality. She’s not an innocent individual. But Dakota Johnson is able to portray all this. She’s able to portray such a complex and intricate character who has so much going on inside. And I think she’s just as fascinating to the audience as she is to Christian Grey and also Dakota Johnson is very funny for the first I’d say third of this movie before it really starts up the sex A.. It’s very funny, very charming, like a straight romantic comedy. And that’s largely due to Dakota Johnson, who I would say almost as a Julia Roberts level turn here. And one has to wonder if Pretty Woman were made today, how graphic would that movie be? Right. So now why does she have to carry the first part of the movie? Well, that’s because oh, by the way, I also wanted to say on a side note, her mother that they cast Jennifer L. is Anastasia’s mother was a great choice because she looks so much like Dakota Johnson, more so than Melanie Griffith. And it it made it gave you the idea that Anastasia Steele was more of a real person. It really kind of grounded her to you and made her seem even more three dimensional. So that was a great, great, great choice.

You almost felt like you were looking at Anastasia Steele grown up like what you would look at, which is what happens when you usually meet someone’s parents. Right? You’re like, oh, coming attraction. All right. Now, again, as I said, Dakota Johnson had to carry the first part of this movie because. Why? Because Jamie Dornan doesn’t do a good job. At the beginning of the film, as I stated in my non spoiler review, he is incapable of showing the hard, mysterious, rugged shell that is so intriguing not only to Anastasia Steele, but the world, why he is such a hot news item, a tabloid staple, because everyone wants to know what’s Christian Grey thinking. And it doesn’t come across that way with Jamie Dornan in the role. Again, as I said in my non spoiler review, fans were adamant that he was not the ideal choice for Christian Grey and he is not the ideal choice. But luckily, he he grows into the role or the role actually shapes more to him. Is it as the movie progresses? But at the beginning, I think this would need someone almost more like Jon Hamm, someone who had a real gravitas about them that Jamie Dornan simply doesn’t have. Instead, when the movie starts and Anastacia meets him for the first time, you’re like, really this? I don’t see it, but let’s try it. Now, he’s very game for the inappropriate sequences, as I noted at the beginning, what he’s willing to simulate do really, you know, surprising to see someone who’s supposed to be a legitimate actor and not a porn actor do these kinds of maneuvers in a film.

Again, a mainstream film. But I guess this is the price of price of fame to be a big name actor. I guess he’s willing to do it. And, you know, just like these characters are making choices for fame and fortune, I think to some degree the actors are as well. Right. Which also gives it another layer. But the reason I say that the role kind of wraps itself around Jamie Dornan as the movie progresses is because he kind of you suddenly start to realize that he’s the poor little rich boy who even though he has all the success and fortune largely, it seems, from his parents, but still he’s not a very strong individual himself. So this BDM is what he needs to feel in control and powerful and perhaps worthy of all the attention that he gets. You know, I recently watched the the oh, I forget the name of it. It was on Lifetime. It was about this, the son of the former owner of the Fountain Blue Hotel in Miami and how he was really into porn and, you know, strip clubs. And it was, again, the same situation of, you know, the rich kid who could buy anything he wants but has, you know, psychological problems.

And, you know, but I feel some BDM practitioners would say that’s not true, that you don’t have to have psychological problems to be a BDM. And I’m trying to be really open and respectful to different types of lifestyles here. But anyway, I think that in this film, that’s how Christian Grey is utilizing BDM and why it appeals to him, which I think they’re going to explore more in the second film when we meet Mrs. Robinson. So that’s my spoiler review of 50 Shades of Grey. I’m very curious to discuss it with you in the comments down below, and I genuinely am interested to see where the story goes next. I really do a huge amount of respect for E.L. James is a storyteller and someone who I guess for Sam Taylor Johnson is a storyteller. I hope she sticks around, but I have really tremendous respect for James as an ideal person. And again, like those other women I noted, who’s really tapped into something that is exists. And it is real and it’s almost primal in women. But and again, that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. And it’s put it up on the big screen for us to discuss in the open. All right. So that’s my review again. Write your thoughts down below. Thank you so much for tuning in. And you can check out some more episodes right now from.