By Larry Peterson
Valentine's Day has been hijacked by the movie, "50 Shades of Grey". A day that is all about love and romance and flowers and candy and hugs and kisses has been turned into a celebration of deviance and depravity. In fact, the movie celebrates the degradation of women. And it is being glorified and praised as the "great love story of our day. What kind of bizarre and twisted nonsense is this?
Here is part of one advertisement from a company by the name of "pink cherry.com." It is one of many spread throughout cyber world advertising this years preferred Valentine's Day gifts. These gifts are being offered because of the "50 Shades of Grey" book trilogy and movie:
"Indulge in the steamy world of Fifty Shades of Grey, a New York Times #1 Best Seller from new author E. L. James. Explore the possibilities of how both the book and related toys can bring you and your partners to new levels of excitement and pleasure. Let the world of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele bring you to a place you may have never explored--or only just toyed with. The possibilities are endless---"
This is the blurb from the movie theaters in my surrounding area promoting the film for the Valentine's Day weekend:
SYNOPSIS: Fifty Shades of Grey is the hotly anticipated adaption of the best selling book that has become a global phenomenon. Since its release, the Fifty Shades" trilogy has sold more than 100 million copies in e-book and print--making it one of the biggest and fastest selling book series ever. Stepping into the roles of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, who have become iconic to millions of readers, are Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson--
I am a man and I just do not understand. This aberration called Fifty Shades of Grey promotes a debased and contorted view of how love can be. It offers to women the narrative that being handcuffed, beaten, chained and/or whipped (among other things) is sexually stimulating and could lead to a "happily ever after" ending. Does not the independent, supposedly liberated woman of the 21st century find Anastasia Steele submissive, weak and needy? What about her self-respect and dignity? Christian Grey chews it up and spits it out. She is an object to him, not a real person.
Debased as this story is the movie trailer, based on the novel, logged in more than 36 million YouTube views in its first week. Women LOVE this book (over 100 million sold mostly to women) and the movie will pack them in over the Valentine's Day weekend. I do not get it.
To all you women out there let this "old fool" tell you a few things. First of all, a real man will respect you as a woman and a person. He will not try to manipulate you, subjugate you or coerce you into doing anything that you do not want to. (Of course, early on, he will be on his best behavior in his quest to get you to like him. If he is not--RUN.) Secondly, He will NOT demand to constantly know where you have been or what you are doing. Third, he will honor your wants and needs and you will know in your heart if he is "full of it". A relationship is a two way street. A mutual trust and respect must be shared between you. It is the basis of all things going forward.
We are all God's children. Men and women compliment each other. It is NATURAL. It is the way it is supposed to be. Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger starred in the movie, "Jerry McGuire". At he end of the movie, Jerry (played by Cruise) says to Dorothy (played by Zellweger) "You complete me". It was the defining moment for Jerry and Dorothy. I believe that one scene is what made the film the big hit that it was because, as they embraced and kissed, everyone watching was now able to feel them sharing the love that they had for each other. Those three words summed up the way a permanent relationship between a man and a woman should be. They should "complete each other".
Finally, you might consider that the sex part of the relationship is a perk. It is a beautiful thing to share between two people in love. But it is NOT the "end all" or the most important thing or the only thing. The BEST part of the sex should be after it is over and you can just be together holding each other and feeling the love flow between you. You have shared with each other your very heart and souls. You have completed each other and you did not need handcuffs.
copyright 2015 Larry Peterson
Society at large seems to keep crossing lines that previously were drawn. Way back married couples in movies slept in twin beds. Then they were shown in a queen or king size bed together. When they made love the camera panned away. Then the camera stayed but the viewer could not see what was happening under the covers. Soon the cover were tossed aside and the viewer got an eyeful and around this time the couple need not be married. Next swinging (not the playground variety) made its way onto the big screen as the small screen followed behind a few steps.Consensual, caring sex was now replaced with rape but the camera once again turned away. As time passed the camera lingered longer and longer in main stream movies, turning at the last minute and then returning to show the beaten body of the victim. Of course for those so inclined snuff films showed the whole putrid process. Now we have arrived at Fifth Shades of Grey - a main stream movie of today that glorifies bondage and masochism. One has to ask where do we go from here? Child porn is still illegal although certain members of society are pushing for its approval (NAMBLA). I Am Curious Yellow hit the theaters in 1967, the first adult film to go main stream. A viewer today can watch harder fare on cable. From 1967 to today the number of out of wedlock pregnancies, abortions, sex crimes, and families living in poverty have sky rocketed despite the government pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into social programs. Society is broken because the fundamental unit is broken - the Family and the Family is broken because a fundamental part of it, the physical union of one man and one woman has been debased. Just as your health suffers if you were drink polluted water and breath polluted air, societies health suffers when it is polluted by deviant practices that debase both men and women. One definition for the root word from which we get pornography is To Pollute the Eye. Does not the Poet tell us the Eye is the Gateway to the Soul? Society needs to opens its eyes. We have fallen off the slippery slope and are in a free fall to Hell on Earth.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dennis--"Spot on the money' with those remarks
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ReplyDeleteWell said and necessary that it be said. Thank you
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