Last week we joined our children and grandchildren for an wonderful vacation by a Kentucky lake. The last day of the week my son’s boat was taking on some water so we went to the pool instead. Since it was a small one the ten of us kind of took it over but the five women there in their fifties and sixties gladly made room as they fussed over the grandchildren.
Later I overheard them discussing an upcoming movie in and realized it was Fifty Shades of Grey. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you recognize the 2011 erotic book that’s somehow made S & M cool. After selling 100 million copies and becoming the fastest selling paperback of all time, the movie’s being released next Valentine’s Day. [Seriously?] After 100 million people viewed the trailer the first week, Jimmy Kimmel’s interviewer on the street had some fun asking people if they plan to see “50 Shapes of Grape” or “50 Snakes are Great” or Shifty Fades of Grey”.
The women by the pool chuckled at their 50 Shades discussion; some seemed intrigued, others uncomfortable even by the conversation. The appeal the book holds for women has earned it the label “Mommy Porn” and its expected movie viewership will be heavily female.
It is good for Christian husbands and wives to delight one another in the bedroom, but this is hardly the manual to reference. Crystal Renaud remarked dryly, “Christian Grey [main character] belongs in jail, not in your bedroom.” Christian blogger and author of Dirty Girls Come Clean, Renaud is a former porn and sex addict whose post on 50 Shades is hard-hitting but incisive. Beyond the obvious immorality, she points out why this kind of “literature” is hardly women-friendly. http://dirtygirlsministries.com/?p=6958
Gospel-Centered Life 