I like this story. I don't necessarily like the movie (I thought the flow of the movie wasn't all that smooth), and I don't necessarily like the writing style of the book either (lots of Anna's inner monologue; irritating), but I do like the story.
Not just like ah actually. I think I love it.
I can't help it. The story is so filled with revelations of Christian Grey's psyche, and I have to admit; the pseudo psychologist in me is more than intrigued.
There's so much more than meets the eye, and it irks me when it's dismissed as "porn" or "just about the sex", because it's not. It's so much more than that, and if you give it a chance, you'll realize that.
After reading the first two books NON-STOP (the pseudo psychologist in me would not let me put them down) and the synopsis of the third book, below is my take on the story.
Grey was neglected and mistreated as a young child. Grey's mother was a whore (his own words), who probably forgot to feed him a lot and didn't really care about his wellbeing (probable reason as to why he said he knows what it's like to be profoundly hungry). Being a whore, his mother's pimp was always hanging around the house, and this pimp mistreated Grey. He used Grey as an ashtray when he couldn't find one by putting his cigarettes out on the poor 3-4 year old child, and judging from Grey's flashbacks of his childhood, the pimp abused him as well when he was angry at Grey's mother for some reason or other.
And then Grey's mother killed herself. And 4-year-old Grey was stuck in the house with his mother's body for 4 days before they were found.
How can that not have a traumatic effect on a child?
Needless to say, Grey grew up with a lot of unexpressed anger and resentment, probably towards his mother for being unable to protect him from being mistreated, and also towards himself, probably hating himself for being born into a situation that he was unable to control - this could be the reason he "exercised control on all things, Miss Steele" when he got older.
As a youngster, of course Grey didn't know how to deal with his unexpressed anger towards his mother and situation, and ended up getting into a lot of fights at school, using his schoolmates as outlets for his anger. He didn't know any better.
Then at 15, a friend of his adoptive mother's introduced him to the BDSM lifestyle, and this is where Grey learned of a new outlet for his anger. For others practicing this lifestyle, it was probably just a sexual lifestyle that they preferred for whatever reasons, but for Grey, this lifestyle was not only pleasurable for him, but it also became his coping mechanism. While unable to control his situation as a young child, as an adult, he was able to control his submissives, which probably gave him what he needed to cope with his issues.
Grey also revealed later that his submissives all resemble his mother; apparently with long brown hair and fair skin. So he liked to beat ladies who resemble his mother. I guess that was his way of "punishing" "her" for the years of neglect and abuse she had directly or indirectly put him through as a child.
And then he meets Ana. Ana, who takes her time with the contract and makes sure to question herself whether SHE is/will be okay with whatever he intends to put her through in their contractual relationship, who makes it known when she doesn't agree with something, and doesn't simply go along with whatever he orders or instructs her to do, which frustrates and interests him at the same time. She was like a breath of fresh air for him, and she opened his eyes, making him realize that he may not be able to control everything in his life, but that that's alright.
There's a part at the end of the first book/movie where Anna requests that Grey shows her the worst punishment he could give her. He does, and she's hurt. Hurt that he could do such a thing to her. That's why she cried and left. She wanted to see if he could bring himself to hurt HER, and he DID. And that's what hurt her the most. You have to remember that girls are kinda like that, aren't we? Sometimes we CABAR (dare) our men to do certain things, testing them to see how far they would go. It's not always a healthy thing, but it is a fact that girls do that.
It's a sweet story. A story about a man's insight into himself and his issues. All that sex is a look into his psyche, and a look into why he is the way that he is. And it's fascinating (the way that he is, not the sex). Pseudo psychologist in me approves to the moon and back.
So for those of you who have not watched the movie or read the book, you can do either one, but I would suggest reading the books cause those are available NOW and you don't have to wait a year for the sequels. You get a look into Anna's psyche as well, though that's not as interesting ah, except for the last part of the first book. After the first book, you get a larger glimpse into the mind of Christian Grey, and it's fascinating, really.
Gosh.
I'm a nerd, aren't I?
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