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by Zani Daunheimer

‘Sex’ is the word most falsely, but commonly associated with the recently released movie and book series, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.

In a recent online survey conducted by high school students at BHS, participants were asked to respond with the first word that came to mind when they heard ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. 81 percent of participants who didn’t read the book answered with the word ‘sex’, and another 9 percent answered with a word related to sexual actions. None of the people surveyed who had read the book answered with ‘sex’, but instead words similar to ‘intense’, ‘heartfelt’, or ‘fate’.

¨I feel like sex is a big part of it,” said Timmy Graham, a student at Batavia High School. ¨But if you read the book, there’s a lot of deeper meaning.¨

Throughout the novel, the relationship between the two main main characters, Anastasia and Christian, progresses thoroughly. The relationship between them is one such as many others of people similar in age, and really isn’t altered by their sexual relations except for certain parts where it briefly disrupts a small aspect.

In addition to the book being falsely accused as only an erotica, the book is also wrongly associated with the idea of rape and abuse. A novel has never been so falsely accused of something. One of the biggest morals of the book is the idea of consent. Every time they want to do anything sexual in nature, Christian asks Anastasia of her approval and never once did she deny it, although given many chances. There’s also an entire chapter outlining the rules and consent of any of the seemingly violent actions. The movie doesn’t show this part and therefore gives it a bad name.

¨I think it’s portrayed like that because it’s meant towards a more mature audience and too many immature people on social media are not mature enough to see the underlying meaning, therefore just assume it’s something related to abuse,¨ Graham said.

There are multiple reasons that the book Fifty Shades of Grey is frowned upon by the movie audience that has never read the book or even the people who didn’t read the book nor saw the movie, all of which are untrue. People need to be more open minded and do their research before making assumptions about something they know nothing about.

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