Fifty Shades of Grey: “Capitalism is a Handsome Stud” (Film Criticism)

This is a critique of the movie and not the novel.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" is about the seductive power of capitalism or materialism. Christian Grey embodies everything seductive about capitalism. He is attractive, driven, controlling, and rich. He is a survivor. Christian was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was an orphan and grew up in many foster homes. However, from humble beginnings, he rose to affluence and power because of pure perseverance and courage, or so the film claims.  He is now endowed with many talents. He can fly a plane and a helicopter. He owns and drives expensive cars and his employees obey his every whim.  He is almost omnipresent and he can easily be in one place in a nick of time. It is interesting to note that all of Christian's employees, including his driver, look like supermodels. A fashion model is after all an embodiment of plastic beauty that capitalism wants us to emulate, from Barbie to Beyonce. In contrast, Anastasia's friends, relatives, and acquaintances look like ordinary real people.

Christian is like capitalism. It evolved from a simple act of trading basic goods, and centuries later, it has evolved into something powerful and dominant. Capitalism has influenced every aspect of human existence: from the way we think, the things we value, the things we desire, and our notion of love and self-worth. Just walk around any mall in the Philippines, the alluring countenance of capitalism is all over. We are regularly being seduced to buy into capitalism. If we wear beautiful clothes, have the latest gadgets, prescribe to a certain standard of beauty, drive a car, and be involved with a specific type of person with a great job, the possibility of being loved and being happy is ensured. Christian Grey is already in our lives. He is not a fantasy. The fantasy is that we believe that he can genuinely love us. The truth is "he just wants to use us for his consumption." He lives to dominate.

“I’m a Dominant. I want you to willingly surrender yourself to me, in all things.”

We are all Anastasia Steele, the ordinary working class. Take note that her surname is a cacography of the word "steel," as in the product that workers produce in factories. Like Anastasia, we are the symbolic virgin and we are easily mesmerized by the trappings of wealth and power that capitalism showcases.  Who isn't seduced by all that power and beauty?

Unfortunately, capitalism is not a romantic lover. As Christian said, “I’m not a hearts and flowers kind of man, I don’t do romance. My tastes are very singular” and “I do not make love, I fuck hard.” Figuratively speaking, capitalism does not love us; it fucks us hard.  Capitalism only has a singular aim as well: to consume.

Capitalism like Christian is a control freak. It plays the dominant role and the working class must play the submissive part. In return for our submissiveness, we are rewarded but not on our terms, only on the terms of capitalism.

In a way, Anastasia’s constant appeal to Christian to give her equal power in their relationship is similar to the demand of the working class on our prevalent capitalist system to change.  However, capitalism is a cold beast despite looking so attractive and powerful. Even if capitalism works benevolently such as helping charitable organizations, capitalism still hides its ugly truth. As Oscar Wilde puts it in his book “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,”

“(Charity) is not a solution (to poverty): it is an aggravation of the difficulty. The proper aim is to try and reconstruct society on such a basis that poverty will be impossible…Just as the worst slave-owners were those who were kind to their slaves, and so prevented the horror of the system being realized by those who suffered from it, and understood by those who contemplated it.”

Christian is the same. He hides or shows his philanthropic work at his convenience. He sometimes shows his vulnerability but he refuses to give up his sadistic games. Many capitalists brag about their charitable work but they hide their crimes and their dirty roles in making charity necessary. Capitalism creates the poor who in turn need charity.

Materialism seduced us into playing its game by offering us material rewards sans genuine freedom and equality. This is materialistic love.  Like Christian's brand of love, capitalism operates on a contractual level. The "contract' that Christian insists on Anastasia is symbolic of capitalism's social contract with ordinary people.  The contract is a safeguard or protection that capitalism uses to absolve it from its exploitative machination.

Christian Grey's playroom, hidden from the public, is akin to capitalism's hidden machination. In the film, Anastasia (along with the viewers) does not get a glimpse of what Christian actually does. Anastasia just gets to hear suspicious phone calls and Christian only gives her incomplete information about his dealings. All Anastasia sees is superficiality that hides the deception.

On the surface, the promise of wealth and power that capitalism offers is enticing, but it is a clever deceit.  You do not need to be on the left to know how capitalism has disenfranchised many people, damaged the environment, and dehumanized people.  Christian is the same. His kind of love is intimidating, seductive, and exhilarating but his love is also fake and exploitative. Capitalism, like Christian, does not care what we really need and what makes us loving complete human beings; capitalism prescribes what we need, desire, and what will make us happy.

Throughout the film, Anastasia's struggle to change Christian is futile.  Christian sums up why capitalism will never change when he says, "It's just the way I am," and so is capitalism.  Surprisingly, Anastasia is a progressive character and ends up becoming victorious in the end.  In her last attempt to reconcile her love for Christian and her need for respect, she challenges him to play his “game” to the extreme.  This is also Anastasia’s way of finally determining her limits. How much is she willing to be used?

Fortunately, despite Christian’s smoldering charm and power over her, she refuses to be used under his terms.  Perhaps, this is the working class finally awakening from the manipulative clutches of materialism.

But then again, this is just the first part of a trilogy so we should not wave the flag of liberty just yet. Anastasia is far from liberation at this point.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson (working on Kelly Marcel's script) may not also be aware of the message of her narrative. The film works like a full-length seductive advertisement, complete with branded products and a soundtrack full of popular songs. The tone of the film is sentimental and romantic. As you watch it, you are blindly seduced by all the artificial beauty and explicit but flaccid sex scenes.