50 Shades of Grey

[PatriceA]

I was talking about the books, not the movies! The Twilight series is soft-core porn, just like 50 Shades of Grey.

What is your definition of soft-core porn? Read all the Twilight books and there is only one scene that is sexual in nature and between a married couple. IMO, Twilight may be badly written, but its not soft-porn and can not be compared to Shades of Grey.

 

[AthenaC]

What is your definition of soft-core porn? Read all the Twilight books and there is only one scene that is sexual in nature and between a married couple. IMO, Twilight may be badly written, but its not soft-porn and can not be compared to Shades of Grey.

I actually thought Twilight was great brain candy and a fun read. And yes, there was no porn in the books. Sex was implied and only between married couples. What’s wrong with that?

Now, having said that, I am not going to let my girls read it. Why? Because having been through an abusive relationship, there are red flags ALL OVER Edward. If teenage girls who have no idea what healthy romantic love looks like read this stuff, they are going to come away with a really warped view of what to look for in a man and we are going to see a huge increase in domestic violence.

I would rather have my girls read something like the Outlander series (Diana Gabaldon). There is sex (quite explicit), but again it’s only between married couples. To me that’s a side issue, however. The main reason I would have my girls read Outlander is the way she describes love - it’s complex and it’s not always pretty (they are imperfect humans after all), but there are certain constants to lifelong love and keeping your vows, and there are ways that keeping your vows really reshape your priorities. Joys and sacrifices are mutual and shared. If my girls are going to get a picture of what love looks like, this is the series to read.

 

[joshvanrad]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[catholicintrain]

I am trying to understand the morality of reading these books… Is it a sin? Where does the church stand on reading erotica? Where is the line between that and porn? I have not read these books and at this point I will not, but I cannot get over the craze surrounding this series. I am seeing good, normal, (even Catholic) women recommending these books… saying they are spicing up the bedroom. The fact that they are not embarresed to recommend confuses me a bit… but maybe I am the one who doesn’t get it. If I wasn’t concerned about the sinful nature of these books, I probably would have read the first one by now.

 

[Kenny_Kamel]

I just wanted to warn folks about this book. I heard about it on the news this morning and the newscasters seemed to take it lightly as a joke or some type of romance novel after reading a review and looking up the plot it about a young female college graduate and the young rich guy she’s enamored of who’s into abuse and bondage as well as other sadistic activities.

my.news.yahoo.com/fifty-shades-grey-review-sending-wrong-message-164814776.html

businessinsider.com/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-50-shades-of-grey-the-new-mom-porn-book-phenomenon-2012-3

FYI, there was another CAF thread about this recently: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=680701

{EDIT} I wanted to add something after having read the aforementioned Twilight page:

More of these Twilight gems can be found here: reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com/

***Q: “Have you read / Are you going to read / What do you think of / Are you familiar with Fifty Shades of Grey?”

A: “Twilight at least has the benefit of being fascinating in its awfulness, like a car wreck where you can’t tell if the primary cause was one driver’s cataracts, another driver’s onset of peanut allergy, the rockslide, the sudden appearance of a horde of rabid badgers, or the mysterious solar eclipse. Fifty Shades of Grey is just a drunk driver. Both are hailed as automotive revolutions.” — Audreyii***

50 Shades = Drunk Driver, well people are getting intoxicated by this and taking a great risk which can jepordize themselves and others.

 

[AthenaC]

I am trying to understand the morality of reading these books… Is it a sin? Where does the church stand on reading erotica? Where is the line between that and porn? I have not read these books and at this point I will not, but I cannot get over the craze surrounding this series. I am seeing good, normal, (even Catholic) women recommending these books… saying they are spicing up the bedroom. The fact that they are not embarresed to recommend confuses me a bit… but maybe I am the one who doesn’t get it. If I wasn’t concerned about the sinful nature of these books, I probably would have read the first one by now.

If they are spicing up their marriages, it’s hard to argue with that.

But what concerns me about these books is that our protagonists are having adulterous sex, which frankly is not amusing to me. (But take my thoughts with a boulder of salt since I haven’t read the books, nor do I have any intention of doing so.)

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I am trying to understand the morality of reading these books… Is it a sin? Where does the church stand on reading erotica? Where is the line between that and porn? I have not read these books and at this point I will not, but I cannot get over the craze surrounding this series. I am seeing good, normal, (even Catholic) women recommending these books… saying they are spicing up the bedroom. The fact that they are not embarresed to recommend confuses me a bit… but maybe I am the one who doesn’t get it. If I wasn’t concerned about the sinful nature of these books, I probably would have read the first one by now.

You have every reason to be concerned. Don’t read it. It’s pure smut.

 

[child_of_God85]

I heard about the series a few months ago. I’ve only read maybe the first two pages of a sample. More than 2 pages and I was worried my IQ would be damaged beyond repare. To say the writing is bad is being too kind. I’ve never seen writing so completely awful in my life. I can put up with almost anything in a book, but bad writing is a no no. I still to this day do not know why I read all the Twilight books.
I’ll be honest, my reading choices are not always conservative when it comes to sex. I’ve read some books that had pretty graphic sex in it. But S&M is something I have no interest in reading about. Why are these moms enjoying reading about a woman getting her who ha whipped? Not sure whether I want to say eww or ouch!

 

[maltmom]

I read them and enjoyed them b/c they consisted of mindless reading. I call them dummy down books. They were a nice change from the stresses of everyday life.

 

[sgbroussard910]

So, exactly what is Catholic Answers saying about the book that Christian woman are losing thier moral sense over? I am appalled at this book and find it most disheartening the response by those who claim to be Christian. I have tried to warn others not to be deceived and disillusioned by this book as it will lead them on the wrong path away from God’s will; but, all I got is “Last I looked we were adults and that I should mind my own business”. Well we are supposed to guide in love and charity for the salvation of all aren’t we? I just think we have enough filth in the world without this. The Devil is continually blinding those who profess to be Christians, stand firm Sisters, if Jesus comes back today and you are reading this filth do you really think it will be acceptable to Him. Of course not. Wake up people, this is not what is going to bring you to holiness.

 

[sgbroussard910]

I’m embarrassed to have these books in my house - my wife bought them and has read them twice. Let me say up front that I haven’t read them; a quick skim-through was enough to see what it was about. I don’t need to drink the whole bottle of poison to know that it’s not healthy.

It’s amazing that so many people discuss how great these books are without any apparent that they’re sitting around talking about porn. Is there no shame? I can assure you that if I sat around reading magazines with photographic depictions of what’s in these 50 Shades novels, my wife would not be happy.

What bothers me most about the books is that the main character not only loses her virginity to someone out of wedlock (that’s so common nowadays that I don’t even think I’d notice), but that she gives it away to a psychopathic, controlling abuser who feels the need to agree to a sexual contract. Modern American society has already crushed the idea of virgin until marriage; these books kick what’s left of it while it’s down.

In my mind, the only sexual contract I need is the one I made at the altar - my wife and nobody else until death parts us.

Alan

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me Alan that you are standing up for what is right!

 

[Gift_from_God]

I found out that it was apparently inspired by Twilight fan fiction, which for some reason makes me curious about the book

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

I found out that it was apparently inspired by Twilight fan fiction, which for some reason makes me curious about the book

Really? I actually thought I was proven wrong and that there was something even worse than Twi-pires.

 

[Crescentinus]

Really? I actually thought I was proven wrong and that there was something even worse than Twi-pires.

Twilight series = really bad books
Twifanfics = mostly bad fanfics which tend to be really bad

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I found out that it was apparently inspired by Twilight fan fiction, which for some reason makes me curious about the book

No, it actually IS fanfic from the Twilight series. All the author did was change the names.

 

[CesarAugustus]

So, exactly what is Catholic Answers saying about the book that Christian woman are losing thier moral sense over? I am appalled at this book and find it most disheartening the response by those who claim to be Christian. I have tried to warn others not to be deceived and disillusioned by this book as it will lead them on the wrong path away from God’s will; but, all I got is “Last I looked we were adults and that I should mind my own business”. Well we are supposed to guide in love and charity for the salvation of all aren’t we? I just think we have enough filth in the world without this. The Devil is continually blinding those who profess to be Christians, stand firm Sisters, if Jesus comes back today and you are reading this filth do you really think it will be acceptable to Him. Of course not. Wake up people, this is not what is going to bring you to holiness.

Ask them if they say the same about abortion or homosexual unions.

Sometimes people are against some sins because doesn’t affect them… but when is about a sin of theirs… well, the excuses begin to arise.

Blessings!

 

[Rence]

I just heard about it today and wanted to ask the opinion of Catholic women about the book. Cos on TV, married women were saying some crazy things about it. They or the journalist mentioned mommy porn. That I did not understand.

Well, I’m Catholic, and I think it’s kind of boring. I’ve never been offended by sexually explicit reading material, and I can take it or leave it, or even skip it. So that part doesn’t bother me. But the dialogs are cheesy in this book. It’s also predictable. I’m more of a Jude Deveraux and Judy Garwood girl And most of the time I’m :banghead: over the decision making skills (or lake thereof) of the heroine in the story. The hero is ordinary: he’s no fool, he’ll take what’s freely given to him. She, OTOH, is pure idiot…

However, it doesn’t take two minutes of reading to know the story is totally immoral.

 

[Rence]

I was talking about the books, not the movies! The Twilight series is soft-core porn, just like 50 Shades of Grey.

I have to disagree. The Twilight series is nothing like 50 shades of grey which is not soft porn by any means.

 

[Crescentinus]

I have to disagree. The Twilight series is nothing like 50 shades of grey which is not soft porn by any means.

Yes, but it still promotes abusive relationships.

 

[AthenaC]

Yes, but it still promotes abusive relationships.

Indeed. Edward has the red flags of emotional abuser written all over him.

Personally, I like eroticism in literature when the eroticism makes sense in context. For example, if the book is about the lives of the characters (which includes a married couple), nothing wrong with sex there. Not a fan of eroticism in an adulterious relationship; nothing about adultery is amusing to me.