Christian Today report– A petition organised by a coalition of groups opposed to the controversial movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” has gathered more than 60,000 signatures calling for the boycott of the film in the United States upon its release on Valentine’s Day.
The coalition is composed of news organisation LifeSiteNews, the groups National Center on Sexual Exploitation and the Family Research Council, and the website Counter Cultured.”Fifty Shades of Grey” is based on the hit series of books by EL James. The novels follow the relationship between Christian Grey, a sado-masochistic businessman who gets into a domineering relationship with college student Anastasia Steele. The book, and the subsequent film, has been widely panned because of the amount of sadism and masochism in its content as well as its portrayal of the abusive relationship between Grey and Steele.
In its statement, the coalition warned the public about the dangers of the film’s message seeping into the public consciousness.
“This film normalises and glamorises behaviours such as stalking, threats and physical violence,” the group said. “Its portrayal of relationships and sex is offensive to real life victims of domestic abuse.
“The film sets a particularly dangerous example for younger viewers, who may not understand that attractive, charismatic young billionaire Christian Grey is also an abusive sociopath, especially since victim/narrator Anastasia Steele continually describes and portrays him as a god.”
The coalition also accused NBC Universal of using Valentine’s Day “to promote a movie about abuse and degradation.”
“Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a celebration of love; however, the relationship between the two main characters in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is anything but caring or loving,” the group stated. “NBC Universal should be ashamed of themselves.”
The film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in the lead roles. The film has already been banned in Malaysia, with the Malaysian Film Censorship Board finding its content to be more “pornography than a movie.”
Source: Christian Today