(no subject)

Not being into Twilight, I only got the whole Fifty Shades of Grey sheananigans on the side. So, it started out as an - obviously AU - Twilight fanfic which the author later slightly rewrote (as in the names) and published. From the summary I got, it could have been (and probably was for some) an AU for any other het fandom.

Yesterday, I stumbled over an excerpt of it. And oh boy. Thing is, I have been in fandom for a while now and as such I have read bdsm in various forms as well. There are certain kinks I like but usually submission in specific forms is not it. And from what I saw, I have read this story as well. Not this particular one of course but enough fics that were close. In the end, it's not so different than several Buffy/Angelus fics I read once upon a time (and they were better written, too) or a certain SPN vampire "epic" with bad porn dialogue. Not particularly well-written, clichéd and the stuff that is okay for sex fantasies but would need a better effort to put it into the story (narrative, characters etc). By fic standards of "brave", I'd consider it outdated.

I find it fascinating, though, that FSOG rose to bestsellers lists like that. What is the appeal? I have read lots of bodice rippers in my youth. Granted, nothing truly BDSM. And before I got into online fandom and fanfic, I could probably be described as more "sheltered" as to certain themes. :) But this couldn`t have been the first lightly S/M sex book ever written, could it? Does it truly count as daring and fresh to non-fanfic readers? Is fanfic twenty years forward of its time? I feel so avant-garde now. Hee.

Also, they are making the novel into a movie? I was too lazy to research further but, like a TV movie? Or one to be realesed in movie theaters? Because how on Earth can this be anything but PG18? Besides, a cinematic movie about BDSM sex? HBO, sure, but mainstream? Unless they sanitize it and then it will have even less of a point. Eh, I`d probably watch it, too, as long as they actually put a hot guy in the supposed "most alluring dude ever" main role. Because let me tell you, that was a major stumbling block for me on Twilight.

(no subject)

Not being into Twilight, I only got the whole Fifty Shades of Grey sheananigans on the side. So, it started out as an - obviously AU - Twilight fanfic which the author later slightly rewrote (as in the names) and published. From the summary I got, it could have been (and probably was for some) an AU for any other het fandom.

Yesterday, I stumbled over an excerpt of it. And oh boy. Thing is, I have been in fandom for a while now and as such I have read bdsm in various forms as well. There are certain kinks I like but usually submission in specific forms is not it. And from what I saw, I have read this story as well. Not this particular one of course but enough fics that were close. In the end, it's not so different than several Buffy/Angelus fics I read once upon a time (and they were better written, too) or a certain SPN vampire "epic" with bad porn dialogue. Not particularly well-written, clichéd and the stuff that is okay for sex fantasies but would need a better effort to put it into the story (narrative, characters etc). By fic standards of "brave", I'd consider it outdated.

I find it fascinating, though, that FSOG rose to bestsellers lists like that. What is the appeal? I have read lots of bodice rippers in my youth. Granted, nothing truly BDSM. And before I got into online fandom and fanfic, I could probably be described as more "sheltered" as to certain themes. :) But this couldn`t have been the first lightly S/M sex book ever written, could it? Does it truly count as daring and fresh to non-fanfic readers? Is fanfic twenty years forward of its time? I feel so avant-garde now. Hee.

Also, they are making the novel into a movie? I was too lazy to research further but, like a TV movie? Or one to be realesed in movie theaters? Because how on Earth can this be anything but PG18? Besides, a cinematic movie about BDSM sex? HBO, sure, but mainstream? Unless they sanitize it and then it will have even less of a point. Eh, I`d probably watch it, too, as long as they actually put a hot guy in the supposed "most alluring dude ever" main role. Because let me tell you, that was a major stumbling block for me on Twilight.