Today’s Prayer Focus
Fifty Shades of Grey
also known as “50 Shades of Grey,” “50 Shades of Gray,” “Cincuenta sombras de Grey,” “As Cinquenta Sombras de Grey,” “Cinquante nuances de Grey,” “Cinquenta Tons de Cinza”
MPA Rating:
for strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language.
for strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language.
| Moral Rating: | Not Recommended |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Romance Drama Adaptation |
| Length: | 2 hr. 5 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2015 |
| USA Release: |
February 13, 2015 (wide—3,645 theaters) |
Relevant Issues
God’s holy gift of beautiful intimacy in Christian marriage—based on self-sacrificing love
SEXUAL LUST—Why does the Bible warn about it? Answer
Lust is an inward sin which leads to a falling away from God (Rom. 1:21).
PURITY—Should I save sex for marriage? Answer
fornication and lasciviousness in the Bible
TEMPTATIONS—How can I deal with temptations? Answer
CONSEQUENCES—What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer
Right and wrong
How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer
How can I decide whether a particular activity is wrong? Answer
Are we living in a moral Stone Age? Answer
Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Discover biblical answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more.
| Featuring |
Dakota Johnson … Anastasia Steele Jamie Dornan … Christian Grey Jennifer Ehle … Carla Eloise Mumford … Kate Victor Rasuk … José Luke Grimes … Elliot Grey Marcia Gay Harden … Mrs. Grey Rita Ora … Mia Grey Max Martini … Taylor Callum Keith Rennie … Ray Andrew Airlie … Mr. Grey See all » |
| Director | Sam Taylor-Johnson — “Nowhere Boy” (2009) |
| Producer |
Focus Features Michael De Luca Productions Trigger Street Productions |
| Distributor |
 Focus Features, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal/Comcast |
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “Literature student Anastasia Steele's life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey. The soon-to-be college graduate begins an S&M romance with the successful entrepreneur.”
Sequel: “Fifty Shades Darker” (2017)
Objectionable content (partial list)
- Glamorizes the sins of fornication, lust, lasciviousness and foolish loss of virginity
- Promotes a lustful, corrupted view of sexuality in opposition to the beautiful, intimate marital relationship God designed, which is symbolic of God’s union with His people
- Eroticizes violence and forms of torture—associating them with sexual gratification
- Attempts to normalize sexual perversion—bondage, sadism, masochism, sexual exploitation and humiliation—making them socially acceptable (in this lighter form, when in the real world they can become far more pornographic, perverse and evil)
- Promotes sin, instead of true goodness and righteousness
- Glorification of abusive and degrading relationships—potentially glamorizing and legitimizing violence against women
- Nudity and relationship used to promote lust
- Promotes narcissism
- Encourages abuse of power
Recommended on-line reading:
- “Fifty Shades of Caution” (FamilyLife)
- “Five myths about ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’” (World)
- “3 Reasons ‘50 Shades of Grey’ Is Hurting Relationships”
- “Fifty Shades Is Abuse” (National Center on Sexual Exploitation)
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Negative
Comments from non-viewers
Negative—The last 30 minutes of the film felt so evil; I wanted to vomit.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
~luke, age 25 (USA)
Movie Critics
…In the end, “Fifty Shades” says absolutely nothing. The result is a boring, drawn out call to a sex dungeon that takes an indeterminable amount of time to arrive. The film is often degrading for confusing psychological imprisonment for a relationship. …you aren’t helping yourself or anyone else by seeing it.
Comments from non-viewers
Negative—I’m not one to normally write a non-viewer comment. Far be it from me to dissuade anyone from seeing a film, but I feel I must for this film. I strongly discourage anyone who is a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ from viewing “Fifty Shades of Grey.” I don’t have to see the movie to know how sinful this movie is, how much it hurts God, and neither should anyone else. It amazes me that a few decades ago, this type of movie would have had a NC-17 rating or worse and would not have been accepted by ANYONE, but now in 2015 we have desensitized ourselves so much as a society that even movies where graphic sexual content, sexual assault, and other sexual sinful content is considered “okay.”
Christians, think about what you will be subjecting yourself to by seeing this movie. Think of the message you are sending to other Christians. Do we really want to set a Christ-like example by promoting ungodly films like this? I urge, you, brothers and sisters, stay away from this movie! We need to be the exception, not the norm. That’s all I have to say.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality:
Christians, think about what you will be subjecting yourself to by seeing this movie. Think of the message you are sending to other Christians. Do we really want to set a Christ-like example by promoting ungodly films like this? I urge, you, brothers and sisters, stay away from this movie! We need to be the exception, not the norm. That’s all I have to say.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality:
Alexander Malsan, age 24 (USA)
Negative—I agree with the comment by Alexander, and I am a very seasoned movie goer who has given positive ratings to material that had very offensive subject matter if it was absolutely essential to the story and was done with finesse. From what I have read and heard about this movie, it has nothing to offer on any level. Sounds like it's porn slipping into theaters with an R rating. I surely have no interest in seeing it.
Halyna, age 68 (USA)
Negative—…I actually haven’t watched this film. I did however read the best-seller it’s based on, so I have a pretty clear idea what it entails. That being said, I don’t plan on ever sorting out a few dollars to contribute to this film’s sad box office success. Why? Well, for starters, it disgusts me that a story primarily revolving around a heavily romanticized abusive relationship is being advertised as true love. What goes on in this story isn’t true love, plain and simple. Seriously when did beating a woman, tying her up, blindfolding her and using her as an object for your own pleasure become the new definition of true love? It is abuse, and it glorifies the idea of a woman being weak-willed and submissive as long as the man is handsome, wealthy, and powerful. See all »
Joseph, age 18 (USA)
Negative—I didn't see this movie NOR did I have any desire to see it. I know that the message from the movie is that you can abuse women and somehow get away with it, and it looks sexy, but let me tell you SOMETHING. This is a lie. Yes, I will admit that the previews look engaging and interesting, but I can't find a good reason to believe that I would go home happy with the choice to see this movie, much less what GOD would have to say and think about it. So terrible such things as this are considered entertainment now.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: ½
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: ½
Chris, age 27 (USA)
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
I thought the main characters were sad people who did not know how to find happiness anywhere in this world except through perversion. I truly felt badly for the main story characters, for the actors, for the writer, director and so on. What a pitiful waste of talent, money and time. I have 3 words to describe this film: dis—gust—ing.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3