Fifty Shades of My Opinion

Alright, so I am jumping on the bandwagon here.

Well, just a bit. I am not a fan of the bandwagon in any way shape or form. Movie Critical isn't usually the place for me to voice my opinion, but I feel like I really want to put my two cents worth about this one.

I am sure once I put this question to you, you will know exactly what I am about the have my two cents worth about. What hugely popular book that every woman seemed to be reading in 2012 is set to have a movie made out of?

Yes, you guessed it. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James, the book categorized as "mummy porn", was the most talked about novel of 2012, especially among females. Because of it's saucy content, husbands were thankful to James' writing for spicing things up in their marriage after their wives read "Fifty Shades". There was even the passing joke that there was going to be a baby boom as a result of this book in the next year, not unlike that after the last World War.

My experience with the novel wasn't all that. I had heard so much about "Fifty Shade of Grey" and all about it's reputation. I knew it wasn't my type of book, but I am a big reader and I felt I needed to read it to find out what all the fuss was about.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" was really exactly what I expected. Definitely not a wonderfully written piece of literature and really quite erotic. The similarities between the "Fifty Shades" trilogy and the "Twilight" series of books are evident. Instead of a young girl being torn between the mortal and immortal world, it is a young woman being torn between the world she knows and Christian Grey's world of sexual domination. Love the books or hate them, they are extremely addictive. I would categorize the books as Chick lit bordering on erotic fiction rather than one or the other.

For those who haven't read the book, I'll give you a quick recap. Literature student, Anastasia Steele does a favour for her best friend by going to interview the young and powerful businessman, Christian Grey. The two are immediately attracted to each other. However, the naive and inexperienced in the area of men Ana soon gets a shock when she realises that Christian Grey leads almost a double life behind closed doors. And he wants Ana to be involved in his world of dark sexual desire.

So like all extremely successful books, they want to make a movie out of it. The internet is a buzz with rumours about who will play Ana and Christian and who will direct and produce. And I have a few things to say on this issue.

Firstly, how is this film going to be anything but rated R 18+ or MA 15+ at the very least? The majority of the book is about the two main characters engaged in sexual intercourse of the domination kind and, as we have already pointed out, is categorized more often than not as erotic fiction and "mummy porn". There is that word. Porn. This film will be bordering on porn. It won't be categorized as it though because there is a story line there as well and the film will not just consist of sex scenes. Yet we all know there will be a lot of it.

Don't get me wrong, the film will be very successful because fans of the book will rush out to see it and men will want to see it with their girlfriends or wives because they know what is in it. It will be interesting how they will make the film though. It could well seem pornographic if made with the same in depth analysis of the couple's sexual activities that the book gives. Or will they make it more art house, or maybe dark, or maybe just like a chick flick except with a lot of sex scenes? Will there be a voice over for Anastasia's "inner goddess" she keeps referring to? It will be an interesting film review either way.

But...what has everyone talking is who is going to play Anastasia and Christian?

Every young actress in Hollywood has had her name thrown around for the famous role. Emma Watson has been the biggest rumour so far and many thought it was because she wanted to break away from her squeaky clean Harry Potter image. However, Watson publicly denied ever being involved in talks and made clear her distaste for the role.

My opinion is that I can't see any already established actress taking this role. It's a role that could really shape their image and it wouldn't be a "Fifty Shades" movie without the lead providing nudity and being subject to some pretty kinky things. If there is an actress out there who wants to go in that direction, then by all means they would be perfect for the role. I can't see that being the case though if they want to remain a serious actress.

So I got to thinking. Firstly I believe that the two leads won't be played by actors who have already established careers. They will take little known actors and make them into household names.

Secondly, I came up with an idea I believe the casting directors of "Fifty Shades of Grey" should take into consideration. Considering there is going to be a lot of sex and nudity, why not cast someone who is in the adult entertainment industry at the present time who is looking for their break into mainstream and maybe out of that industry and into the actual film industry? These actors aren't worried about showing a bit of skin and "Fifty Shades of Grey" would by no means be a bad career step for them.

Now I know I should probably provide the name of somebody who I believe would fit the bill. I am not an adult film watcher and I don't know the names of anyone in the industry...besides one and I think this girl could be Anastasia Steele. However, I don't know what her actual acting ability is like and whether she even wants to get into the movie business.

When I was in Hollywood back in February for Oscars week, you may remember that I went to a taping of Brand X with Russell Brand. In one segment, Brand had to guess who the porn stars in the audience were. When the stars were revealed, one was revealed as this young, sweet and very pretty girl who had walked past me at the beginning of the taping.

This girl was one Teal Conrad. Why I believe this girl would be a great choice for the role (provided she would want the role and likes acting) is because she physically represents everything Anastasia is supposed to. She is supposed to be a brunette who is very naive and inexperienced, but who Grey takes under his wing and changes her. Conrad fits the bill. A 19 year old very pretty brunette who could pass as young and innocent, but does have this other side to her that is quite well known on the internet.

This is Conrad as taken from her Facebook page.

So, this is my two cents worth about who I believe should be cast as the much talked about Anastasia Steele.

I'm not overly a fan of this whole "Fifty Shades" phenomena that has taken the women of the world by storm, but like it or not, it makes for interesting conversation