50 Shades Series: Fan Fiction Run Amok

[methodwriter85]

    It's official. Sam Tyler-Johnson, you are evicted from the Fifty Shades of Grey House.

 

Sam Tyler-Johnson Leaves 50 Shades of Grey Franchise

 

    Well, technically she left of her own free volition, but let's be real here.

 

    Who wants to take serious bets that the next director is going to be male because Universal will think that only a man can stand up to the tyranny of E.L. James? (Who I hope has made a lot of wise investments because I don't think she's ever going to have another studio interested in adapting her works ever again.)

Edited March 29, 2015 by methodwriter85

[dusang]

    It's official. Sam Tyler-Johnson, you are evicted from the Fifty Shades of Grey House.

 

Sam Tyler-Johnson Leaves 50 Shades of Grey Franchise

 

    Well, technically she left of her own free volition, but let's be real here.

 

    Who wants to take serious bets that the next director is going to be male because Universal will think that only a man can stand up to the tyranny of E.L. James? (Who I hope has made a lot of wise investments because I don't think she's ever going to have another studio interested in adapting her works ever again.)

 

Oh God, does she have other works?  After the froufra over the entire process, I wonder who they could conceivable coax to the take the helm next time round.  Bets on it being a no name??  Hmmmm... I wonder how Lexi Alexander would fare?  (I heard her on an episode of How Did This Get Made? talking about The Punisher: War Zone. She's fun and willing to commit to whatever crazy is in the script.)

[methodwriter85]

Not that he would ever be interested...but imagine David O'Russell at the helm. Oh, my god, it would make this (NFSW-lanuage) seem like kiddie play.

 

I seriously wonder why E.L. James hasn't hired an image consultant given the extremely negative press she's gotten.

 

I also wonder how much Universal would be willing to pay her to just go away.

[Julia]

I seriously wonder why E.L. James hasn't hired an image consultant given the extremely negative press she's gotten.

 

She comes from fandom. She's got to be really, really good at ignoring the opinions of people who aren't BNFs.

[xls]

The Last Ride looks waaaay sexier than 50 Shades.

[Dejana]

Sequel news:

 

Niall Leonard, E.L. James’ husband, has been tapped to pen the screenplay for “Fifty Shades Darker,” the sequel to Universal’s “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

 

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are attached to reprise their roles with James, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca producing.

 

While this will mark Leonard’s first time working on a major studio film, he has written scripts for British television on such shows as “Wild at Heart” and “Wire in the Blood.” Variety first reported in February that the reason for the delay in naming a screenwriter for the sequel was that James herself wanted to write the screenplay.

 

Oh, so "her husband" is going to write the script. Whew, that's totally different than EL James being the screenwriter! Is her "best friend" going to direct? 

[ribboninthesky1]

Ha! Well, it's not like nepotism is a foreign concept to Hollywood.  I didn't even know she was married. 

[Jamoche]

Sequel news:

 

 

Oh, so "her husband" is going to write the script. Whew, that's totally different than EL James being the screenwriter! Is her "best friend" going to direct? 

I can see no way this can possibly go wrong :)

[methodwriter85]

Personally, I want this to be a full-on trainwreck so we'll see.

 

Also, I bet there will be people to "revise" the script after it's turned in. I remember the Hunger Games went through a lot of scripts.

 

I do think Dakota Johnson is a godsend for doing the best she can to breathe life into such an insipid, sadsack character so I'll be interested in seeing what she can do with an E.L. James-approved script.

Edited April 23, 2015 by methodwriter85

[proserpina65]

Sequel news:

 

 

Oh, so "her husband" is going to write the script. Whew, that's totally different than EL James being the screenwriter! Is her "best friend" going to direct? 

Well, Wire in the Blood was good.  That's something, I guess.  But yeah.

[BetterButter]

‘Fifty Shades’ Sequel Release Dates Set for 2017, 2018

[Trini]

Eeh... I see they're still sticking with Valentine's Day.

[dusang]

I'm stunned that they didn't already have the sequels on schedule for 2016.

[methodwriter85]

I'm stunned that they didn't already have the sequels on schedule for 2016.

 

Because E.L. James is a pain-in-the-ass to work with?

 

So, basically, E.L. demanded to write the script knowing that they'd say no, then "compromised" to get her husband to write it, which is probably what she wanted all along because her husband is not going to write anything she doesn't want him to write. I'm not sure she realizes how extensive script revisions can be, though. There's a version of the Hunger Games where Gale is hitchhiking to the Capitol. LOL.

 

You know, I don't care about E.L. wanting the sex scenes right, but it bugged the fuck out of me that she bitched about Anastacia actually sounding like a grown woman instead of a giggling 5-year old in the negotiation scene. Which turned out to be the best scene in the whole damn movie. I wonder if she'll try to sneak back in Anastacia's insipid voiceovers.

[Dejana]

I'm stunned that they didn't already have the sequels on schedule for 2016.

 

 

Because E.L. James is a pain-in-the-ass to work with?

 

So, basically, E.L. demanded to write the script knowing that they'd say no, then "compromised" to get her husband to write it, which is probably what she wanted all along because her husband is not going to write anything she doesn't want him to write. I'm not sure she realizes how extensive script revisions can be, though. There's a version of the Hunger Games where Gale is hitchhiking to the Capitol. LOL.

 

Universal wants to stick to the Valentine's Day timeframe, which makes sense, as it worked before and fans of the story do find it sexy/romantic. February 2016 would've been fairly impossible to pull off for a theatrical release, given the lack of director and screenplay at such a late date. Post-production does take a certain amount of time, along with putting together all-star soundtracks. The second Harry Potter film was released almost a year to the day after the first, despite filming with children and having extensive special effects, but the same director and screenwriter stayed on. They'd already started filming the sequel before the first one was released. I think Universal had confidence in Fifty Shades of Grey and would sure it wouldn't lose money, but maybe they didn't realize it would make over $500 million worldwide. So, they may have wanted to hedge their bets somewhat early on and didn't have a screenplay already done for the sequel, or lock in the director for a two-picture deal, etc. ahead of time. The downside is being left in a bind when the director and screenwriter pass on wanting to deal with a controlling author breathing down their necks for a second go-round.

 

The sequel will probably have all the "oh my" and "holy crap" and "inner goddess" dialogue that the first one lacked. Paul Blart 2 nearly managed a week on Rotten Tomatoes at 0% positive before a good review showed up. Even with a lot of "It's better than the book" reviews, FSoG wound up at with a 25% RT score. If the next one is a critical trainwreck and makes less much money, it will be entertaining to see how EL James tries to spin it. Other writers have said they had tons of input in the moviemaking process...until the movie flopped, then suddenly adaptations are their own works, totally separate from the books and they aren't major Hollywood players. But most other authors didn't just force the studio to hire their spouses as the movie's screenwriter. It's going to be hard for ELJ to distance herself from the sequel if it's a turkey.

[methodwriter85]

 

The sequel will probably have all the "oh my" and "holy crap" and "inner goddess" dialogue that the first one lacked.

 

I don't know, hopefully Dakota will slam her foot down over certain things. The sex/controlling stuff doesn't bother me as much as the infantlization of Ana, and Dakota did a really good job with making the character seem like someone that could actually be a college student in 21st century America while still being very innocent. Although if I'm remembering the second book correctly, she did tone down the "Crap" and "double crap" blushing virgin stuff, which made sense.

 

In any event, I kind of want this to bomb because E.L. James seems like a horrible wench, even going beyond her reputation on the film set, like her shooting down Matt Bomber for Christian because he's gay, but on the other hand...if this is popular enough, I will laugh my ass off if they try to split Fifty Shades Darker into two books and Jamie is stuck playing Christian for another four years.

Edited April 26, 2015 by methodwriter85

[dusang]

Universal wants to stick to the Valentine's Day timeframe, which makes sense, as it worked before and fans of the story do find it sexy/romantic. February 2016 would've been fairly impossible to pull off for a theatrical release, given the lack of director and screenplay at such a late date. Post-production does take a certain amount of time, along with putting together all-star soundtracks. The second Harry Potter film was released almost a year to the day after the first, despite filming with children and having extensive special effects, but the same director and screenwriter stayed on. They'd already started filming the sequel before the first one was released. I think Universal had confidence in Fifty Shades of Grey and would sure it wouldn't lose money, but maybe they didn't realize it would make over $500 million worldwide. So, they may have wanted to hedge their bets somewhat early on and didn't have a screenplay already done for the sequel, or lock in the director for a two-picture deal, etc. ahead of time. The downside is being left in a bind when the director and screenwriter pass on wanting to deal with a controlling author breathing down their necks for a second go-round.

 

Well, as it's turned out they couldn't get it done for 2016 but I'm stunned that they let it get to now -- the first trailer for the first film released a full year before the actual release -- they've had a long time to get their ducks in a row.

[Slade347]

50 Shades gets the Honest Trailer treatment.

 

[BatmanBeatles]

"Teenage girls around the world made 'Twilight" a phenomenon. Now it's mom's turn."

[Shannon L.]

Thankfully none of those phrases made the movie, but I can't believe "What's a butt plug?" did.  Poor Dakota, having to utter that line.

[Julia]

"Teenage girls around the world made 'Twilight" a phenomenon. Now it's mom's turn."

 

Yeah, not really a safe assumption. Twimoms were definitely a thing.

[methodwriter85]

Yeah, not really a safe assumption. Twimoms were definitely a thing.

Yeah, E.L. James was one of many middle-aged woman obsessing over Edward Cullen.

 

 

Thankfully none of those phrases made the movie, but I can't believe "What's a butt plug?" did.  Poor Dakota, having to utter that line.

 

Well, she's going to have to get used to it, because E.L. is basically going to force her husband to write in all the horrible lines from Fifty Shades Darker. (Although to be honest, I don't remember the lines being quite  as cringeworthy as the first book.)

 

Dakota, again, deserves a gold star for her line readings and being able to make Ana feel like a real young person who exists in the 21st century.

[Julia]

Yeah, E.L. James was one of many middle-aged woman obsessing over Edward Cullen.

 

I read an interview with Robert Pattinson

 

[digression: I thought he was insanely attractive in his Harry Potter movie. I wasn't particularly attracted to him, but I thought he was a perfect choice to play the high school super star everyone loved. When I saw the first pictures of him as Edward, my first reaction - and reader, this is when I knew I was really, really old - was Beautiful young man, you are not leaving this house until you wash your face and comb your hair]

 

where he was pretty blunt about thinking Edward was fantasy fulfillment stroke material for Stephenie Meyer. 

[JustaPerson]

 

You guys probably want to see this. And it has that interview that Julia mentioned.

Edited May 18, 2015 by JustaPerson

[dusang]

 

You guys probably want to see this. And it has that interview that Julia mentioned.

Oh shit that was funny. I like him exponentially more now.

[joelene]

Robert Pattinson might be my new favorite person.

[topanga]

I love that he's so honest and so funny. I wonder if he ever got any blow-back from the studio. If so, it didn't stop him because he kept throwing hilarious shade in interviews, old and new.

[methodwriter85]

He gave shade in the interviews, but actually showed up to work in the movies. (Such as it was, since Edward really didn't require much.) I wish Jamie would have taken some cues there. Oh, well.

 

The filming of the second movie, with the E.L. James-approved script, should be epic.

 

If this goes so badly that the third movie never gets mad, even better.

 

The morbidly curious part of me though would find it hilarious if this was so successful that they split the third book into two movies, and Jamie's stuck playing Edward Cuffing for three more years.

[Julia]

The filming of the second movie, with the E.L. James-approved script, should be epic.

If this goes so badly that the third movie never gets mad, even better.

And then she'll be free to write the third Atlas Shrugged movie (what, it's already a thinly veiled Herbert Hoover AU, it'll be perfect. I've decided I need this to happen).

Edward Cuffing. Hee.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Julia

[Trini]

New book by James from Christian's point of view. Isn't this what S. Meyer did, also? (But I don't think it was published.)

[dusang]

New book by James from Christian's point of view. Isn't this what S. Meyer did, also? (But I don't think it was published.)

 

I may be suffering from some misplaced anger issues right now, but my immediate response was just wanting to scream and rage at the injustice of this horrid, delusional, waste of a human being getting such ongoing and unending validation of her crapitude.  God!!

[Julia]

New book by James from Christian's point of view. Isn't this what S. Meyer did, also? (But I don't think it was published.)

 

She did. Then someone put the first section of it online and she posted that section of the book, said this is why we can't have nice things, and flounced. I wondered, though, if she was actually ever going to finish it or if she took the out from a book she was struggling with. I think SMeyer has a little trouble actually inserting herself into the POV of a patriarch.

 

I read it what she posted - my kid was into those books, so I wanted to know what she was reading (and tbh after a while it's like watching gangrene crawl up your arm - hard to look away) and it was actually on its way to being a way better book than Twilight, we thought, what with Edward acknowledging that maybe his behavior wasn't entirely appropriate. 

 

Happily, we've escaped the Fifty Shades franchise.

[methodwriter85]

I may be suffering from some misplaced anger issues right now, but my immediate response was just wanting to scream and rage at the injustice of this horrid, delusional, waste of a human being getting such ongoing and unending validation of her crapitude.  God!!

 

I still want to slap her silly for her disgusting comments about how Matt Bomer can't be Christian because he's openly gay. I remember the fans were SCREAMING for that one.

 

I do think, and hope, that the E.L. James-approved Fifty Shades Darker will be a massive, massive trainwreck and Universal basically forces her out when they finish out with the third one.

[Julia]

I still want to slap her silly for her disgusting comments about how Matt Bomer can't be Christian because he's openly gay. I remember the fans were SCREAMING for that one.

From her interviews, I got the impression she was kind of on the Anne Rice / S Meyer self insert train. I don't imagine it has as much to do with openly gay Matt Bomer's inability to play the role (although I think it would have been a tragic waste of Matt Bomer's sense of humor) as it does with her ability to picture herself with Christian-as-Matt Bomer who is openly gay.

[Dejana]

I thought it was a really nice thing that the fangirls were so eager for Matt Bomer to be Christian Grey, as much as he could do better and the Change.org petition about it was really too much. Ten or fifteen years ago, I doubt you would've seen such disappointment expressed because the openly gay actor didn't get such a "sexy" straight man role. Progress!

 

People Magazine's site had one of those "5 Things You Didn't Know About..." puff pieces where they tell you how normal yet wonderful such-and-such celebrity is. It's People and generally flattering, so all the nuggets of info are probably approved by a publicist first. Anyway, one of the "fun facts about EL James" is a "pal" sharing her real feelings about the movie:

 

"She thought the scenes were beautiful, but the story was a little bland," says the pal. "The shots are great but as the writer, she didn't like how it was translated on the screen. It sort of seems like a long extended music video. She wanted it to be a very sexy film but it wasn't."

[methodwriter85]

It wasn't a sexy film because Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan had no chemistry. That's the first and foremost problem with it.

[dusang]

It wasn't a sexy film because Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan had no chemistry. That's the first and foremost problem with it.

 

That is one reason but, honestly, I wouldn't even rank that the #1 reason why this film wasn't sexy.

[Petunia13]

50 Shades gets the Honest Trailer treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iopcfR1vI5I

LOL LOL LOL LOL

From her interviews, I got the impression she was kind of on the Anne Rice / S Meyer self insert train. I don't imagine it has as much to do with openly gay Matt Bomer's inability to play the role (although I think it would have been a tragic waste of Matt Bomer's sense of humor) as it does with her ability to picture herself with Christian-as-Matt Bomer who is openly gay.

Fuck her she was wrong.

[Rick Kitchen]

EL James did a Q&A on Twitter about her new book, "Grey", and, predictably, it did not go well.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/29/el-james-twitter-qa_n_7689542.html

[AimingforYoko]

My two faves:

"Which do you hate more, women or the English language?"

"After the success of 'Grey,' have you considered re-telling the story from the perspective of someone who can write?"

Edited June 30, 2015 by AimingforYoko

[Petunia13]

Ok so I read the book(s) a while ago I was working at my local library at the time and it was in a display and patrons were gushing about it. So I skimmed the first and read the last 50 Shade Freed.

Sweet Jesus is this writing awful. Cringingly corny. Hackneyed. Total crap. I'm not even exaggerating to be a bitch - it's seriously a waste of time and insultingly shitty. In fact I warned a colleague at my new job when she asked about it that its poorly written she didn't listen and a day later apologized. So I checked out the movie to see if its as bad.

While its not as mindnumbingly stupid and soul crushing as the book its still aggressively insipid. I would give it an F. The story is just shit - plain and simple. Also the leads did it no favors. They where awkward and unsexy and played this like they lost a bet. Did I mention they are unsexy and charisma free? There are movies that are trash or bad that can be watchable. Like made for TV movies or Showgirls. This isn't even it. Ugh.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

EL James did a Q&A on Twitter about her new book, "Grey", and, predictably, it did not go well.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/29/el-james-twitter-qa_n_7689542.html

 

I love the smell of schadenfreude at night.

[Bruinsfan]

My favorite from the Q&A:

 

-"Are you going to answer any of these questions, or do you need Stephenie Meyer to do a Twitter chat first?"

[Zuleikha]

My two faves:

"Which do you hate more, women or the English language?"
"After the success of 'Grey,' have you considered re-telling the story from the perspective of someone who can write?"

That just seems unnecessarily rude to me. 50 Shades was not originally written or disseminated as a professionally published story. It will always be a mystery to me why of all the smut that's out there, EL James's smut was the one that became so successful but it did. What do people think James should have done/should do? Not taken the opportunity to make a sh*t ton of money just because she's a crappy writer? Not keep writing new stories when she has a fanbase that for whatever reason really enjoyed the story she told? 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

That just seems unnecessarily rude to me. 50 Shades was not originally written or disseminated as a professionally published story. It will always be a mystery to me why of all the smut that's out there, EL James's smut was the one that became so successful but it did. What do people think James should have done/should do? Not taken the opportunity to make a sh*t ton of money just because she's a crappy writer? Not keep writing new stories when she has a fanbase that for whatever reason really enjoyed the story she told?

 

IMO, it isn't just 50 Shades that gives people hives. Its 50 Shades piggybacking on Twilight, which also made a fuckton of money and has a fanbase. Neither of these things mean that either series is any good, and E.L. James apparently turning out to be an egotistical nightmare to work with, the Daniel Day-Lewis of fanfic authors, just adds insult to injury for me. If I have to be generous, I guess I admire her drive, but OTOH I still don't think she can write worth crap, and if she's willing to rake in the cash for this drivel she should be willing to accept criticism of said drivel.

[Julia]

She's also done quite a bit to blur the line between consensual sexual power transfer and the kind of thing people get restraining orders over.

 

As much as there was an enormous amount wrong with the sexual and gender politics of Twilight (and dear God, was there an enormous amount wrong with the sexual and gender politics of Twiliight), the overriding, defining characteristic of Edward and his family is that they have the power to do pretty much anything they want to the humans around them with impunity, and they choose not to. 

 

Writing some entitled pretty rich guy with complete contempt for human life and particularly women (because his mother was mean to him, naturally, so he's the victim here), and who thinks he can contractually obligate a human being to be the punching bag he sticks his dick into, as the object of sexual desire and one true love for a young woman who's written as though she has the life experience of a thirteen year old is, of course, her right. Thinking it's contemptible is mine. I don't think they were rude enough.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Julia

[Athena]

Neither of these things mean that either series is any good, and E.L. James apparently turning out to be an egotistical nightmare to work with, the Daniel Day-Lewis of fanfic authors, just adds insult to injury for me.

 

Hey, that's an insult to Daniel Day-Lewis! ;) At least DDL wins awards and is actually talented at what he does. E. L. James is not. James is making money off another author and fan base and it's clear money (and maybe some power tripping) is the only thing she cares about. From many accounts, she seems to be a jerk in many ways. She's been incredibly dismissive of the people who actually practice BDSM. If I were that rich, I could use the time to actually write my own work or do something else. It doesn't seem James is interested in that; she just wants to milk the cow until it's dead.

[Zuleikha]

It doesn't seem James is interested in that; she just wants to milk the cow until it's dead.

But why shouldn't she? A lot of people like her stories and are willing to pay her for them. Personally, I have no idea why. I agree that they're horribly written and that there's better BDSM-themed erotica and smut out there. But no one's making me read them... sure, all the buzz made me want to know what the fuss was about, but that's all on me. :) And IMHO, her fanbase and her story are her own. Sure 50 Shades was inspired by Twilight, but there is tons of Twilight fanfiction out there and nothing else has had the success of 50 Shades. 

 

She's been incredibly dismissive of the people who actually practice BDSM.

I would be too if I were her because IMHO, the ones who are writing articles are being disingenuous in their critiques. The majority of BDSM works that I've read/watched feature relationships characterized by lack of true consent or power inequity. That is the fantasy of a BDSM relationship and fiction peddles in fantasy, not reality. People are holding 50 Shades to a standard that other BDSM works are not held to, including other works that are recommended as 50 Shades alternatives. The Story of O is not a classic because of its portrayal of informed consent or aftercare! I also am under the impression that dubious consent is a common enough feature in fanfiction to have a subgenre named for it, but I don't read fanfic so I could be wrong.

[Julia]

Well, I do read fan fiction, but I don't rely on it for moral authority, so I reserve the right to feel that Ms. James has done something contemptible.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I would be too if I were her because IMHO, the ones who are writing articles are being disingenuous in their critiques. The majority of BDSM works that I've read/watched feature relationships characterized by lack of true consent or power inequity. That is the fantasy of a BDSM relationship and fiction peddles in fantasy, not reality. People are holding 50 Shades to a standard that other BDSM works are not held to, including other works that are recommended as 50 Shades alternatives. The Story of O is not a classic because of its portrayal of informed consent or aftercare! I also am under the impression that dubious consent is a common enough feature in fanfiction to have a subgenre named for it, but I don't read fanfic so I could be wrong.

 

I write fanfic, actually, and while dubious consent is a thing, so in (W)incest. I'm pretty sure not all of us write either. I have written a couple of pieces where one of the parties is dominant, but never in a way that causes real pain or even truly subjugates the other person. I've never read The Story of O, so I can't speak to the content of it.

 

If people are "holding 50 Shades to a standard other BDSM works aren't held to", then maybe its because James seems borderline delusional about her own talents. And that's being generous. I did read the Beauty series by Anne Rice, and most of the "world" those books are about is based on the idea that its a cultural thing. The same cannot be said of 50 Shades, since Anastasia Steele has the life experience of a kumquat, and then "romantic hero" Christian invades her life and takes it over. She never has the chance to concede power, willingly or otherwise, because he just takes it away from her.

 

Further, let's get honest - if Christian didn't have eleventy billion dollars and a body like an underwear model, he wouldn't be a romantic figure at all. He'd be that guy who gets magazines delivered to his house in plain brown wrappers that no woman wants to get within ten feet of because he'd give off such an obvious creepster vibe. Other than the fact that he's rich and handsome, I would think that being an emotionally crippled douchenozzle would wreck his chances, even with the backwards Anastasia, who may never have seen an actual man before she saw him. The fantasy is that a woman with a functioning cerebral cortex would do more than look at this guy before moving slowly away, so as not to poke the crazy. Hell, Buffy Summers wouldn't go out with this guy. :-P

Edited July 6, 2015 by Cobalt Stargazer