Can Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan Fulfill Their Roles as Ana and Christian?
I got a sneak preview of the much anticipated movie Fifty Shades of Grey last night and I was surprised to see that Dakota Johnson does a great job creating the nuances needed to express the innocence, wonder, and inner strength of Anastasia Steele. Johnson was able to express a dry humor that shows her intelligence and assertiveness in a tension filled scene as they negotiate hard and soft limits. And her handling of a drunk dial call to Christian is quite cute and funny.
Unfortunately, I felt Jamie Dornan seemed pretty blocked off emotionally as Christian Grey until close to the end of the movie when the audience glimpses his little boy fear as the reality of Ana’s potential rejection becomes more apparent. Some of the lines showed the arrogance and entitlement Christian Grey’s character has regarding his type of sexuality. When Ana asks: “Why would you want to do this” Christian responds: “To please me”. Unfortunately he leaves out the pleasures and excitement the arrangement might bring to Ana based on the limits they set. In another scene Ana asks: “What would I get out of it?”, alluding to the contract. His answer is simply: “Me”. But this shows the limits and inexperience of Christian Grey integrating love and lust due to his history of early trauma that affects his attachment abilities.
I actually expected the movie makers to keep it more PG and leave the audience wondering if they’d get to see the explicit scenes in the book visually expressed on the screen. Well, Hollywood delivers with many visual depictions of both the vanilla and kinky scenes between Ana and Christian. I was concerned in the first sexual encounter Ana has with Christian in that the audience never sees Christian stimulating Ana externally before he penetrates her. What a shame I thought, since this is her first sexual experience. However, there are plenty of variations of his arousing her to heights of passion after this scene to illustrate his mastery of touch and tongue.
The faults of Christian’s character in the book are expressed in the movie in that he loses control when it comes to making the right decision of not introducing extreme BDSM experiences to a woman who is a beginner. He also doesn’t know the rules when it comes to the pacing of a dating relationship and respect for Ana’s personal space. However, his Christian expresses his vulnerability through his mournful tunes he plays on the piano in the middle of the night to signal Ana that there is more to his rigidity as a person. What she does respond positively to is his striving for excellence, his extreme wealth and generosity, his love of adventure and surprise and his singular pursuit of her as a playmate.
The audience will get to see quite clearly how floggers, ropes, and cuffs are used in a BDSM room. This may be a turn off for some viewers while others might be drawn in to the technical and erotic aspects to this type of sexuality. They will also see how the characters take on roles of dominant and submissive when playing in the Red Room.
This movie illustrates Ana’s initial steps of growth in confidence and knowledge (the prime ingredients of Sex Esteem™), as she falls in love for the larger than life, complex character of Christian Grey. Enjoy the film, would love to hear your comments.Can Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan Fulfill Their Roles as Ana and Christian?