Feminists, moralists, conservatives slam 'Fifty Shades'

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Bishop calls 'Fifty Shades of Grey' porn, dangerous The Bishop of El Paso, Texas spoke out against the new film 'Fifty Shades of Grey,' referring to it as "porn" and "dangerous."

Feminists, archbishops, movie critics and the American Family Association: Not your usual political or cultural coalition.

But they've been brought together by mutual loathing of the S&M adventures of Fifty Shades of Grey, the books that have sold gazillions of copies and the just-opened movie expected to sell gazillions of tickets.

As one, they are chanting: "Boycott!'

Using the hashtag #50dollarsnot50shades, they're urging would-be movie goers to donate $50 to local women's shelters instead of seeing the movie. They also created a website, fiftyshadesisabuse.com.

"Seriously, free speech is one thing, public viewing for a fee on the night prior to Valentines Day of sexual abuse by intimidation is NOT pro-woman, nor is it pro-family. Let's get this removed and put in the garbage where it belongs," reads the mini manifesto on the campaign's Facebook page.

Many movie critics have already seen Fifty Shades, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, and panned it.

"Turgid and tedious," opined USA TODAY's Claudia Puig. Not to mention "bland." So much for the much-talked about sex scenes.

Conservative political groups, such as the American Family Association, church leaders, feminists and anti-porn activists haven't seen it but they already hate it.

"It takes violence against women and re-brands it as romantic," says Gail Dines, a feminist professor of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College in Boston and founding president of Stop Porn Culture.

Opponents have been anticipating hating it since the books by British author E.L. James appeared and zoomed up best-seller lists around the world. They tell the story of Anastasia Steele, a virginal young naif who submits to an older, handsome charmer, Christian Grey, whose idea of romantic fun is whips and chains.

"A direct assault on Christian marriage," declared Archbishop Dennis Schnur of Cincinnati, in a message to priests and on the archdiocese's Facebook page. On its website is an opinion piece headlined "Fifty Shades of Sick."

In a letter to members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone said Fifty Shades should remind Catholics of their church's teachings on marriage and "the moral reprehensibility of all domestic violence and sexual exploitation."

Screening Room: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' USA Today Movie Critic Claudia Puig discusses "Fifty Shades of Grey" and tell you whether to "Catch It," "Rent It," or "Skip It" in this week's edition of The Screening Room.

The books were condemned too, but when a trailer for the movie came out last summer, opponents' alarm grew.

The movie "glamorizes" sexual violence, says Dawn Hawkins, head of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, formerly Morality in Media, which has partnered with Stop Porn Culture to urge a boycott of the movie.

She blames the media for helping to popularize the books by failing to explain exactly what they were about.

"(Fifty Shades) teaches that you can fix sexual violence if you're just loving and obedient. It offers hope of a romantic and happily-ever-after ending," she says. "Women grasped on to the glitz and glamour, the sound track, the handsome star, not thinking of what the deeper meanings are."

Now the boycott campaign has gone viral in social media, according to Hawkins and Dines, who says she's stunned at the response.

"Women from all over the world are writing to us, telling us thank you, thank you. We've really touched a nerve," she says. "In 25 years I've never seen anything we've done go off like this. We are speaking to all those women silenced by the juggernaut of publicity for Fifty Shades. It's such a shock."

In the movie, Christian takes Ana over his knee and spanks her. He ties her up — more than once. He hits her with a riding crop. But it's all consensual, as defenders of the movie, including Dakota Johnson and female director Sam Taylor-Johnson, have said repeatedly.

Dakota Johnson said she wanted Ana to be strong and opinionated.

"Otherwise she'll come off as really weak," she told USA TODAY. "That's grounds for people to bring up abuse against women. That's something Sam and I were really conscious about and it was really important to both of us. In no way —she's not abused. Everything is consensual. I thought that her sense of quiet confidence was so special and attractive."​

In fact, Dines says, no one, including Ana, would be interested in Grey and his fetishes if he were poor, living in a shack and eating off food stamps.

"But he has the fancy jet and the beautiful house and the beautiful cars and the gorgeous clothes and the jewelry — wealth applies legitimacy to the violence," she says. "Take away the (movie) soundtrack, the clothes, the wealth and what are you left with?You're left with a battered woman."

"This is not a healthy thing to mainstream," Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, told The Associated Press. "We'd like to see theater chains refuse to take the movie."

Too late. The film has opened and tickets sales are booming. Fandango reports pre-sales have propelled the movie into the company's all-time Top 5 for R-rated selections,

Hawkins and Dines hope the movie will not be successful in the long run.

"It will be successful this weekend, it will be record sales, but its popularity won't last," Hawkins says. "People are smarter than what Hollywood is trying to feed them."