By now, you probably know that Fifty Shades of Grey, the first installment of E.L James infamous trilogy, is a pretty big deal. The trilogy has surpassed the Harry Potter books in worldwide sales, has introduced audiences around the world to BDSM culture (though many critics claim this representation is inaccurate at best)  and has a feature film adaptation coming up on February 13th. Whether you’re a lover or a hater of  Fifty Shades of Grey, you can’t deny that this book series has sparked endless controversy and conversation, and has cemented itself as a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.
On a surface level, isn’t that hard to recap the central plot of Fifty Shades of Grey. Originally conceived as Twilight fanfiction, Fifty Shades of Grey centers on the relationship between billionaire Christian Grey and a young college student Anastasia Steele. Throughout the course of the novel, Grey reveals his preference for BDSM and attempts to get Anastasia to sign a contract agreeing to participate in a BDSM relationship. What ensues are countless descriptions of posh hotels and helicopters, the most volatile will they/won’t they relationship on the planet, and so many references to Anastasia’s “inner goddess” that I nearly threw the book against the wall.
Fans revel in the steamy relationship and countless descriptions of Christian Grey, while detractors note that the relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey is practically abusive and decry the misoiny and poor writing in the book. Personally, I tried (and failed) to read the entirety of the first book (I basically stopped at 43% of the novel out of sheer frustration). However, I do recognize that 50 Shades of Grey is a novel that, while terribly written, has managed to spark some pretty interesting conversations on sexuality.Â
So, in honor of the upcoming movie adaptation, here are four facts on the Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation.
It’s rated R???
Despite the fact that Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the most notorious adaptations of erotica in movie history, the studio was able to obtain an R, rather than the infamous NC-17 rating. This was likely done to bolster sales, since the infamous NC-17 rating has usually been called the “kiss of death” for box office sales. What’s even more interesting than the rating is the description the MPAA gave. A Variety article reported that the MPAA based its rating on the movie’s “strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity.” The description is… a little tame, don’t you think?
 It officially has the most viewed trailer of 2014
Paramount released the first official trailer in July 2014 and, as of today, that trailer has garnered more than 100 million views. The trailer surpassed Marvel Studios trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron, though I suspect the Fifty Shades trailer was significantly helped by the presence of the revamped version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love.”
Like the source material, the casting decisions were fraught with controversy
The fans of Fifty Shades of Grey were nothing if not passionate about casting choices. Though actor Charlie Hunman from “Sons of Anarchy” was initially attached to the role, millions of fans actually made a petition on Change.org to plead for actors Matt Bomer from White Collar and Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls (can you imagine Rory doing BDSM?) to play the leads. Hunman later retracted from Fifty Shades of Grey due to scheduling conflicts, leaving studio executives to scramble to find a replacement, though several candidates, such as Stephen Amell from “Arrow” and Ryan Gosling, weren’t interested in the role. They finally settled on Jamie Dornan as the titular character and actress Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele.Â
Jamie Dornan proved how serious he was about preparing for the role Â
Dornan visited sex dungeons in order to learn about BDSM culture and prepare for the role. He even defended BDSM and said (in an interview with Elle Magazine) BDSM wasnt mysoginistic. I’ll give him credit for dedication. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
With that in mind, you can either watch the movie February 13th, rant about the book’s depiction of women and misoginy, or watch this hilarious clip of Ellen Degeneres in a mock trailer of the movie.
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