I don’t smoke… but I might need a cigarette after watching Fifty Shades of Grey:

Well folks, I told you I finally jumped on the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon last month and read the trilogy  in the span of just a couple weeks.  While I didn’t plan a big #GNO with champagne and limos (yes, I heard it was the ultimate soccer mom porn night), I knew I wanted to see the movie this week – I just couldn’t wait.  So after letting the crowds die down from last weekend’s movie release on Valentine’s Day, I grabbed one of my biffles and we headed over to Midtown Arts Cinema to catch the 7 pm showing Tuesday after work {club going up….}

First off, I have to say I was impressed with Midtown Arts Cinema‘s selection of alcoholic drinks.  Different than your standard theatre with plenty of beer & wine to really get you in the mood 😉

Secondly, I’ve seen a lot of chatter on social media about this movie and the underlying abusive tone to the content that some people are sounding off about.   While I’m not going to get into all the controversial details about Fifty Shades, because I want to keep this relatively positive…  I wanted to let you know that I do feel very strongly against the way that media has glamorized everything from adultry to drugs to abuse, and how our culture has become more and more desensitized from seeing these in our daily media consumption (think TV shows, movies, etc. #theaffair #scandal #breakingbad).  While I have very strong feelings about this and I wholeheartedly do NOT support the idea of abuse (emotional or physical)… I just have to say, if you have not actually read ALL THREE of the books, it’s tough for me to take your comments seriously.   While there are points in the book that do warrant a second look (I’ll play devil’s advocate for both sides all day long), overall I feel pretty good about my infatuation with this trilogy and the enjoyment I had reading and watching Fifty Shades.

So all that heavy stuff being said…. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the movie after reading all three of the books.  The movie only skimmed the surface of the emotional depth that the books delve into, but it was nice to see it all play out on the big screen.

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How To Really Enjoy the Fifty Shades of Grey Movie:

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1. Read all three books first.

I caught myself filling in little details here and there… and giggling like a school girl in certain parts that I knew to be even more awkward or funny in the book.  I guess that’s what happens when you get two gals together in a room full of ladies with the same idea to thrown it down on a school night!

I’ve heard a few people who saw the movie really expecting something incredible with all the hype Fifty Shades of Grey has buzzing around it, but they didn’t enjoy it as much.  I think having read the books you kind of already have the story and the details in your head, so if it’s not portrayed on the screen as much, you’ve got your creativity to flashback to.

And I’m not saying read the first one and be done…. you need to read all three. #TrustMe

2. In conjunction with No. 1 above, read them RECENTLY.

Again, based off of feedback I’ve heard from a few friends who read the books when they first came out and those friends who read them within the last month (or even week) before the movie came out, those who had a better memory of what happened in the book seemed to enjoy the movie that much more.

Along these lines, I think it was a huge help that I didn’t pick up the trilogy until after the movie had already been cast.  This meant I could immediately envision Jamie Dornan as the Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, as I read the books.  And I wasn’t disappointed in the casting so I think it worked in my favor to jump on this bandwagon a little late!

3. #GNO aka Girls Night Out.

While I’m not saying you should go rent a limo, I am telling you it’s going to be so much more fun to go see this with the gals.  And it will only help if they’ve read the books too!

4. Take advantage of the bar.

If your movie theatre is anything like Midtown Arts Cinema, don’t be shy in having a nice mini-bottle of wine to truly kick back and relax!  And if it’s not…. welp… you might just have to bring your own fun 😉

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Side note on casting:

I loved who they picked for Taylor & Carla. Thought José and Elliot should have been cuter. And I CAN NOT WAIT to see who they pluck out for Mrs. Robinson aka Elena.  I would suggest Connie Nielson and if you’ve ever seen The Following or Law & Order… you’ll probably agree. But who can deny that Jamie Dornan didn’t rock the ripped jeans…

I hope that I didn’t offend any one in this post, but I know this is a sensitive subject when you mention the idea of abuse… but remember that everyone has a right to their own thoughts, feelings, and opinions (right or wrong) and I’m curious to hear yours.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below on whether you’ve read the books and watched the movie…. and what your overall feelings were?

Next question: When’s the sequel coming out and who’s going to see it with me?!?