Women's groups, including the London Abused Women's Centre, are joining forces in hopes of convincing people to avoid seeing the film "Fifty Shades Darker."
The sequel to "Fifty Shades of Grey" is set for release on Valentine's Day.
LAWC, Collective Shout in Australia, along with Culture Reframed and the National Center On Sexual Exploitation in the United States, say they are speaking out to "combat the normalization of sexual and domestic abuse portrayed in the Fifty Shades of Grey book and film franchise ahead of the release of Fifty Shades Darker on February 14."
“Hollywood is portraying the Fifty Shades story as a risqué, passionate romance, but it’s actually a story of sexual and domestic abuse. Christian Grey, the male lead, consistently displays the traits of an abuser through possessive, manipulative, coercive, and violent behaviors, including frequent stalking. Anastasia Steele, his ‘lover’, is consistently isolated, threatened, and manipulated, yet she comes back to Christian time and time again because she thinks her love can change him. As the story progresses, Ana, who was first fearful and disturbed by Christian’s controlling behaviors and dark sexual practices, gradually becomes desensitized to his harsh treatment," the groups say in a joint news release issued on Wednesday. "The Fifty Shades series is permeated with graphic scenes of violent sex and sexual abuse. Its lead male character exhibits classic hallmarks of a sexual and domestic abuser, and yet Hollywood is portraying his relationship with Ana as a sexually titillating Cinderella story.”
The groups are encouring people to visit the webpage FiftyShadesIsAbuse.com to get more information about ways to protest the film. They are also asking Twitter users to use the hashtag, #50DollarsNot50Shades to promote a campaign that encourages people to give $50 to a local women's shelter instead of seeing the film.