Fans Petition for 50 Shades of Grey Casting and Batman

We’re entering a bizarre new phase of Internet/Hollywood evolution. Fans are now getting involved when their favorites are “miscast” by the studios.  Where 50 Shades of Grey is concerned I just have to roll my eyes. For one thing, it started out as Twilight fan fiction.  Then it somehow got marketed into a phenomenon, the terrible terrible awful that it is. There is a lot great erotica out there. This was not one of those. But I guess it peeled back the layer of a lot of sexually repressed women who long for a kink.  In this case that kink is BDSM.  Hey, if women are going to be raised on romance novels and Disney princesses sooner or later their sexuality has to also find a way. For many women, I suppose, 50 Shades of Grey is “it.” God help us.

Either way, the director is a woman, surprise surprise, Sam Taylor-Johnson.  That fact alone makes it interesting. As far as erotica goes, however, nothing will beat Blue is the Warmest Colour.  The casting of Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith) and Pacific Rim’s Charlie Hunnam. Well apparently they don’t manifest the treacly fantasy of fanfic fanatics everywhere. Alexis Bledel and Matt Bomer are who they had in mind.

Look, if women need to get their groove on who are we to stand in their way? But how about we start by trusting the filmmakers that maybe, oh just maybe, they know what they’re doing? Just because it was birthed as fan fic doesn’t mean that its ultimate fate is in the hands of those fans. Their petition stands at 15K right now.

Meanwhile, the Ben Affleck petition, currently has 90,000 signatures to have Ben Affleck removed as the next Batman. This is even more in the realm of lol. Get a grip, people. I don’t mean to demean your fantasy world but seriously? It isn’t that I think Affleck is the best Batman or that Hunnam and Johnson are the best choices here – but let’s really look at what we’re talking about and what kind of precedent these petitions set. You have the choice to buy a ticket or not, to have faith in the filmmakers or not. You have a choice. There is this funny thing called reality. It’s out the window. Try it out some time. They’re just movies. It’s not the end of everything.