Just when you thought being a Mississippian couldn’t get any more embarrassing, we’ve gone from being the poorest and most obese state in the nation to being the most eager to see Hollywood’s most recent sexually explicit film, “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
The American Family Association and its president Tim Wildmon urged everyone not to see the movie. AFA said the movie promotes domestic violence, aside from its graphic sexual nature.
“Nothing in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ builds up society, respects or empowers women or demonstrates healthy relationships,” Wildmon said in an interview with The Clarion Ledger.
“Rather, the film glorifies abusive relationships and glamorizes abusive tendencies such as stalking, bondage sex, intimidation and isolation,” Wildmon said.
To make matters worse in the Bible Belt state, Tupelo — the location of AFA’s headquarters — was the first Mississippi city to have a theater sell out of tickets for the film.
I don’t see a problem with Mississippians being eager to see “Fifty Shades.” Apparently the entire nation wanted to see it.
If New York, Los Angeles or even a Southern city such as Atlanta had the highest percentage of people who wanted to see the movie, no one would care.
Maybe this is a sign that it’s Mississippi’s government that’s super conservative rather than its people.
I have not seen “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but from what I have heard and what the movie trailer conveys, the movie is rated properly.
According to People Magazine, there are 14 minutes and 17 seconds of sexual activity in the movie, but it’s not the only one with a high on screen sexual activity percentage.
Plenty of films of similar natures to “Fifty Shades” have long runtimes of sexual activity.
“Basic Instinct” has 9 minutes and 19 seconds, “Y Tu Mama Tambien” has 6 minutes and 51 seconds and “Blue Is The Warmest Color” has 10 minutes and 28 seconds of on-screen sexual activity.
There are plenty more movies with large amounts of on-screen sexual activity. That’s why there are ratings. If parents and theaters exercise movie restrictions properly, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Along with “The Interview,” “Fifty Shades” wouldn’t have been considered being banned from theaters if society hadn’t fed so much energy into it.
With state representatives making racist comments and our state ranking third as the dumbest state in the nation, having the highest percentage of people wanting to see a movie should be the least of our worries.
