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Disclaimer: Let me start off by stating that, although I have read the Fifty Shades of Grey books a few years ago, I am NOT in the least bit a fan.
Admittedly, when I reviewed the first two books (after which I gave up on the series entirely), my thoughts on it weren’t all that harsh.
Thinking about it now, I accept the books for what they were meant to be: entertaining, badly-written smut with no brain candy value whatsoever (because sometimes you just need to take a break from the highbrow tones); and not for what they became: a full-course dissertation and glorification of why the series is nothing but an advocate for abuse.
Over the years, I’ve had some time to reconsider my opinion about the books and as it stands at the moment, I am honestly unable to find one good thing about the series as a whole.
That said, I don’t begrudge the author her success, nor do I want her to be burned at the stake by those who find the book incredibly problematic.
(I also have no problem with the people who have bought, read and loved the book. My rule of thumb when it comes to reading has always been this: as long as you’re reading a book that you love, then that’s all that matters. It’s better to read a bad book than to read no book at all).
That is exactly why I plan on defending E.L. James today.
Last week you may have stumbled across a hashtag on Twitter - originally meant as an opportunity for fans to ask this best-selling author a few questions about Grey, the latest book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series.
According to Mashable, the hashtag, #AskELJames, which was part of a promotional drive arranged by James’s publicity team, kicked off on Monday but did not quite go the way they’d hoped.
In fact, things went awry from the get-go, with people hijacking the hashtag in order to address issues they had with the book and with the author herself.
From being questioned about her plagiarising Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, to being called out for writing books that promote and romanticise domestic abuse, it soon became clear that Twitter as a whole was NOT in the mood to celebrate the author’s success.
From people who mocked her writing ability (or lack thereof, depending on your point of view), to those shaming her for becoming wealthy at the expense of victims of abuse, the Twitter community held back no punches.
What’s worse is that some of the very people who consider themselves to be anti-abuse advocates were throwing around phrases like, “She was asking for that reaction”, in response to those who criticised her trolls.
I don’t know about you, but I find this very ironic?
I think any author who opens herself/himself up in this way on a (sometimes very vicious) public platform, like Twitter, should prepare for the worst, especially with the controversial subject matter she deals with in her series of books..
But more than that, my problem here is with the self-righteous brigade who felt that it was necessary to aggressively tweet and lambast the author for the popularity of her controversial books.
EL James was not single-handedly responsible for the success of the book. She became successful because people bought the book. The publishers thought there was a market for it, capitalised on an opportunity and as a result, she became an overnight success.
Yes her books are problematic. Yes, her writing sucks, but behind the Twitter screen, there is a human being. And if you’re argument is that “well, she should have reconsidered her topic”, then you don’t really have much of a leg to stand on.
You’re never going to agree with everyone. But when you do, you can address the person with civility.
Unfortunately though, the ability to be thoughtful, engaging and decent can often be drowned out by one’s greater desire to attack with verbal outrage.
And surely we’re better than that?
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