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Fifty Shades of Grey‘s Anastasia Steele is one of the more controversial heroines of our day. Many interpret her relationship with Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey to be abusive and BDSM fans take offense to how the sexual predilection is twisted in the books. There’s the suggestion that Ana doesn’t have any sort of equal footing with her glamorous and domineering lover. Their relationship is so lopsided that it can’t be considered consensual. So, she’s a “weak” character and many established actresses had no interest in playing her. In fact, at one point, Emma Watson sarcastically shot down the rumors that she was being approached for the film by tweeting, “Who here actually thinks I would do Fifty Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life.”
So, not every actress in Hollywood saw the lead role in Fifty Shades of Grey as something to be coveted. It wasn’t going to be like playing the complex and beguiling Scarlett O’Hara. Portraying Anatasia Steele would entail stripping down and being put in physically vulnerable positions, not to mention the fact that the part was flimsily written in its source material; she’s a cypher there to fill a reader’s own desires. Still, Dakota Johnson took the role with the understanding that it would make her a star, and Johnson’s not the first, nor will she be the last, actress to take a sexually provocative role to boost her career.
When a spunky young actress wants to signal that she’s an “adult,” she’ll often take on a sexy role that reveals that she’s a full grown woman — think of Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver or the entire cast of Spring Breakers. When Anne Hathaway wanted to transition from being a squeaky clean Disney princess to a serious actress, she donned a variety of ludicrous wigs and took off her top in the critically-acclaimed Brokeback Mountain. In fact, Hathaway didn’t get an Academy Award until she played the preyed upon single mother-turned-prostitute Fantine in Les Miserables. It may appear that these women are exposing themselves physically and emotionally in ways that would lower their status to audiences, but they are in fact making strategic choices that illustrate their range and get people interested in their careers in new ways. Actresses can use their bodies, their sexuality, and their perceived status as commodities to trade up in their careers.
And so, Johnson joins a long line of women who have stripped down to trade up. You can roll your eyes at the decision, but Johnson did something smart and calculated to boost her career. In fact, Johnson thinks that Ana is cleverer and more empowered than she appears at first glance. She told The Telegraph that “this woman is incredibly smart. It’s almost as if she’s all-knowing and therefore she hasn’t given herself up emotionally or physically before. She’s waited for this person who she can spar with mentally and who can completely ignite something in her.”
The question I have: is this a good thing? I’m personally of the opinion that there’s nothing inherently wrong with a woman’s sexuality. Being nude, enjoying sex or being consensually dominated does nothing to diminish a woman’s worth. However, many of these roles depict women being physically and emotionally victimized. It’s disturbing to think that playing victims can make an actress a victor in Hollywood, but there it is.
Of course the other side of the coin is that these actresses are artists working in what they deem to be safe and respectful environments. They receive accolades and attention for pushing themselves into these roles, and it’s not as though stories about abuse and sexuality shouldn’t be explored.Johnson’s publicly admitted that she still has doubts. She was quoted as saying, “Even now there are moments when I think, ‘What the f— have I done?’ But most of the time I feel pretty solid about it.” She probably should feel good about it. It seems that Fifty Shades is about to give Johnson her breakout moment as an actress. Early reviews all praise her performance and Vulture even calls her “superb.” She’s now internationally known, on the cover of Vogue, and she’s got a number of films lined up — including the Oscar bait flick, Black Mass.
But it is a tricky thing to consider whether or not it’s worth it for women to sexually “stoop” to conquer. Is playing the subservient worth it to be on top? Or does it just proliferate small-minded views of female sexuality? Or is there something more complex happening here?
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