Domestic abuse campaigners protest at Fifty Shades of Grey London premiere
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Version 0 of 1. Campaigners against domestic violence protested at the UK premiere of controversial erotic romance Fifty Shades of Grey last night, holding up placards and banners reading “Fifty Shades is abuse” and “Mr Grey is a rapist”. Related: Trust me: you needn't get your knickers in a twist over Fifty Shades of Grey As stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson walked the red carpet in London’s Leicester Square with director Sam Taylor-Johnson and author EL James, who wrote the original novel, protesters made it clear they would not be among the four and a half million cinemagoers who have already bought tickets to view the movie this weekend across the globe. A group which calls itself 50 Shades is Domestic Abuse said it was determined the film should not arrive in the UK unchallenged. Natalie Collins, who started the campaign two years ago when James first introduced readers to kinky billionaire Christian Grey and virginal paramour Anastasia Steele, told the BBC: “We felt really concerned about the way the books romanticise abuse and glamorise an abusive person.” Previously, Collins told the Bolton News: “We want to hold accountable the people who are capitalising from it. I don’t think that any one person is responsible. EL James is not an expert in domestic violence. She doesn’t understand the issues. It’s gone beyond just being a film or a book. It’s becoming part of popular culture in a really disturbing way.” A separate group of protesters were given short shrift by security and removed not long after James had arrived to pose for photographs with fans. The author herself was unimpressed with the protest, telling the BBC: “Why do you think there are so many women here if it’s about domestic abuse and domestic violence? Don’t get me started. No it’s not – OK?” Related: Fifty Shades of Grey review – making a bad fist of it | Peter Bradshaw Meanwhile, Taylor-Johnson was keen to point out that campaigners should watch the film before making their minds up. “I don’t think you can judge something without seeing it,” she said. “What Dakota and I did throughout the journey of Anastasia was to empower her. “Every sexual encounter that she has with Christian is one that she’s gone into willingly and complicitly, until the moment he crosses a line. And when he crosses that line it’s a very firm no and she has the final word – she has all the power and he’s the vulnerable one, so I don’t think there’s any glamorisation of it.” Those sentiments were echoed by Johnson herself, who said: “It’s exciting to be involved in something controversial that some people like and some people don’t. I wonder if they wouldn’t mind waiting until they see the movie. I don’t think it’s that way at all.” Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the novels by James that have sold more than 100m copies worldwide, will open in more than 60 countries this weekend. The film is expected to debut with around $110m (£72m) worldwide, according to box-office experts, and has already begun to smash single-day records in some countries. In France and Belgium, where Taylor-Johnson’s movie opened on 11 February, it posted the highest ever one-day totals for a film from Universal Studios. It was also the biggest ever certificate 18 film in the Philippines. • This article was amended on 17 February 2015 to clarify that a group of protesters who were removed from the event were not connected with the 50 Shades is Domestic Abuse campaign. |