Analysing the appeal of the raciest book of 2012 Everyone I know seems to be talking about Fifty Shades of Grey. At our monthly girlie get-together last week,I was asked in baffled tones,You havent read it yet? This,from a 30-something,who last read fiction on a summer holiday five years ago. It has opened my mind to new possibilities, she declared about the erotic novel,without a trace of self-consciousness. The conversation got a lot more interesting as the evening went on. We dont know what were missing, she added,referring to the theme of bondage,submission and explicit sexual violence that runs through the book. Another friend,an avid reader from whom I borrowed it eventually,told me its absolute crap,but said immediately,Im on the third in the series. Its clear that Fifty Shades. has developed an obsessive following even among non-readers in India. Its out of stock at Crossword,the departmental store of bookshops,and at most other smaller bookstores in Delhi. Over the years,Ive read my share of romantic novels. Ive devoured every single Georgette Heyer ever written and I still read Daphne Du Maurier and long-forgotten authors such as Mary Stewart and Madeleine Brent when I have nothing else on my bookshelf. They certainly dont qualify as highbrow; theyre better defined as easy reads with some literary value. But these arent technically the romance genre made famous by Mills & Boon (M&B) and Harlequin where the male is a millionaire with a mystery and the green-eyed girl is a secretary with brains. In those plots,the male and female loathe each other in the beginning,the girl gets swept off her feet midway,and is consumed by passion in the end. End of story. Plodding and repetitive prose,like forbidding eyes and hot tears,handsome bachelor and innocent beauty,has a loyal following. Its the comfort of knowing that every book will end in exactly the same way that appeals to the reader. While its true that women are the main consumers of M&B-style romances,growing up,I knew some boys who read them too,though its unlikely theyll ever admit to it. (The same way,men dont like to admit watching Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City). Similarly,its not cool for women to admit they watch pornography,but somehow,its okay for them to be reading Fifty Shades of Grey,which is basically a typical M&B,just with lots of kinky sex thrown in. I can only marvel at the ease with which the supremely normal looking mother of two,EL James,has legitimised porn. While the rest of the publishing world has been searching for the elusive next JK Rowling,a book about a teenager who doesnt mind being slapped and whipped has created a stir equivalent to Harry Potter. Can it be just lurid sex thats creating a breathless craze for this trilogy? After all,the most titillating porn of every kind,gay or straight,is available instantly at the click of a button. The most boring fact known to anyone in the arts is that sex sells. But Fifty Shades. success is curious to anyone puzzling about contemporary sexual dynamics. Why would anybody want to be at the receiving end of somebody elses sadomasochistic fantasies without getting to do any of it in return? And what exactly do readers find fascinating about a fetish-ised Cinderella? The helpless damsel and the rich,dashing tycoon is an enduring theme but has been edged out lately by heroines such as Lisbeth Salander of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In Fifty Shades.,a brooding and macho Darcy type has made a comeback,and this Lizzy is all for the occasional whack. A Pride and Prejudice with over-the-top bedroom antics. Nobodys complaining. hutkayfilms@gmail.com
