I was at my daughters swim practice yesterday and there were 4 moms huddled together and they were discussing none other than Fifty Shades. What is Fifty Shades? If you don't know, may I direct you to Google I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a situation of two worlds colliding. I had to refrain from making any comments, even when they were discussing, "I would love this to be made into a movie" Sigh.
I have been reading FanFiction for quite a while now. No, I will not say how long, but it's been a while. I've read some outstanding stories and some really crappy stories. Fifty Shades, or as it's called in the Ficdom, Master of the Universe, has always been one of my favorites. It's not the outstanding writing that drew me in because, well, the writing is what it is and outstanding it is not. However, I liked the story itself. The romance between the two characters, the growth of said characters and of course the drama that evolves as the story plays out.
MotU a.k.a Fifty Shades is a self published book from the author and has been recently optioned at Random House for proper publishing. It's also been optioned by Universal and Focus for a reported 5 million dollar film deal. To say this has created a stir in the in fandom and outside of it is an understatement.
I have stayed out of many a conversation on this topic for a variety of reasons. Some of my friends support the idea and are happy for the author while some, do not. And that is okay. We are all entitled to our own opinions and after what I've been through in this ridiculous fandom, I'm the last person to begrudge someone that. I can see both sides of the argument when dealing with this very sensitive subject. The fact that this is a published book is not at all shocking to me. I've said many times, E.L. James is not the first to self publish her fiction and she is certainly not going to be the last. She is however, the first to get this much recognition for her story and I'll be honest if the story did not have the sexual themes that it does, I'm not so sure she'd be getting this attention.
There are a lot of self published authors doing quiet well. Some publishing their own fanfictions only reworked and some publishing original works. Angel Lawson, a.k.a EZRocksAngel, is one of them. Her "Wraith" is doing quiet nicely. Another fiction, "Sempre" by J.M. Darhower was a fan fiction called "Emacipation Proclimation" that was reworked a great deal and self published. It too is doing well. So, it can be done.
Entertainment Weekly this week has Fifty on the cover. Well, if you're a subscriber, that is the cover you will receive in your mail. News stands will have The Hunger Games on their cover. The author has been on countless radio and television shows, news feeds have picked up the story and just about everyone knows someone who is reading it as it makes its way into every day life and conversation.
The next phase of this situation is the movie. EL James retained rights on the casting of the film, a smart move for any author, and she has said she would like to cast unknowns to play the lead. Well, that's nice in theory, but after shelling out $5 million on an unknown author who happens to have written the flavor of the week, that is not going to happen. Universal/Focus are going to want to see a return on their investment and unknown actors are not going to do that. So far everyone who has been associated with the story has been receptive to the idea. However, we all know that no one burns a bridge in Hollywood so saying and doing are two very different things.
Time will tell what direction things will go for the movie version, but as of right now, the book is everywhere. This is one hot topic that's for sure and it's not going to go away. Although, at times, I sure wish it would
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