Fifty shades of … beige?

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:12:00 +0000

At Vanity Fair's famous Oscar party Sunday night, the New York Post was eager to find out from Fifty Shades of Grey” author E .L. James — the writer now famous for her "Twilight" fan-fic bodice whipper, I mean, ripper — who is being cast in the film adaptation of her internationally best-selling BDSM romance series. She told them, "We don’t even have a filmmaker … so we are still a long way away from casting. I have some ideas … but it may not be who people expect.” She also told the Post that she's toning down the sex for her next book. "It won’t be nearly so raunchy — and I will probably write it under another name,” she said. The trilogy, the first novel of which was initially self-published as an e-book titled "Master of the Universe," and later repackaged as both an e-book and a trade paperback as "Fifty Shades of Grey" by Vintage Books, has sold over 65 million copies around the world, in over 37 countries, and was chosen book of the year by the public in the National Book Awards back in December.

“Law and Order” gets kinky

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:55:00 +0000

What is there to say of the news that "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is gearing up for a very special, "50 Shades of Grey"-themed episode this season? Because, really, how do you articulate a weary shrug in the face of inevitability?

Television's long-running procedural, which Wednesday evening launched its 14th season, is famed for the "ripped from the headlines" plotlines that make the "L&O" franchise so durable. At any given moment, there is an episode of "SVU" airing somewhere. It's the "I Love Lucy" of rape. Vulture reports that Anna Chlumsky, best remembered as the adorable title character of the '90s film "My Girl," will play the ersatz E.L. James author of a "wildly successful S&M romance novel" called "25 Acts" who's sexually assaulted by a television host played by Roger Bart. Forecast calls for lots of sexy talk about S/M and domination, and some sort of hand-wringing debate over the distinction between submissiveness and abuse. And a SHOCKING TWIST.

Salon.com > S&M

Fifty shades of … beige?

“Law and Order” gets kinky