What do the Twilight movies, the After series, the Fifty Shades movies and the Netflix hit 365 Days have in common? They all just oozed out sexism, role stereotypes and toxic relationshipsin which the man makes all the decisions and the woman has to go along with her.
All the more creepy that all these titles world successes are – not only in the cinema, but also as books. Now the film adaptation of another romance bestseller * has been announced with Just a single time (originally: It Ends with Us). Also starring Gossip Girl star Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Lily and Ryle, another pair with abusive dynamics. The story comes from the pen of Colleen Hoover, currently the most successful author in the USA.
So come here the next romance catastrophe towards us that gives a completely wrong impression of relationship dynamics? Many connoisseurs of the book template fear it. But it is not that easy.
Film series like Fifty Shades of Gray and 365 Days romanticize domestic violence and misrepresent love
In the three-part erotic drama 365 Days, for example, the protagonist is kidnapped by a mafia boss who gives her one year to fall in love with him too. The Twilight series follows how a 104-year-old vampire stalks a teenage girl Bella, controlling her life, putting her in multiple dangers and punishing her with love withdrawal.
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Twilight: Bella and Edward
Fifty Shades of Gray – created as Twilight fan fiction – does exactly the same thing. Except that it’s not about vampires and teenage girls, but a rich businessman and a clueless student who are under the guise of a sadomasochistic relationship emotionally and physically abused becomes. Diplom psychologist Lydia Benecke comes to the conclusion at Ruhrbarone:
Shades of Gray is sexual violence.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s loud, aggressive arguments or sex scenes in which the protagonist grabs him hard: in romantic film adaptations Violence is too often trivialized, excused and romanticized. Sexual violence in particular is glossed over. Aggressive quickly turns masculine and animalistic. Also because the protagonists are of course stunningly attractive.
The men demand to know all the details of their wives’ lives, but they hardly reveal anything themselves. Decisions are only made by the “stronger” sex, that no no accepted. In Twilight, Edward watches his human love interest as she sleeps and decides for her what is appropriate and what is too dangerous. Christian Gray shows up everywhere Ana is and storms her office during a meeting because she didn’t reply to his email fast enough. And we don’t even have to start with the kidnapping situation in 365 Days.
Universal
Fifty Shades: Ana and Christian
It doesn’t matter whether Ana, Bella or Laura: the women are allowed to defend themselves in the meantime, but in the end they buckle and adapt to their situation. The supposed happy ending in these stories? The victim marries his “protector”. The consequence? Especially young people or people with little romantic experience believe that love has to look like this.
Just once more makes the same mistakes – but with a different kind of happy ending
In Just One More Time, we meet Lily at the beginning of the book, who wants to start a new life in another city. She escapes her violent home and meets the attractive Ryle. The two get together. But the perfect first appearance is deceptive: When Lily meets her ex-boyfriend Atlas, Ryle develops a pathological jealousy, hits her and puts her under psychological pressure.
Lily looks for excuses for her partner’s behavior – and also sugarcoats his behavior in front of others. The book also seems to try to convince us that Ryle is actually a great guy. He’s a successful surgeon, compassionate and caring, impossibly handsome and loves his partner, when he’s not getting violent. We know these patterns from other “Romantic” franchises.
Also border crossing and control are a central theme in Just One More Time. Lily has to keep reassuring the incredibly jealous Ryle that her male friends are really just friends. When he finds a piece of paper with someone else’s phone number, he destroys her cell phone. Even when it comes to offspring and food intake, Ryle has the power to make decisions. Lily wants food, he wants sex – and gets his way.
Constantine
After Passion
Nevertheless there is one thing that Only once will do differently as Fifty Shades and Co.: At some point, Lily understands that love shouldn’t feel like this and draws real conclusions from it. And they don’t just act as a cliffhanger for the next part, in which everything is forgiven and forgotten again.
Why the best-selling film adaptation is unlikely to escape the curse of toxic relationship franchises
It is almost certain that the film starring Blake Lively will be a success. The book template, which went viral on TikTok, has sold over four million copies worldwide. It’s also no secret that the genre itself also works well in film form.
According to Screenrant, four out of five Twilight movies are in the top 10 most successful romance films of all time. The opening screening of Fifty Shades of Gray sold out in a matter of hours and grossed $569.7 million worldwide. The erotic success 365 Days was continued despite massive criticism from Netflix and another film about toxic love is currently showing in cinemas with Perfect Addiction. The topic continues to be a hot topic.
But that also means: Only once, with its likely large reach, also bears a great deal of responsibility. The movie should make it clear that jealousy and violence are not romantic, but dangerous. Rather than romanticizing unhealthy relationship patterns, they need to be clearly presented as a problem. Above all, however, the film adaptation must not allow itself to be carried away to a mild happy ending in order to satisfy the love-hungry audience.
Netflix
365 days
The original book actually has this potential. Personally, though, I don’t think Nur will take another chance, and in a way Antidote to the “toxic relationship” genre becomes. The formula works too well for that and Hollywood doesn’t miss any money-making machine.
Another reason for my concern is the author herself: Colleen Hoover’s novel is based on bad experiences that the author’s mother had. Still, Hoover planned a coloring book for her bestseller on domestic violence and was heavily criticized for it. Rightly so. According to insiders, it took an outcry from the community to stop the project. Did Hoover learn from this experience?
According to the Open Media Hub, Colleen Hoover is deeply involved in the film work. So she has the reins in her hand. It would not only be her, but also us, to wish that just one more time finally the turning point in the romance genre creates. That would not only be an important signal in the direction of the huge target group – but also much more exciting than another Fifty Shades of Gray.
*. . .