Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James gave superfans a big treat last night when she appeared at an event on Long Island, N.Y. for her first and only interview she agreed to give after releasing Grey — a raunchy 559-page novel that tells the 50 Shades story from Christian Grey's perspective. Superfans paid $100 a ticket to meet James and hear her speak — and one of the things she had to say about Grey might shock you.
James, a 52-year-old mom who has been married for more than 25 years, says women may fantasize about billionaire Grey, who introduced naive college student Anastasia Steele into his world of S&M, but that if they actually met a man like him in real life, they'd run in the opposite direction.
When a fan asked her why readers are so enamored with Grey, here's what she had to say: "Because he doesn't exist. Christian is a fantasy figure and he's how we think we want men to be ... but actually we just want men to do the washing up, really."
James, who attended the event with screenwriter and novelist husband Niall Leonard, then admitted she has fantasized about Grey, but that her dreams are filled with visions of him "doing the washing."
Laundry is obviously a huge priority for the writer.
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You'll be happy to know she also spoke about her decision to retell Ana and Christian's story from the male perspective and that, despite criticism that she's just trying to "cash in" on the movie and trilogy's success, she wrote several outtakes as Christian back when it was fan fiction and that, after the "trials and tribulations" of the movie, she was happy to be able to sit and write.
As far as her opinion on women and Grey and laundry goes, I don't think she's wrong, but I don't completely agree. I've always thought of men like Grey as the sort of guys women in their early 20s go for — he was the perfect "hot jerk" I would have fallen for at 21. At that age, many of us still imagine we can play nurse to men who show signs of instability and that our love and affection can help cure them of whatever ails them. But I can see growing tired of his tortured soul act very quickly — by 28, I think most women would kick him to the curb in favor of someone who is emotionally healthy and stable. I would hope.
What do you think? Do women really want a Christian Grey in their lives?
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