This past weekend the highly anticipated film Fifty Shades of Grey premiered all over the country. The movie is an adaptation of the erotic romance novel by E. L. James. The story follows Anastasia Steele, a shy literature student in college, and her relationship with a young, mysterious billionaire named Christian Grey. As their connection deepens, Ana realizes that Christian is not an ordinary man. He is controlling, sex-driven, and does not have any interest in the "hearts and flowers" part of a relationship.
Everyone has heard about the kinky BDSM sexual encounters that are featured in the story, but what some people probably do not know is that the novel started out as fan fiction for the Twilight books. So, before watching the film, my friend and I decided to see how many parallels we could find between the two series. Here is what we came up with.
1. The heroine's persona
In the Twilight series, the heroine is Bella Swan. Bella is a very quiet, intelligent girl who mostly keeps to herself and does not have very many friends. She's is pretty, but plain. Anastasia Steele is very similar. She is described as very smart and shy, and she avoids ever sharing anything personal about herself. Ana is also considered beautiful in an unconventional way.
2. The love interest's personality
The leading men in these two series (Edward Cullen and Christian Grey) are very dark and broody. They see themselves as monsters. Edward warns Bella to stay away from him because he is a vampire. Christian tells Anastasia he cannot be with her because of his dangerous sexual preferences. In the end, the love between both Edward and Bella and Christian and Ana is just too strong for the couples to stay separated.
3. The Setting
Twilight is set in Forks, Washington. Fifty Shades of Grey is mostly set in Seattle.
4. The Heroine's Mother
In Twilight, Bella's relationship with her mother Renee is a reversal of the typical mother daughter relationship. Bella is very mature and independent, while her mother is described as childish and a romantic. Ana's mother is characterized in the same way. Ana tells Christian that her mother considers herself a romantic, and is now on her fourth husband. She jumps in to things without thinking them through, which basically makes her the complete opposite of her daughter.
5. Close Relationship With the Father Figure
Both Bella and Ana have closer relationships with the father figures they have in their lives than their mothers. When Bella moves to Forks, she develops a strong relationship with her dad Charlie. Ana, who was raised by her step father Ray, considers him to be more like a parent to her than her real father.
6. Class Difference
The male love interests in these series are very wealthy, whereas Bella and Ana are considered lower middle class.
7. Adoption
Edward Cullen and Christian Grey were both adopted into their families.
8. Best Friend
Bella and Ana both have a close relationship with a guy friend, who ends up falling in love with them. For Bella, it is Jacob. For Ana, it's Jose.
9. The Break Up
At the end of Twilight, the reader can tell that Edward still does not feel right about dating Bella because he is worried that he is too dangerous for her. It is not until the beginning of the second book, though, that he actually breaks up with her. With Fifty Shades of Grey, the first novel ends with Ana leaving Christian because she does not think she can handle his extreme life style.
