adminBruce Ndlovu
The eagerly awaited movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, finally made its debut in Zimbabwe with a premiere at Ster-Kinekor cinemas in Harare last week and, as it has done everywhere else around the globe, managed to cause a stir on its first screening.
The movie, adapted from a book – Fifty Shades of Grey by British author EL James has sent shockwaves around the world for its largely uncensored depiction of sex.
The film stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with a young businessman played by Jamie Dornan.
The film’s premiere around the globe has been met with a mixture of elation and outrage in equal measure. While some have criticised the film for its portrayal of the sexual relations between men and women, audiences have been more receptive of the film’s sexually explicit scenes. As by February 16, the film had managed to gross an estimated $94,4 million in the United States and Canada and $172million in other territories for a worldwide total of $266,4 million. The film had a worldwide opening of $237.7 million.
The film’s premier at Ster Kinekor Westgate in Harare last week was not without its own dose of drama with many people taken aback by the pre-movies display of raunchy dancers who gave movie lovers more than they bargained for when, dressed in skimpy clothing, they gave sexually suggestive dance routines.
The controversy and the movie itself has raised questions about moral standards and the treatment of women. In the United States upon the film’s premiere on January 28, a campaign by the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation started two petitions to boycott the film’s release. Their website makes more than 50 allegations that the film has a negative impact on the community.
It said: “Hollywood is advertising the Fifty Shades story as an erotic love affair, but it is really about sexual abuse and violence against women. The porn industry has poised men and women to receive the message that sexual violence is enjoyable. Fifty Shades models this porn message and Hollywood cashes the check.”
In contrast in Zimbabwe, only the Zimbabwe Censorship Board has been vocal about the film, with most women’s rights organisations mum on the impact that the film might have on perceptions on women.
As the dancers, purportedly hired by Fresh Media for a lingerie display, flaunted their flesh at the film’s premiere, their actions did little to dispel notions that the film’s sole purpose is to objectify women and their bodies. If the scenes before the movie were a preview, as most pre screening shows follow the theme of the movie featured, one wonders what was in store for those who managed to find their way into the theatre.
The censorship board has kept an eye on the film, particularly after its controversial first appearance last week. However the close attention the censorship board has paid to the film has left some with the feeling that Zimbabwean audiences will not be able to enjoy the same content as their counterparts in other countries.
The question has been asked whether the country is still sticking to outdated standards of morality which youths, who form the movie’s core audience, do not identify with. While policing explicit content is advisable, a censored version of the film suggests that local audiences are not able to handle content that others around the globe have already taken in without much incident. This seems to be the case, particularly after it was revealed that the movie which will not be screened in its original format in the country, led to some theatres boycotting its screening.
Although two cinema houses in Harare are screening an edited version of the movie, others have boycotted it altogether.
“The Zimbabwe Censorship Board has denied certification to screen the film in its original form, based on the explicit nature of intimate scenes contained within the movie,” Ster-Kinekor Sam Levy’s Village, a movie theatre in Borrowdale, Harare, posted on Facebook. “It was felt that heavy censorship would compromise the integrity of the film and thus, a decision has been made by Ster-Kinekor Sam Levy’s Village not to screen the film within its Complex.”
Zimbabwe’s board of censors pre-screens all movies before they are released in the country. It checks on public performances by performing artistes, who must be registered with the board.
Opinion remains divided on the film, with some embracing it while some question its potentially corrosive effects on Zimbabwean youths. With social media making the world a smaller place, one wonders if it is fair for Zimbabweans to get a lesser version of what others in the world have been raving about. However, as the outrage on social media from those that attended the film showed, Zimbabweans might have set moral standards that they are not ready to compromise on.
Online Reporter