The tempestuous relationship between Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) in Fifty Shades of Grey attracted a lot of criticism at the time for the characters' unhealthy behaviors and their poor depiction of the BDSM lifestyle. The subsequent sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed did little to stop the flow of criticisms against the books and the films of the franchise. Many viewers and critics tend to find the fault with one person: Christian Grey.
Critics pointed out that his jealous and controlling nature did not make him a good boyfriend or dom. However, Anna has her fair share of faults as well. Her questionable decision-making and lack of boundaries make her one of cinema's most problematic romantic heroines.
She Shouldn't Have Been The One To Interview Christian
Ana meets Christian for the first time when she interviews him for her university newspaper. This was supposed to be conducted by her housemate, Kate, who was ill. Instead, she sent Ana in her place.
It is completely unrealistic that Kate would do this. Although she is unwell, she's not at death's door. By the evening, she is happily eating sandwiches and typing up interview notes. Christian Grey is known for rarely granting interviews. There's no way that Kate would have passed up the opportunity to further her journalism career unless she was truly bad off. This plot point sets up Ana and Christian's meet-cute, but realistically it should never have happened.
She Allows The Relationship To Move Too Quickly
Christian and Ana's relationship moves fast, way too fast. The first two movies - from Ana and Christian's initial meeting to their engagement announcement - take place over less than six weeks.
A lot of this is down to Christian pushing her to commit to the next level. Even when Ana chose to take a break, Christian pursued her relentlessly. But Ana is also guilty of allowing things to escalate far too quickly. Even her friends and family express misgivings regarding how fast things are progressing, but Ana is deaf to their concerns. The relationship works out fine in the end, but rushing things like this does not play out well in real life.
She Loses Touch With Friends
At the start of the first movie, Ana has a close-knit group of supportive friends and is especially close to her roommate Kate. Once Ana becomes involved with Christian, she sees less and less of her friends as her all-consuming love affair doesn't leave time for anything else.
Ana and Kate rent an apartment together in Seattle after graduation. She hardly uses it at all and almost immediately moves in with Christian. In Fifty Shades Freed, Christian invites all of Ana's friends on a surprise trip to Aspen, which feels off that he had to take the initiative for it. It doesn't sit well with modern audiences that Ana had to wait for her husband to organize this rather than making an effort herself.
She Equates Love With Suffering
The path to true love is never easy, they say. In Ana's case, it is often downright miserable. Admittedly, a story where people meet and fall in love without encountering any obstacles wouldn't make for a compelling movie. However, in Ana and Christian's case, it all seems to be a lot harder than it needs to be.
Although the highs in their relationship are incredible, Ana also goes through some devastating lows. Throughout this, Ana tells herself that the struggles they're facing are a testament to their love. She believes that true love means suffering, even though Ana has plenty of healthy examples. This attitude didn't impress the movie's critics who saw this as evidence of co-dependency rather than romance.
She Doesn't Use Her Safe Word
At the end of the first movie, Ana asks Christian to punish her in the playroom. He tells her what he is going to do and checks before he begins if she still wants to go through with it. Afterward, Ana is furious with him.
While Christian may be guilty of some questionable behavior, he doesn't do anything wrong here. Ana has a safe word that she could have used, and Christian would have stopped. From his point of view, he did something that Ana requested and gave her consent to. By turning on him, Ana shifted the goalposts because she had an out, but didn't use it. It's another way that the films failed to accurately depict the BDSM subculture.
Her Job Promotion Is Unrealistic
At the beginning of Fifty Shades of Grey, Ana is a university student. In Fifty Shades Darker, following graduation, she gets a job at a publishing company. After ten days at her new job, she is promoted to acting editor and invited to participate in meetings with senior members of staff.
Admittedly, a lot of things happened during those ten days. Her boss was fired for sexually assaulting her and her billionaire boyfriend bought the company. However, Christian tells her he had nothing to do with her promotion. A new graduate, in her first job, progressing so quickly in a week and a half is difficult for audiences to accept. In today's job market, it looks downright ludicrous.
She Gets Jealous Of Other Women
Christian is a jealous man, even telling Ana that he doesn't like to share. It is one of his most toxic traits, which makes it disappointing to see Ana exhibiting the same behavior as her relationship with Christian progress.
In Fifty Shades Freed, the couple hires an architect called Gia. Ana thinks she is coming onto Christian and warns her very aggressively to stop. The scene is treated like an empowering moment for Ana, but it just demonstrates her insecurities. Treating other women like the enemy because she doesn't trust them around 'her' man doesn't reflect well on her. In fact, it falls into old stereotypes from a bygone era.
She Gives Into Christian's Demands Too Often And Too Quickly
When Ana first meets Christian, she is young and inexperienced. She struggles to set decent boundaries in their relationship regarding the controlling aspects of Christian's behavior. Audiences were disappointed that she never really got any better at it. In Fifty Shades Darker, she does not go on a business trip at Christian's demand, even though it's necessary for her job.
Even once they're married, in Fifty Shades Freed, she still bows to Christian's desires. Having decided to retain her maiden name at work, she backtracks immediately when Christian turns up at her office and makes a fuss. Although she won some victories, Ana should have learned to stand her ground better. While she was the "submissive" in the relationship, it doesn't mean that she could not set boundaries.
She Complies With Jack's Ransom Demands
In Fifty Shades Freed, Ana's ex-boss, Jack, settles some scores by kidnapping Christian's sister, Mia. He sends a ransom demand to Ana and tells her not to tell anyone. Bafflingly, Ana complies. This is despite the fact that she has a full team of personal security staff at her disposal.
It is her security team's job to keep her safe in circumstances like these. Not telling them to put Ana and Mia's safety in greater jeopardy. While they luckily both survived their ordeal, it should have realistically ended a lot worse. It's frustrating for the audience that a supposedly intelligent woman like Ana handled the situation in such a stupid manner.
She Is Often Negative About BDSM
BDSM is a central theme in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Initially, Christian intended for Ana to become submissive and adhere to a strict set of guidelines, which included only visiting at weekends. However, Ana doesn't agree to this, and the couple develops a more conventional romantic relationship.
Although Christian is upfront about his interests, Ana usually battles against them. Every time the couple becomes more vanilla, Ana considers it a win. BDSM is portrayed as an obstacle to be overcome rather than something to be embraced. In real life, such relationships work best when both people are on the same page and enjoy the same things.