'Fifty Shades' is not going to ruin your daughters

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2015 file photo, author EL James attends a special fan screening of "Fifty Shades of Grey" in New York. James, who was also a producer on the film, says she pushed hard on creative decisions to make sure her readers would be happy with the final product. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

With technology today, you can’t live in a bubble, nor can you raise your children in one. They're going to learn about sex, whether it’s from a movie, on the school bus or from you, their parents. You need to get involved and teach your children about love and respect through dialogue and through example, not through boycotting and demanding artists censor themselves.

Parents should have an open dialog with their children about love, sex and relationships. It's unlikely that a movie will undo all they’ve taught their children.

The highly anticipated opening this weekend of “Fifty Shades of Grey” is drawing criticism from religious organizations, feminists and parents across the country. More than 60,000 signed a petition calling for a boycott of the film, accusing it of “using a romantic holiday to promote a movie about abuse and degradation."

Parents should have an open dialog with their children about love, sex and relationships. It's unlikely that a movie will undo all they’ve taught their children.

They all need to take a deep breath. This film is not going to destroy their daughters.

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” based on the best-selling book, tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a wealthy millionaire, Christian Grey, who gets her involved with Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism.

Parents who fear the film will corrupt their daughters into believing that the on-screen relationship isn’t fiction are not in touch with reality. Their children have pornography more abusive and graphic than anything a motion picture can show available for their smartphones, tablets and computers all the time. A few of those videos have become viral; ask teenagers if they’ve ever heard of "2 Girls, 1 Cup."

The older generation needs to look at itself in the mirror before judging the effects movies have on an individual's life. Their generation had movies like “Deep Throat,” “Faces of Death” and “Pink Flamingos.” These films were all successful, “Deep Throat” ran for ten years and grossed over $600 million worldwide, but they did not inspire a generation of viewers to go into porn, commit suicide or eat dog feces. Sometimes a movie is just a movie.

In 2000, “American Psycho,” a film about a wealthy investment banker who goes on a killing spree, was released. The movie was financially successful, and it became a cult classic. But more than a decade later, most investment bankers are not serial murderers, despite what Elizabeth Warren may say.

So it’s high time the older generation got off its high horse and stops thinking a movie is going to ruin its kids. The fact is, millennials and Generation Z will never be as experimental as they were.

The generation that is complaining the most about “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the one that broke all the rules. It explored sex, drugs and violence in ways its children never will. Millennials and Gen Z are living in a world that is clean, corporate, gluten-free and gentrified. Liza Minnelli was wilder in real life at Studio 54 than anything Christian Grey does in fiction.

Generations have now grown up with Madonna, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. They grew up being entertained by them, but never took their entertainment value as anything more than that.  Growing up entertained by someone who may be considered morally degrading does not mean someone will idolize those values as an adult.

Parents should have an open dialog with their children about love, sex and relationships. It's unlikely that a movie will undo all they’ve taught their children.

And if your daughter watches “Fifty Shades of Grey,” it doesn’t mean she's going to explore her sexuality or abandon any ideas of getting married and settling down. Movies don’t have that power, and finding love is something every generation craves. Even Snooki looked for love on the Jersey Shore.