Unified Kink Theory: OiM vs 50 Shades · 11:17pm Jul 9th, 2018
Is it bad that I like this? I mean how is it any morally better than 50 shades of grey?
This comment came up in one of the recent chapters of my story Obedience is Magic. Recent in terms of chapter order, if not chronologically.
A new chapter will be out within the next week, though :) The answer to this question can become very complex depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go. Both stories involve a character taking advantage of others, ignoring consent and building abusive relationships. Any claim of a distinction between the two stories must be founded on the assumption that nonconsensual situations can be considered exciting and sexually stimulating and that this isn't inherently problematic.
I strongly believe (obviously) that, in the proper framework, fantasies with nonconsensual elements are totally fine, but that belief was one that took time. I spent many years coming to terms with my interests in hypnosis and mind control, and have accepted that having kinky interests in fantasies that step over the line of consent doesn't make me a bad person, as long as I acknowledge where that line between fantasy and reality lies. So to truly answer this question tempts me to present a sort of Unified Kink Theory that delves into the origins of fetishes, and how they can be expressed in a healthy manner. I had started thinking about this post back in January, but various factors in my life have made it difficult to find time and inspiration to write. Some of those circumstances are shifting so I will be able to toy with these ideas in a self indulgent, multi-part series of unknown length.
Part 1: The distinction from 50 Shades
Both OiM and 50 Shades have nonconsensual and therefore abusive relationships. The real difference is how these relationships are presented to the reader.
I have not read 50 Shades, nor seen any of the films, but have seen excerpts and reviews of trusted critics which give me my impression of the story. To get an extremely clear picture of the issues of 50 Shades, I highly recommend you watch Folding Ideas' video analysis: A Lukewarm Defense of Fifty Shades of Grey (The Movie) which is a full hour dive into the issues with 50 Shades, a reflection on literary tropes in fanfiction, issues with adapting the books into movies, and everything else.
The main issue with 50 Shades that is relevant here is summarized well by the above video with two seperate quotes I've merged together:
Fifty Shades of Grey does not depict either a healthy or unhealthy kink lifestyle but routine domestic abuse....but Erika Mitchell seems convinced that living in constant fear of your sexual partner's temper is just what a kinky sex life looks like.
50 Shades presents itself as depicting a more or less legitimate BDSM relationship. OiM has no pretenses over whether what is happening is benign. Starlight is both implicitly and explicitly the villain and her goals are wrong. This is mostly shown implicitly because most of the story is from the point of view of Starlight, or of those who have fallen to her hypnosis. Starlight believes she is the hero of her own story, but her actions are often justified by very flimsy rationalizations. Her villainy is shown in an explicit way from the meta-narrative. One of the prime changes in OiM from the canon of MLP is that Starlight's moment of redemption is false. In OiM, she is still focused on revenge but has selected a very different route to accomplish it.
So from Word of God, Starlight is the bad guy. Thus far she has been winning and it's quite possible she will attain ultimate victory. But it's okay to like the story anyway and to enjoy watching Starlight's villainy and successes. Next time I get around to it, I'll make a blog discussing a bit more on why that is.
I don’t get the sense that we’re supposed to root for Star like we are for Grey.
4898233
In a porn sense you root for Starlight as the source of all the mind control porn :P. So far there's no organized force opposing her.
Nice to see your back in action. The main one that sticks out for me in 50 shades is when the dude keeps on going at it even after she has said there safe word, meaning that she is no longer consenting to it. And yet this is seen as kinky.
In OIM we literally see Starlight take away Twilight’s ability to say the safeword making her forcefully consent 24/7, and the story makes it very clear that this is a bad thing
4898244
There's Princess Twilight's special mc task force in FiMC that is quite literally an organized force opposing Starlight Glimmer right now.
4898462
That would be an interesting crossover story, replacing the FiMC Starlight with OiM's. What do you call a crossover fanfiction of two fanfictions?
4898730
A collaboration, a homage or a spin-off, depending on who writes it and how, I'd guess.
...or just a crossover, I suppose.
Going by what we've seen of FiMC's Starlight so far, your Starlight with her more traditional methods would have to be pretty sneaky to stand a chance. Then again, subtlety and subterfuge are two things she definitely has over FiMC Starlight.