Fifty Shades of Black is a 2016 American slapstick romantic comedy directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans, who co-wrote and co-produced it. It spoofs the 2015 erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey. It opened in North American theaters on 29 January 2016. Critics hated it almost across the board. It still made about $22 million worldwide on a $5 million budget. For anyone tracking BDSM in pop culture, it is the broad comedy that turns negotiated practice into race jokes, sex jokes, and copied sets.
The spoof plot
The shape follows the original film from an interview into a Red Room. Christian Black is a rich businessman. Hannah Steale is a shy college student. After she interviews him for her school paper, he tries to pull her into what he calls romance. Their BDSM relationship stumbles. He is a bad lover. His adoptive mother, Claire, is written as a racist. His brother Eli is written as hugely well-endowed. Hannah’s roommate Kateesha is written as hypersexual. The main characters are adults. The rape jokes that show up later are a gag critics named as a failure, not something to copy.
Money and the calendar
On 3 June 2015, Open Road Films paid $5 million for U.S. distribution rights to a film that had not been shot. Principal photography started in Los Angeles on 11 August 2015. It opened against Kung Fu Panda 3, The Finest Hours, and Jane Got a Gun. Tracking had suggested $10 million to $11 million from 2,075 theaters. Thursday previews were $275,000. Opening day was $2.3 million. The opening weekend was $5.9 million, tenth for the week. DVD and Blu-ray followed on 19 April 2016. It was Florence Henderson’s last film. She died on 24 November 2016, ten months after release.
The reviews
Rotten Tomatoes has 4 percent from 46 reviews, average about 2.79 out of 10. The consensus says that even for a spoof it is wildly uneven, with fewer laughs than the film it is trying to mock. Metacritic has 28 out of 100 from 11 reviews, generally unfavorable. CinemaScore audiences gave it a C.
Mark Kermode filed it with lame parodies such as Scary Movie and Epic Movie. He went after the wallet-and-car-theft jokes, the fried-chicken jokes, and the limp riffs on Whiplash and Magic Mike. Austin critic Korey Coleman petitioned online for Wayans to stop making parody films and ranked this one among the worst of 2016, tied with Yoga Hosers. J.R. Jones condemned the amplified racial stereotypes and the misogynist swipes, including men repeatedly calling Kali Hawk’s character ugly, and the rape jokes. He also said the costumes and sets showed real attention to detail, and that Hawk nails her Dakota Johnson impression.
Beside the print spoofs, this is the main theatrical parody aimed at the first film, released through Open Road rather than made in-house by a major studio as an SM movie. A $5 million comedy could live off the Grey name. Critics loathed it and people still bought tickets. Mainstream comedy here uses BDSM as a visual shock, including racial and sexual shock, not as a practice built on talking. The sets are copied with care. The film is still crude. It is a document of the 2015 aftershock, not an accurate picture of SM.
