'Fifty Shades of Grey' Is 'Bigger Than Jesus' Because It Beat 'Passion of the Christ's' Box Office Record, Says Fortune Magazine
Fortune Magazine has said that the recently released "Fifty Shades of Grey" film is "more popular than Jesus" after it broke the February box office record that was previously held by Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ."
"Looks like 'Fifty Shades of Grey' is more popular than Jesus," Fortune declared in an article on Tuesday.
According to Box Office Mojo, "Fifty Shades of Grey" earned $85.1 million on its Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend debut, which narrowly beats the $83.8 million earned by 2004's "Passion of the Christ" 11 years ago.
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Mel Gibson's film, depicting the final hours of Christ before the crucifixion, went on to earn over $611.8 million worldwide, making it the most financially successful Christian-based movie ever released.
"Fifty Shades of Grey," based on the romantic erotica book by the same name, has been highly criticized among the Christian community for its presentation of relationships and human sexuality.
"This is a love story, it could be said. But any love story without God gets twisted into a broken, heartbreaking jumble," wrote Paul Asay for Plugged In, which is a publication of Focus on the Family.
The family-values group has in turn been criticized by other Christians for spending the time to review a movie some view as pornography.
"You will never find a review of a pornographic film or TV show here at Gospel Spam. We have a simple policy regarding porn: we don't review it. We review art here," wrote evangelist Shane Dodson in a response.
"Should Christians visit porn sites so they can examine the content in order to warn others about the dangers of pornography? The Scriptures warn us to 'flee from sexual immorality,' not run toward it in the name of evangelism. Even the lost knows that this material is trashy, why is it that a supposed mature Christian ministry hasn't quite figured it out?"
Truth in Action Ministries quoted Proverbs 6:27 on Focus on the Family's Twitter page: "Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?"
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati also warned that that the movie is a "direct assault on Christian marriage."
"The storyline is presented as a romance; however, the underlying theme is that bondage, dominance, and sadomasochism are normal and pleasurable. In the storyline, a young Miss Steele is urged to sign a contract becoming a sex slave and agreeing to an abusive and degrading relationship," Archbishop Dennis Schnurr wrote.
