The 'Fifty Shades of Grey' author had a Twitter chat. It went off the rails BIG TIME.

#AskELJames is the hashtag. They might have seen this coming.

 Angie Aker
06.29.15

Here's the thing: No matter how you feel about BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, masochism), most domestic abuse survivors and fetishists agree that what author E.L. James put out into the world with "Fifty Shades of Grey" is not an accurate description of it. Ever since the books have become popular, both camps have been outspoken about the fact that it more closely resembles domestic abuse than fair role-playing.

Here's how people made that point using today's prime Twitter-tunity.

There were concerned friends asking for other friends:

There were people who took their time to craft just the right thing:

There were people seeking guidance after her "model" didn't work so well for them:

There were people searching for a sign of deeper meaning:

There were earnest, straightforward types with damn good questions:

There was pop culture cross-pollination:

There were call-outs about the times fiction turned into horrific reality:

There were the folks feeling empathy for E.L. James' PR people:

Finally, there was the question that drove home the point of the backlash and the brilliant irony of it all:

All of this points to readers who, like Christian Grey, have very singular tastes — you know, for responsible literature that doesn't romanticize abuse when it gets kinky. Let's hope the publishers and authors are listening.

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