What started out as “Twilight” fan fiction has turned into an unstoppable monster. Yes, it’s time the pop culture column discusses one of the largest pop culture phenomena of the year: eBook-turned-print sensation “50 Shades of Grey.”

It was a banner week for the three-book franchise by British writer E.L. James. The short list of screenwriters for the movie adaptation was released. The very vocal writer Bret Easton Ellis (“American Psycho” and “The Rules of Attraction”) wasn’t on that list and made sure he told his Twitter followers. A 15-track musical compilation inspired by tunes from the book has also been announced.

Oh, and the book just became the bestselling book of all time in the U.K. “50 Shades” surpassed “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” in all-time book sales.

All that’s left is for James to be crowned the new queen of England.

If you’ve actually been living under a Wi-Fi-free rock, “50 Shades” is the kink-filled, bondage-loving rewrite of “Twilight.” Virginal Anastasia Steele meets sexy, mysterious Christian Grey, and they start an S&M relationship. It’s a lot like Stephanie Meyer’s novels, except James actually included all the sexual parts readers desperately wanted.

“50 Shades” has been dubbed “mommy porn” because older women swear by its gripping erotica. But college women are flipping through “50 Shades’” pages just as eagerly.

While most pop culture waves only affect a certain segment of the population, this is something that literally everyone is doing. The franchise looks a lot more like a tsunami. I’ve caught a fair share of women reading the erotica on New York City subways without a care in the world. Somehow reading pornography in literature form has become the norm.

The important question about “50 Shades” isn’t how it became so popular. It matters why everyone is reading it. A pretty obvious answer is that “50 Shades” talks about taboo sex in a pretty frank and detailed way. You hear about S&M. You see all the BDSM toys in movies or weird Google results. Rihanna’s always singing about how much “chains and whips excite her.”

But unless you have a pretty adventurous partner, S&M is difficult to try out. That’s an awkward conversation to start out of the blue. At least “50 Shades” is a gateway into that world without actually taking part in any activities. It’s voyeurism at its best.

Plus, if people are really interested in trying some of Ana and Christian’s moves out, they have a much easier explanation for their partners.

The series also very oddly highlights a common fear for almost anyone: death. It might not have that connection for the college crowd, but for longtime married women, “50 Shades” is a promise.

Yes, they’ve been having sex with the same person for decades, but they can still spice up the bedroom. They’re not stuck in the same — ahem — positions for the rest of their lives. Maybe they won’t die in unfulfilled marriages. The looming specter of old age and everything that comes with it — menopause, wrinkles and drastically lowered libidos — seems a little further off.

James’ erotica franchise may not be the best prose ever written. But it’s definitely offering audiences more than its predecessor, “Twilight,” ever did.

Ariana Romero is a junior magazine journalism and political science major. Her column appears every week. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @ArianaRomero17.

Published on August 10, 2012 at 2:48 pm