11 yr old boy in Shades of Grey outfit

Oh my God.

I heard the interview with the mother this morning and she did make a valid point. The school suggested that he change his character from Christian Grey (Fifty Shades) to James Bond. As the mother pointed out James Bond's character is hardly a saint is he? Well known for being both a womaniser and for killing people.

For the record I agree with the school not allowing the 50 shades character as it's just wrong on so many levels but to change it to James Bond wasn't exactly very appropriate either.

The mind boggles. Bearing in mind that it has to do with books (not films which are often OTT "cartoon" versions of the heroes), both choices are not right for an 11 year old. But Christian Grey? Sure James Bond not a good alternative, but did she say anything about her first choice?

She said she thought it was just a bit of fun and wouldn't do any harm Grannyknot

Personally I wouldn't expect my DGC to have even heard of 50 Shades !

Lots of characters in books aren't saints but I agree that JB is better than the mysoginist sadistic pathetic excuse for a man Grey character. That mother is a disgrace - if she had a daughter I wonder what she sent her as? I hope the school builds on this with something about representations of women in literature - that could be done at all age levels. At a time when teachers are facing penal sanctions if they don't report suspected abuse, they are supposed to accept a character from a book that is predicated upon women as meat for pathological sexual gratification. The school could also do something on violence towards women. Was it here or on MN that there was a thread last year about the increasing number of young girls going to A and E with injuries after ansl sex that they had felt pressured to 'consent' to?

Anal not ansl - but I expect you guessed!

I don't think JB is very much better actually GrannyTwice . The character after all is well known for sleeping around, womanising, drinking and killing people, so hardly a good role model for a young boy.

Still puzzled as to how the boy had even heard of the Christian Grey character. Perhaps mummy reads 50 shades to him as a bedtime story.

What was this mother thinking? I understood from my DD that the children were to dress up as their favourite character from their favourite book!! I can't imagine that an 11yr. old boy has read 50 Shades of Grey.
My DGC went as a dinosaur, and a pirate! Or perhaps this boy hasn't read a book.

Not much better I agree - but if I had to choose one over the other. But then I wouldn't have to - I agree with you. The mother clearly thought it was funny to do this and she used her son to do do - that's pretty despicable isn't it?

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0543k04

Here's a link to the programme. The interview starts at 2:21:14

What pissed me off was Justin Webb's fawning attitude to the mother. After starting off 'What were you thinking?' in a semi-indulgent tone he totally failed to address any of the issues in the book and why it was completely unsuitable for 11 year-old.
The mother sounded a complete air-head.

I wonder how John Humphreys would have tackled it - or Sarah montague or Michal Hussein.

Talk about bloody hypocrisy all round!

That book, and the film, has been coming at us left, right and centre, through the media for months now. How many eleven year olds have managed not to have heard of it? And how many teachers at that school have read the book and seen the film? Probably all of them, and had a laugh about it in the staff room. But when a kid with the ability to think outside the box catches onto it and decides to do something a bit different, it's shouts of "ostracise him for the day" "bad boy" "bad mum".

Fifty shades of hypocrisy I call it. And that goes for anyone who has read the book or seen the film, and is up in arms about this.

If you must blame anyone, blame society.

good on that boy, I say!

Where is the hypocrisy? There has been much thoughtful intelligent critique of the book ever since it first appeared online. The fact that some 11 year olds may have heard of it doesn't make it acceptable for Book Day. I'm sure lots of teachers and other professionals have read the book / seen the film sadly and laughed about it in private but to accept it in the school like that is a totally different issue. The mother is pathetic and despicable

So jingle if an 11 year old boy knows enough about the book and what it says about abusive relationships and ignoring consent , you think that's OK. I don't blame him whether or not he knows what the book is about but I do blame his mother

And I bet that mum was so relieved the kid had come up with a costume without her having to do anything. World Book Day is a curse to a lot of mums. And I doubt whether it has ever got one child reading who wouldn't have done so anyway. It has benefits for the authors and the publishers. No one else.

jingl, FGS

Do you really think he has read the book Jingle ? I thought that was the idea ......... dress as your favourite character from you favourite book , not dress as Mums Favourite character

Mind you I don't suppose he has read James Bond either

I must admit jings the same issues of hypocrisy occurred to me too. We have been inundated with stuff about the books and the film, so there can't be many 11 year olds who haven't heard of them. Although I think the mother was completely silly to encourage him to go dressed as one of the principal characters, it made me think there must be many households where this is the only book on the shelves.

I also think that 11 years old is a bit long in the tooth to enjoy going to school dressed up as a storybook character - fine for the little ones but surely at this age they are a bit too grown up for that. My DGS of 11 went in his school uniform on Book Day and would have been mortified if he had had to dress up.

Having listened to the full interview (thanks Jane)I get the impression that the mother really doesn't get what is wrong in her 11 year old son dressing up as this character Christian Grey.

I do agree that you would have had to be on another planet to miss the hype leading up to the release of the film . I also agree that suggesting James Bond was a "better" character was a bit of a cheek.

I don't think he knew much about the book. Just enough to understand it has shocked a lot of adults.

I have already stated where the hypocrisy lies.

I think World Book Day is a lovely idea - your cynicism about it says far more about you than it does about it.