'50 Shades Of Grey' Has Dominant Debut But Leaves Some Fit To Be Tied

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)  —  The controversial film "50 Shades Of Grey" had, as expected, a dominant opening weekend at the box office -- and the weekend is far from over.

But as KCAL9's Greg Mills reports, a controversy involving the film is just getting started.

A small group of dominatrix protested the film at L.A. Live on Saturday. They handed out literature but mostly kept a low profile, Mills reported.

Mills spoke to a theater employee who said the film is being screened in several theaters with start times on the hour -- and pretty much all of the shows have been sold out.

Nationally, the movie is expected to pull in about $89 million at the box office -- a record for President's Day weekend.

The film does have its detractors.

Mills said a group of dominatrix are not fans -- they believe the movie is depicting the sado-masochistic (S&M) experience unfairly.

"This movie portrays S&M like a mental illness," says Tara Indiana, a dominatrix. "I am here because for most people, their first exposure to what S&M is, is going to be this [movie.] And S&M is my sexual orientation and my lifestyle."

"Everyone is not the same," argued moviegoer Sandy Rodriguez, anxious to see the flick. "They can do what they want to do," she said about the protesters.

Mills spoke to fans who were, a bit curious.

"Just for the sex," said Nyesha Williams, "I never read the book."

Mills was personally surprised by the number of people attending the movie who hadn't read the book, especially the husbands and boyfriends who were apparently dragged to the movie.

"I heard interesting things about it," said one man, "it has a lot of adult scenes. Why not?"