Sex and the City Converts a Skeptic of the Show

I laughed when a friend showed me a card from Someecards that read: "I hope Sex and the City retains the show's ability to make me feel poor, boring, lonely, and terribly dressed. " The card hilariously summed up the reasons why I was never a huge fan of the show. Save for the time I was homesick studying abroad a semester in college, and a friend's DVD collection of all the show's seasons strangely made me feel re-connected to my hometown, I could never accept that Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte represented the modern New York woman. I loved the fashion, but not the idea that the only women enjoying full and exciting lives were the ones with huge salaries who always had the time to lunch together on weekdays, had sex partners in the high double-digits, and seemed to only worry about their love/sex lives, fashion, food, parties and not other things in life like, say, politics, global warming, spirituality, and other things like that.

Nevertheless, I left Sex and the City: The Movie laughing and entertained. Maybe because of my past feelings of the show, or maybe because I went into the theater less critical of it, it seems from a quick reading of other reviews that I enjoyed the film more than most. Fans and critics alike seem to be disappointed with the writing, the dialogue and the direction of each characters' personal arcs, and I can see why. The dialogue does not seem as witty as it once was on the show, the characters hardly seem self-reflective about their life choices (cross-cultural adoptions, gentrification anyone?), the obstacles each character faces seems a bit predictable, and there is that nagging voice telling you when watching that life's messes and complexities do not get cleaned up so nicely in the real world.

None of those potential weaknesses, however, take away from the teddy-bear good feeling of seeing an affirmation of the sustaining power and love of positive, long-lasting female friendships. And as Manhola Dargis pointed out in her May 4th New York Times article , in a summer season, or year-long season if you will, where there is a dearth of female-lead films, part of the pleasure in viewing Sex and the City may come from seeing women on film who are not love interests, mere sex objects, and have some semblance of complexity to their lives and personality.

Even though I still have my issues with the show and could find more with the film, I recommended it to fans and foes of the show afterwards. Go see it and have a good time, if for nothing else, to enjoy the shoes, clothes and accessories that most New York women can only dream about having.

Comments

[zakia6]

i agree! while i had my issues with the movie, and its use of racialized images and ultimate patriarchal conclusions, i absolutely love love love the focus on the strength of women's relationships with each other! the foundation of the show, i'd argue, more than anything else, is these women's friendships with each other, but most people don't focus on that aspect of the show.

[PACRATFLT]

I was very pleased with the SEX AND THE CITY Movie. It finally reached a conclusion for all of these fabulous ladies I have been watching since the series began, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well as the movie.

I bought the entire DVD collection and hopefully the movie will be out on DVD in due time so I can have it too. My wife, who had never watched the series, really enjoyed the movie. Now, we can watch the entire DVD collection together so she can appreciate the great stories they gave to us.

In the real lives of our four ladies, I follow them on the Internet and the media whenever possible. I do not know what is next for them, but independently, they are stars in their own right. However, they are type-cast as the ladies we have loved to watch in the series and it would be out-of-character to see them in any other roles.

As a member of SAG myself, I know that when we say, "Break a leg" to someone who is about to give a performance, that these SEX AND THE CITY ladies will also break my heart to see them go. I wish them all the best of luck in whatever roles they star in next.

Is there any chance of a follow-up on this movie? One can only hope.
PACRATFLT

[ProudLiberalDan]

I am a huge fan of the show and I was incredibly happy with the film.

The issues in the movie along with Carrie's "new book" is what happens after you've found love, instead of the seeking of it for most of the series one.

I thought the movie matured in its storytelling as these forty-something women have matured.

True, it didn't have the initial "edge" the series had, but the emotional wounds in the movie also cut far closer to the bone. I think that is appropriate. The older we get, the far higher the stakes of our relationship choices. I've matured in the past four years, so have these characters.

Everyone I know who is a fan of the show and has seen the movie has loved it.

I'm going to see it a second time next weekend and I cannot wait to get the DVD.

[LLroomtempJ]

Excellent observations. I thought that the show, from what i saw of it, was VERY well-written. I also thought that it had EXCEPTIONAL photography - i'll never forget the episode when Sarah Jessica Parker and her off-on b/f (i think his name is Christopher Wallace or something like that) broke up in his kitchen...i was in awe of how well the director captured that scene.

haven't seen the movie yet, don't plan to catch it in theaters...i'll wait for the blu-ray.

What's funny to me is that I have this friend named zakia...and i'm certain that if she read this article, she would want to fight you. Not that i'm trying to start any beef or anything like that...