So I was really late on the Sex in the City Movie bandwagon. I watched the film many months after it was released, so I didn't bother blogging on my thoughts.
I have to admit that I have a soft spot for cheesy romantic comedies. I think it's an escapist thing for me--the movies have NOTHING to do with my life, so I can detach and just enjoy the simple plot lines and general silliness of the movie. Maybe I'll write an (Un)feminist Guilty Pleasures post about this soon.
Via Bitch Magazine Blog, a sequel to the Sex in the City Movie is in the works. Although I can often shut off my critical feminist voice during these kinds of movies (as I did when watching the entire series), the movie was just too much. Or maybe I've changed. Either way, the fact that the only two people of color in the entire movie were Charlotte's adopted Chinese daughter and Carrie's African-American assistant rubbed me wrong way. In some ways, the complete absence of people of color in the series (with a few small exceptions) didn't highlight it as much as a movie with two people of color playing really minimal rolls.
And that doesn't even begin to cover all the other complaints we could have about Sex in the City. But now that there is a sequel in the making, it presents a new opportunity.
Tammy at the Bitch Magazine blog asks:
What are your hopes for the sequel?
I hope they can address some of the issues around Charlotte's adoption. The series did a good job of showing her struggles with infertility in a relatively realistic manner, but totally dropped the ball on the adoption piece. I also hope they can incorporate some characters of color who are not so marginal or tokenized.
What about you?
For Samhita's take on SATC, go here.
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First, I really did not appreciate the way that the SATC movie handled Samantha's "weight gain." Seriously, I was there with a couple of girlfriends and we had not even noticed that she had gained any weight until everyone in the film made a big deal of it. We all had a genuine "what are they talking about?" moment.
That being said, I think something can be "not-feminist" without being explicitly anti-feminist, and I think SATC is a good example of that. The show portrays obnoxious rich white women as they are, and as it turns out they don't have black friends, only adopt as a last resort, and are self obsessed. They were still some of the most realistic characters on tv, to me, owing to good writing. There have been episodes that considered racial issues, and confronted the fact that, surprise, they weren't part of a racial diverse, open minded community and black people (on the show) didn't appreciate being patronized by them. I usually hate this expression, because it sounds like "boys will be boys," but Sex in the City is what it is, you know? It isn't pure evil, it has some pro-woman themes, but it's still a stupid big-budget franchise kept alive in order to convince us to buy shit we don't need.
I guess I think it's kind of unfair to place political or social expectations on one crappy movie sequel and not some other crappy movie sequel, when so many others are so much worse.
Yea! I remember looking around to see my friends faces when they did all that over the...dun dun dunnnnn WEIGHT GAIN. I couldnt believe that was such a big fiasco in the storyline. Pity.
And I agree with the fact that something can be not-feminist but not anti-feminist. Sometimes its the not-feminist ones that really piss me off because their so close all I can think is...man, you had the ability to tackle this or that subject. So disappointing.
"obnoxious rich white women as they are"
I think Carrie was supposed to be a poor journalist. All her income derived from her column. As someone who works in communications I can laugh about that one for about ten minutes. She would have been eating a can of beans every night if that was the case.
I'm not entirely sure who the audience is for SATC, but I am confident that I am not it. I found nothing redeeming about the show or the film, though the film was worse than the show for sure. Both are just more Racist, Sexist, Consumerist Pop-Feminism. Even on an aesthetic level, there was absolutely nothing interesting about it. And the only reason they're making another one is because the first one brought in a ton of money. So, I say feminists who aren't fans of SATC save their own $$ during this time of economic crisis and spend it on something that you actually need instead of on something that simply reinforces the world that these women live in, which to my mind is a world that I find highly offensive to my feminist sensibilities.
And if you MUST watch it, for goodness sake, find it for free on the Interweb. Don't spend your cash on it.
I never liked Sex and the City because it seemed to take place on some distant planet and the aliens spoke another language.
It did not reflect me or any of the women I know. First of all, I am a minority which meant there was zero people to identify with. Second the women lived in a magic Candyland with sex sprinkled all around and their adventures seemed neither funny or relevant to me. It was not escapism.
It was more like when I started reading fantasy novels only to discover all the princesses were white in a Medivialesque land and the strange feeling I would be an unwanted guest there.
Besides, what the hell would a second movie be about? Carrie has a baby and they throw a huge pink shower? Oh the chaos! Oh the fun! Oh the antics of a grouchy pregnant woman. Watch as Carrie feels fat and has to give up her beloved high-heels in favour of comfortable flats.
The horror!
"It was more like when I started reading fantasy novels only to discover all the princesses were white in a Medivialesque land and the strange feeling I would be an unwanted guest there."
This is one reason why Ursula K. Le Guin was so annoyed about the TV adaptation of her Earthsea series -- whites are a distinct minority in Earthsea. Le Guin said that she had gotten letters from people of colour thanking her for writing a fantasy setting in which they would feel welcome.
Why is this so hard to ask for? I mean. Its like weeeee beeeeeggg for it. As a Black woman I search, scan, delve into the damn movie looking for a minority woman who is just as interesting as the other characters. I await for a movie to just have one Black female social type?! Not a stereotype. The first one limited Jennifer Hudson. Of course, she was some Black girl who couldnt afford purses and rolled her head. She was helpful and obedient and all that good stuff. Okay, got it. Shit, I am sure there are Black women out there like that. Yes. But can we put a minority in the movie that doesnt have to be so limited to their stereotypes. Also. Where are my korean sisters and my indian sisters and my japanese sisters and my puerto rican sisters and my mexican sisters. The list goes on.
Shit. I know they only have space for one. But I at least hope they dont limit their character. And lets not even get on gay/lesbian/transgender/bisexual representation. I dont have the freakin time!
*Rant Over*
Can I also ask why in shows like Sex and the City all career women work in PR/Communications, Design or Art. Law is like OK as long as its not one of those dingy lawyers who take on *gasp* poor and ugly looking customers.
There's no female scientists, engineers or computer programmers. Shit, there's also no factory workers because we know everyone is comfortably middle class. I mean, the thought of a female plumber is just out there.
Sorry if I sound grumpy but this plus the racial stuff plus a host of other things makes me go grrrr.
At least Doctor can be added to the list (from shows like Grey's anatomy and Scrubs)
I was thinking specifically of the chick flicks and chick shows (I would say Grey's Anatomy doesn't qualify as such). Movies like Sex and the City, The Devil Wears Prada, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Nanny Diaries. Even Bridget Jones. In these "chick flicks" (or chick shows, like Lipstick Jungle) seldom is there chick in question doing anything outside of the field of PR/Communications/Design.
Furthermore, people working in this field are presented in a completely unrealistic way. I worked for a big newspaper, worked in post-production and now work in communications and it is not the pink-frilly world you see in movies.
Furthermore, I remember when Katherine Hepburn played characters such as a reporter and she was not the giggly mess that now stands as the personification of women in communications.
I think Greys Anatomy is totally a chick show. Scrubs not so much.
But more to the point, I think the people who work in Hollywood know most about fields like advertising, PR, etc, and so its easiest to write about what you know.
I'm going into communications. I can also program. Stop generalizing.
Have you seen a chick flick character that does programming? I'm talking about representations of women in TV shows and movies.
If in secret Bridget Jones is an HTML-guru so what? We never get to see it on screen.
Oh, and I did say that people on communications are portrayed in a completely unrealistic way. So.
Not on topic, but let's discuss this ad:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2009/jan/05/virgin-atlantic-ad
My favorite part is how the airplane itself symbolically becomes a woman at the end... because women are vehicles...that are happy to let people indiscriminately ride them.
I didn't start watching Sex & The City until the last season and I instantly fell in love with it; after that I got caught up with the other seasons by watching reruns. I also loved the first movie and can't wait to see the sequel. It never bothered me that there weren't any black/people of color main characters; i really didn't even notice until i started read criticisms of the show. even as a young black woman who grew up working class i was still able to identify a little bit with each of the characters (especially Charlotte). Even though I completely understand the feminist and racial criticisms of the show, it doesn't stop me from liking it.
So all throughout the show (im assuming you've caught up) and even throughout the movie you were never bothered by the minority representation? Or even just some of the off comments and such?
I loovveee the show and the movie. I am a Black middle class young woman. (Oh and I identify with Charlotte the most as well :o) haha). I love shoes and purses and all that good stuff and its funny. But I definetely notice things that are a lil bothersome. Case in point...in the movie, when miranda is looking for a place to stay, I believe it was Brookyln, I forget...and their lost and she says "Follow that white guy" or something like that...you didnt think...wait a damn minute? Or the one episode when Sammantha dates a Black man and I mean...theres so much in that episode...
It just popped out to me. I don't know. I guess everyone watches things with their own eyes and perspectives.
I think she says something about following the guy with the stroller, but maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Things like that do stand out for me, though the entire movie is really pretty stupid. So in general my hopes is that there is not a sequel. But barring that, please for the love of god DO NOT make Carrie have a baby. Nothing could be further from her personality!
She says "White guy with a baby!" and then follows him. This is just one of the many cringe-worthy moments throughout the movie that are now stuck in my head, though it's been months since I've seen it -- another one being something along the lines of "Women care about two things...labels and love." Ugh. Seriously?
And then it's considered so romantic (she gives him the what a man eyes) when Big swoops in to "build" Carrie a better closet. Is he going to actually build it? No, he's going to have it built with his millions, just as he's buying her a penthouse with his millions. Oh swoon.
My issue with this show, other than the fact that it has close to zero class and race analysis, that it encapsulates an extremely narrow microcosm of women (all white, upper-middle class), and that the main characters are essentially oversimplified archetypes (the good girl, the slut, and the career woman, with Carrie as the sum-of-all-parts narrator), is this: in this era when Sex and the City is viewed as the quintessential "women's show," frivolous things like designer shoes and cocktails have become (wrongly, in my view) synonymous with empowerment. It's unfortunate that women are reduced to such a stereotype after all these years.
That being said, I am so thoroughly entertained by the show that I've probably seen every single episode, cringing all the way.
Yeah, that moment was pretty awful. That was when I started full on hating the movie. As if Jennifer Hudson's character wasn't enough.
I also love how, no matter how unrepresented a minority is, as soon as a character gets a romantic storyline, "one of their own" always shows up for them to get with.
It's one of the reasons I hate Hollywood.
I'd really prefer not to have a sequel. I didn't even really care for the first movie. I thought the show wrapped up everything quite nicely and required drama that wasn't really in line with the characters in order to have a plot.
Oh, I left out words there, the show wrapped it up nicely and then the MOVIE required drama that wasn't in line with the characters. Sorry I didn't get that right the first time around.
EXACTLY! They completely changed Miranda's personality for the movie and made her regress back to the person she was at the beginning of the series. UGH! She was my favorite and that irritated me so much. And also Steve would never have cheated on Miranda. And I never thought Big and Carrie should've married, they just should've stayed together as they were. The series ending was perfect and then they went and mucked things all up!
Let me preface this by saying that I love everyone at Feministing & usually I agree with everything posted on this site 100%.
However, I'm really tired of seeing shows like SATC being ragged on constantly because it's "not feminist enough." I have the same beef with people who give "The L Word" a hard time for very similar reasons.
It's nearly impossible to show people from every race, class, gender, sexuality, religion etc. You'll always be dissapointing someone who is not represented. I also have a hard time because everyone always talks about J.Hud being the only African-American in the cast, but doesn't complain about other feminist-y things like how the few gay/lesbian characters on the show have been portrayed very stereotypically, the character's economic statuses are almost unbelievable, etc.
I can see the problems with these shows, but that's what they are, television shows based on one writer's/director's/actor's view of the world. This goes double for SATC, since it was based on the newspaper columns written by Candace Bushnell, which she based on her life & her friends. SATC is on an entirely different level than the actual un-feminist trash on tv right now like "Shot at Love" & almost every other show on VH1 & MTV.
All of this may cause some to want to revoke my feminist card, but with all the issues out there, I think I speak for all the SATC fans that read feministing when I say cut my girls some slack, I'll be first in line for the sequel.
Oh and p.s. the Samantha "weight-gain" thing was completely ridic, I even cringed a little in the theater. But I'm convinced the only reason that was in the movie was for the, "What exactly are you eating? Everything except Dante's dick," joke, which I still laugh at.
/rant.
Yeah, I agree with you. The movie had its obvious problems (as did the show), but at its core it was about multifaceted women who love and support each other. In the age of "Bride Wars," which had "best friends" turning on each other over nothing, a new SATC movie will be very welcome.
If it's only a television show, then we probably shouldn't criticize ads, books, movies, music videos or any other female representationin popular culture that we have issues with because it is just an ad, book, movie, etc.
I cringe when I see the stuff the Lifetime network tries to serve me as an interesting movie of the week and I also cringe at some of the stuff that takes place on several TV shows. I don't think it is naughty of me to point out what I don't like about a show. I'm not ragging on nothing.
I think thats EXACTLY the problem. Your right...this is coming from a persons perspective of the world. Its their life. But why is it that these are the people that are usually given the opportunity to have a show and display their life, views, beliefs, what have you.
I think the biggest reason why these shows get "ragged" on is because where in the hell is our representation? I would like every movie and show to be feminist, but I am living in a dreamworld. But thats not the issue really. To me, I think..okay, whatever. If this is your life broadcast it! But give others the opportunity to do so as well. This wouldnt be a problem if it wasnt "Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sex in the City, He's Just Not That Into You (INSERT CHIC FLICK HERE). The problem isnt that THESE particular movies exists more than it is that WHERE is the movie with the people of color and the gays and fat people and this and that. THESE are the movies that are put out. Translation: THESE are the experiences that are broadcasted. That "matter." White, Upper Middle Class, Straight Women. Its not about why cant a Black person be in every movie in the world. Or why cant a lesbian couple be in every movie. Or yadda yadda. It's about having some representation somewhere. Come on...its ridiculous.
As far as the Samantha weight gain, this is why it was a big deal: the character of Samantha would never gain weight like that unless something was wrong. In her world, that is fat. She's very superficial (I love her but it's true) and she'd just never let herself get the slightest bit out of shape unless she was unhappy with her life. So that's what that was representing. It wasn't saying that that was fat in general, but for Samantha it showed that something was definitely wrong.
I'm not looking forward to the sequal (although I'll probably see it). I thought, like alixana, that everything was wrapped up very nicely in the series and the movie kind of took away from that. The movie actually really let me down, especially with what they did to Miranda's character.
But I do agree with a lot of the stuff you're saying common reaction. I think SATC gets a bad rap on a lot of stuff as if they're supposed to encompass everything in one show. And of course a lot of the stuff in it is unbelievable...it is a tv show after all. But I also think a lot of people look at this as bad or anti-feminist because the women love material things, but I love shoes and clothes too!
I don't know, I could go on about this for a while, but I'm not going to. SATC is one of my favorite shows.
I agree with you.
The show was really bad in a lot of ways. But it was also really good, and it really disappoints me to see people calling it blatantly unfeminist. Nothing is going to be perfect, and I think for discussions of popculture it's really important to praise the good and criticize the bad, not write the whole thing off.
common_reaction,
I agree with you. I think it's important for most feminists to be radical but act practical. if we all decide to "only" support the things that match our ideals, then we will never be able to bring feminism to the mainstream.
for practical reasons I support sex and the city, at least we are not watching 12 men rob a casino again (although I love george clooney)...
and the reason we are all pissed off for not being represented, or that we think we are misrepresented (the film doesn't even correctly represent white women) it's because there are not enough films about us.
we need more films to portray different types of women. and sex and the city will then be a cheesy version of us.... but we have to admit this is the film that's opening doors for future films on women and hopefully even one day feminist films who make craploads of money!
If I see Carrie continue to get screwed over by Big, and continue to want to be with him, I'll vomit. Samantha and Miranda had problems with their significant others and dealt with them (in very different ways, which I won't give away for those who didn't see the movie), which I could respect, but I've never been able to see the (bad pun alert!) Big deal.
Yeah, honestly, I've seen the series and the movie and honestly I feel I hardly know anything more about Big's interests and motivations than I did in episode one. It seems like the writers just have him do random things in order to give Carrie something to react to and add "drama" to the plot. "I'm moving away!" "Now I'm getting married, even though I said I would never do so again!" "Oops, now I've decided to have an affair with you!" and so on and so forth.
I was completely shocked and horrified over that scene with Samantha's weight gain. Like many of the other commenter on this thread I was confused by the scene and thought maybe they were shocked that she was now toting along a dog.
My major issue with the movie was that it bears no resemblance to the show. Yes, the show wasn't perfect in terms of it's depictions of women but it was groundbreaking in that it made women frankly discussing their sexuality and sexual pleasure more acceptable. The movie however wasn't aimed at pleasing the original uncut HBO audience...it targeted the neutered and sanitized TBS version of sex and the city. This is why I walked out of the theatre disappointed and I certainly won't be making any efforts to see the next one.
I enjoyed the tv show but was disappointed by the movie. If there's a sequel, I'd like to see plotlines that revolve around something other than weddings, clothes and babies.
I'd also like to see it be less Carrie-centric. I've always thought that Carrie was the least interesting or believable character in the show. This was not such a problem in the show, since she also served as narrator and the other characters got more or less equal billing. Unfortunately, in the movie all the emphasis was on Carrie and that dragged it down.
Lastly, I'd like to see the return of "Dante", preferably in another full-frontal nudity scene;-)
I have never been a fan, and I didn't see the film. But I wished from the bottom of my heart that it's successful. While we have ideals, we have to know where we stand in reality and in the film industry women are at step negative one! We are not acknowledged as "customers" and so the films are not made for us.
main characters are almost always male, and women are stuck in stereotypical and uninteresting roles. Women above forty are playing the roles of grandmothers and women's sexual desires are only seen in their desire to fulfill men's desires!
so this show and this movie is a big leap.
what would make it so that I would actually watch it? less emphasis on appearance and fashion, and less shaming (fat-talk, hair removal talk, etc.).
I think it is actually time for them to take the next step....
Agreed - it's many imperfections aside, SATC 2 would begin with four women in main roles, at least one of whom was 50+ and still considered desirable and sexual.
That's got to count for something.
I'm not desperate to see it, because the movie focussed so much on Carrie and Big, who I'm just not interested in. Nonetheless, I think it has something to offer.
Things I'd like to see:
* Sam facing some attitude for trying to be sexy at 50, and then challenging it.
* Charlotte meeting with some racist remarks on the street when she's out with her daughter, and them all having to think a bit about what it's like NOT to be a rich white person.
* Carrie attempting to interact with a gay man who *shock* doesn't care about shoes! Hilarity ensuing when she tries to talk to him in stereotypes and has to learn that actually, all gay people are different.
I know that a single movie cannot be all things to all people but I think that the above would improve matters whilst still remaining inside the remit of the show.
I, like Miriam, liked this movie, but I'm not a fan on the whole. I watched it once, but it's not something I would recommend to others or want to watch with my friends on movie nights. I'm very particular of my "chick flicks". I don't like the formulaic ones. Films like "The Prince and Me" (or whatever it's called) or "27 Dresses" or even "Two Weeks Notice".
My favorite romantic comedies are "Bridget Jones' Diary", and "Love Actually". Not that they are particularly feminist (they aren't), but because they don't adhere to the "boy meets girl" formula that is repeated so often in Hollywood.
And just for trivia, my favorite movies are Kill Bill 1&2. While they may not be particularly feminist, it's definitely not a stereotypical gender role for women and I find it very empowering.
I hate this show not because of all the reasons people listed up there (ie not being socially-politically correct for not having black people, or latinos for that matter) but because it reinforces sexist stereotypes and the whole show revolves around the notion that women in the end, despite a good job or friends, always ponder about not being married, etc. The exception is Samantha. Carrie's relationship to Mr. Big is one typical of a romantic comedy, she loves him, but he's not ready to commit and of course she waits and waits for him. She's that desperate, as are all women according to the stereotype. I hate that show.
One of my ex girlfriends used to love this show. She made me watch it with her one night...I figured I'd give it a try. I don't think I even made it through 'till the end. I hate most TV in general...but this just re-affirmed my reason for not having had a TV these past 10 years...and I don't go to the movies either.
That must be one heck of an unpolluted psyche you're working with. I envy you.
I second that!
If there is one gender stereotypical show it is SATC. I do not look forward to this, to see women craving for men, to have a plot where you can beat cancer by dressing 'up', biological clocks who become relationship destroyers etcetera. Around me, women watch it, and it becomes a guidance show for their relationship. I hate it how popular culture becomes the norm for 'the real world'.
I actually think it is okay to have shows or movies where the cast is mostly comprised of one racial or ethnic group because that is what a lot of people's interpersonal circles look like. Lots of wealthy white people have a social group comprised of friends who live and look like them and the same goes for many other sub groups.
ME TOO.
This may seem strange to most folks but many people not all but many people tend to hang around people similar to them whether it be racially, economically, or even just by similar interests. If Samantha gets a new rival a work who happens to be black or Asian that's sounds okay, but I wouldn't want to see the SATC women hanging out with Carrie's black friend from Harlem, that would just be pandering to the audience.
Should "black" movies now feature more white characters. I want the movie to feel as real as possible I don't want the scenes or relationships to feel forced.
For the record I think SATC (the show) did a good job showing the experiences of these four women. It is not supposed to represent every women in America.
SATC is one thing that can get me so riled up, so I am going to make this as short as I can. After watching a few epsiodes of SATC for a women in the media class, I decided (when i had a ton of free time) to watch the entire series. Before I had only seen an episode here or there, and I really enjoyed them, but once I had seen everything in its entirety it made me furious.
The reason it got to me is because this show IS cutting edge in the way that it talks about women's friendships and sex openly. However, everything else is stereotypical. These women are such great friends, but they hardly ever talk about anything not pertaining to men. These are smart career women--there has to be SOMETHING else they are interested in!
Then there was the excruciating 3 hour product placement, which was the movie. Seriously, all I could think after was how disappointed I was that these same writers are the same people who came up with he's just not that into you. how can they make sooooo much money telling you how to tell when to let a guy go and then have carrie MARRY big? he embodies every characteristic in that stupid book (and now movie).
i know it is "just a tv show," but since it is the closest thing to feminist how can i help but want the standard to be higher?