My gay friends LOVE Sex and the City. I mean LOVE it. (Lurve it.)
I don't.
I've watched it, but I just can't get into it. I'm just not that into it, I guess.
So when I went to see the movie, and went to see what this post-feminist celebration written by gay men for straight women who are doing it for themselves was all about, I went with an open mind.
It shut pretty fast.
Yes, it was fun, and frothy, and made me want to have a pajama party with my friends and get my hair done and talk about boys. But that happens every day.
And I do like the fact that it is a film with four female leads (how many films are out there that you can say that about?) and are talking about sexuality openly and frankly.
I could see the positive aspects of the film.
But I also saw its downsides.
The biggest problems were the equation of female empowerment with excessive materialism, and how Carrie's storyline seemed to be designed to exploit any latent desires to be spoiled rotten. And the fact that the girls were never shown working and seemed to have lots of time to lunch (and even jet over from California for that purpose).
But another less apparent problem were the dated stereotypes that kept popping up like pimples.
There was the annoying flaming gay wedding planner. Loud, obnoxious, irritating, nasally, shrill. And not even one ounce of funny. How inventive is that for a gay character? Why would any girl want to be friends with that? Cripes.
And then there was the Asian guy who applied to be Carrie's assistant. He was wearing a business suit, and pulled out his feet to reveal he was wearing pink high heels. That was just weird. At the full house screening I was at, no one laughed. It was just a stunned silence.
Of course, I'm sure the writers don't give a shit about the fact that it plays into the racist stereotype of Asian men constantly portrayed as effeminate (which dates back to colonial times) and that he was the only Asian male in the film.
But obviously Asians weren't on their mind really when it was clear that they wanted to address African Americans.
And who did they get? Jennifer Hudson. Not a girl who could rival the other four in looks and potentially become a fifth member (although they might start calling her Scary Spice and confuse the gang with the Spice Girls reunited). But a larger sized girl (who isn't anywhere near the size of the other girls, since it's all about how they look) who is an assistant to Carrie, becomes a mother figure to her by taking care of her and nursing her out of her funk. (Or putting the funk back in her trunk.)
Lemme see ... black mammy stereotype ... black servant racism and classism ... never interacts with the other girls even though she aspires to emulate their lifestyle ... is sent off back home ....
But hey, Jennifer Hudson was on the cover of Vogue so I guess that makes everything okay! Strike a pose! Woo!
Now that's progress!
Makes you want to pull out a cancer stick and sigh "You've come a long way, baby."
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Great comments on Sex and the City, especially in noting that the women weren't shown working (at anything but relationships, anyways). What's with that? Just wanted to point out that there was, in fact, a second Asian character in the film: Charlotte's daughter. We mustn't overlook her just because she's small and female.
Also, I do think that Jennifer Hudson is gorgeous--much better looking than Carrie and Miranda. Don't you think she'd make a fab fifth? It's her chutzpah and her brand new Academy Award sheen that got her the gig, I'm fairly sure. Do you know if they just handed her the gig or if hundreds of African-American (or not) actresses auditioned for that role? I didn't see her so much as a slave or mother figure as an effective personal assistant who could really whip a perplexed boss into better shape. Speaking as a hetero Caucasian female, if there were any stereotypes in the film for me, it was women either having to constantly forgive real jerks--I won't include any spoilers here--in order to have real and lasting love or women needing to pop out a biological baby to be utterly fulfilled, and good guys cramping women's style. But that's just me. That said, hands up anyone who wants to help me chuck Miranda's Steve off the Brooklyn Bridge!
SATC's magic, I submit, is that it takes the internal, personal storms brewing in the hearts of your average 2008 women, and inflates them to heroic-scale parables.
So Carrie's storyline - and her latent desires to be spoiled rotten - I think really accurately reflect ambivalence about gender roles.
Consider this. In my grandmother's 20s, she was expected to keep house, have kids, be part of the community, maintain extended family relationships, etc. My grandfather worked.
Now, your average woman in her 20s (and up) has all those tasks on her hands - plus her family depends on her to bring home the veggie bacon, as well. (I know this is an old argument, but stay with me...) She's exhausted (not speaking personally, or anything.) She's probably a bit resentful. Maybe she has trouble finding time to read, or shower, or eat sitting down. She is busy every single moment of every single day.
OF COURSE the dark fantasy is to be taken care of - spoiled, a bit. OF COURSE the fantasy is to have the status and fun of a job, without any real work or responsibility.
That doesn't make her shallow... Just sad. And more in love with SATC for really getting it.
As for Steve, well, I'd meet him on the bridge. At least he had the balls to cheat, the balls to admit it, the balls to keep pursuing Miranda, and the balls to get it right in the end. Which is more than you can say for Mr. Big.
She was quite a trendy accessory—the new LV bag. Collect them all in every colour, just like Angelina and Madonna! (On the upside, maybe it will encourage families to think of helping children in developing countries.)
I think Jennifer Hudson is beautiful too. I just think though that in a film where the women are all slender and so hyper-fashion-conscious, it seems such an obvious tokenist tactic to select an actress who is much larger than the rest, when there are plenty of other African American actresses (the same size) that could have been selected.
She was more savvy than Carrie, but she certainly falls into the template of the female racial stereotype. Had she just been written as a friend (and therefore more of an equal), rather than having been employed by Carrie, it might have been different.
(Considering Carrie is never shown working, it's surprising that she even hires an assistant!)
I think Carrie's story also draws upon a Cinderella archetype. But I think the product hawking makes it so gross.
As for Steve, I think Miranda's storyline could have been more open ended (yet positive).
Obviously one of the attractions of the show is the enduring friendships, and how the characters care for each other through tough times.
But it's the brand-happy orgasms (advertising brain-washing) that bother me. The real sex in the city for these ladies is not with guys, it's with corporations.