Sex and the City 2...Why I don't want to see it

First of all...you can read the horrid (for the movie)/hilarious (for me) reviews here.

So to start off, I'm going to be honest and admit that I did not HATE the first Sex and the City (I do HATE the acronym SATC so I will not be using it) Movie.  In fact when I first saw it, I liked it overall.  It was pretty depressing at points, I didn't really relate to the Carrie meltdown that lasts for an entire year,  but I definitely got swept away in nostalgia for the characters I liked in the series and looking at pretty clothing.  I even went so far as to pay $4 for a previously viewed copy of the video in the Blockbuster sales bin.  Fast forward two years and some talks with fellow FBC members, I now have a twinge of  guilt for having derived pleasure from the movie and being completely blind to some of it's major failings.



First off, the biggest problem, is that the climate has changed since the series first came out.  At the time there was no other place where women were discussing, joking, and having sex (in so many varieties) so openly and unapologetically in film or television.  Now, over ten years later ( most likely due to the series' success) women talking about sex is not intriguing or groundbreaking enough to garner attention or base an entire movie upon.  Also there really wasn't that much sex talked about in the movie...most conversations seemed centered around unhappy relationships, breakups, and NOT having sex....what every single working woman has to look forward to when they settle down...thanks Sex and the City the Movie!

Secondly the show embraced that these women were single, working women living in New York.  They were all happy and confident with this status, except for Charlotte who is pretty much mocked and made into a caricature  of a woman on a mission of matrimony and maternity.  By the end of the series and into the first movie, all these elements were lost with ALL the women in long term/serious relationships and Charlotte is the only well adjusted one.  I have no problem with women being in relationships if that's what they want, but for a show that prided itself on single womanhood, it's odd that there isn't a character who decides they are happy being single in the end (as there are happy well-adjusted never married women past 40 out there).  It's also a cop out that all of the sudden none of them have to worry about money anymore, and mostly due to who they marry/date (Carrie still writes, but is now living in a penthouse b/c of being with Big; Charlotte gets a huge divorce settlement and then marries a wealthy attorney; Samantha makes tons of money managing Smith's movie career)...the exception being Miranda, who has always been my favorite b/c she's completely self made.

Thridly (haha...I'll knock it off with numeric paragraph starters), this leads to  Samantha, who DOES become single by the end of the first movie (big surprise), but who clearly has a sex addiction.  Ok maybe I (not a licensed psychologist) shouldn't throw around a completely legit diagnosis on a fictional character, but when she has to use overeating/binging has a way to cope with not having sex to me that spells out switching one addition for another.  In the series I was a supporter of her unapologetic sexuality and that in the end she is able to connect emotionally to someone based on values other than sex and materialism.  The movie, however, illuminates through her overeating that she has a problem, and the previews for the sequel show that she's moved back from food to sex with horrible puns about men and menopause.  I applaud making Samantha the happy singleton (especially when she illuminates that she LIKES buying stuff for herself and not having it bought for her), but I want her to be better adjusted and better able to connect with people emotionally, not just through sex.

Then, there's the big problem with BIG.  I'm going to quote the conversation I had with Clare earlier since I think she mostly clearly can describe the problem with him.

I can't get over how much I hate Big. I think he epitomizes everything that women should NOT want in a partner or that humans should not want in a partner.  He is just flat out creepy and cruel and apologizes to women for cheating on them by buying them shit....the whole "mystery" thing should not be appealing.  If that's what people look for in a partner, that is bad

and the fact that we don't even know his name (or used to not know it at least) is symbolic of how he's almost just an idea, not a real person.  I can't imagine wanting to go through life with someone you thought of in that way.

I completely agree and I need to write about the fascination with Edward from Twilight in another post because I think it speaks to this open yet completely unhealthy attraction to men who are emotionally abusive.

Finally, and the most frustrating part, is how self-involved the characters can be, mostly Carrie!  This is even an issue in the series, but the writers acknowledged it from time to time.  Case in point...IN THE SHOW: Carrie calls Miranda to discuss a minor dating problem  (does he like-like me?) in an urgent manner.  Miranda, meanwhile is late for work and dealing with a crying baby, while also trying to talk to her friend. Carrie, knowing all this is happening, chastises Miranda for not listening to her problem and giving her all her attention.  Miranda tells Carrie pretty much that she doesn't have time to listen to her, to fuck off, and call someone else who doesn't have their own problems if she wants to get full attention for her juvenile problem.  Yay Miranda!  The movie does not do this. IN THE MOVIE: Miranda, dealing with a loss in libido due to being overwhelmed at work, a cheating husband, subsequent separation, and being a single mother once again, is supposed to drop everything and wait on Carrie hand and foot b/c she and Big had a misunderstanding (which was actually easily fixed by a minute of self-reflection and a simple conversation that took an entire year to happen because  the characters are too self involved to actually critique themselves and have meaningful conversations).  Meanwhile, Miranda's much more complicated relationship problems involving trust, betrayal, and a CHILD are easily pushed aside and cast off to Carrie as (you should've just taken him back months ago).  To top it all  off, right before saying that, Carrie also blames Miranda for her and Big's relationship melt down because as stated before we all now how emotionally fragile he is and ready for flight, so all it would take to end her soon-to-be marriage would be for one of her friends, who was blatantly emotional about her own stuff, saying to Big "don't get married".  HOW COULD YOU MIRANDA!?!?!

So that's why I've decided now that I need to separate these movies from the series in my mind.  For me, Sex and the City ended when the series ended.  This next movie seems mostly about materialism and selling lots of shit, and it doesn't seem to be lost on anyone (read the reviews).  Basically the only fans left of Sex and the City:the Next Generation are those who were watching it for the pretty clothes, trendy cocktails and, like I did for the first movie, not thinking too hard about the self-involved, oblivious characters.

P.S.  I do love Miranda AND Cynthia Nixon.  I don't know if to congratulate the actress or the writers, but Miranda is the only character that was awesome in the beginning and maintained awesomeness throughout even while dealing with life changes (i.e. baby and marriage).

P.P.S. I met Steve in the Whole Foods in New Orleans...we talked about Planned Parenthood and local music venues.