I liked this show, a lot. People who thought “Sex and the City” was just about superficial women who slept around missed the point. It was, quite simply, about women who were friend. Not rivals. Not props. Not girlfriends. Friends, with each other – always. Boyfriends (heck even a girlfriend) came and went. Styles changed. Cocktails were finished. But through it all they were friends. They helped each other navigate the city, that jungle of concrete, dreams, pain and joy. They weren’t perfect. Sometimes they were real, sometimes they were surreal. They represented a slice of life some aspire to, others care little for and most will never have. But they had something almost all of us want – friend who are our family. And for six seasons that is what we got. Now I watched the first film, with a group of female friends, and had fun. And I’ll watch the second film, though with a tremendous amount of trepidation given its terrible reviews. Yet these women, for all their flaws, still feel like friends. I hope that never changes. Happy weekend, all.
Friday, May 28, 2010
My Weekend Crush
I liked this show, a lot. People who thought “Sex and the City” was just about superficial women who slept around missed the point. It was, quite simply, about women who were friend. Not rivals. Not props. Not girlfriends. Friends, with each other – always. Boyfriends (heck even a girlfriend) came and went. Styles changed. Cocktails were finished. But through it all they were friends. They helped each other navigate the city, that jungle of concrete, dreams, pain and joy. They weren’t perfect. Sometimes they were real, sometimes they were surreal. They represented a slice of life some aspire to, others care little for and most will never have. But they had something almost all of us want – friend who are our family. And for six seasons that is what we got. Now I watched the first film, with a group of female friends, and had fun. And I’ll watch the second film, though with a tremendous amount of trepidation given its terrible reviews. Yet these women, for all their flaws, still feel like friends. I hope that never changes. Happy weekend, all.
word!
ReplyDeletehappy weekend, y'all!
I agree with you about the tv show, and would add that it was complex, at times ironic and certainly self-reflective and those qualities mitigated the occasional bouts of excessive classism and superficial navel gazing. The rampant consumerism of the first movie -- a full-throated paean to owning lots of STUFF -- turned me off to future versions. I don't want to cast my economic vote for something which as AO Scott says, has "the ugly smell of unexamined privilege."
ReplyDeleteL
As far as movies go, it was pretty terrible I suppose - but I FREAKING LOVED IT.
ReplyDeleteGood Lord, I'm pretty sure everyone should love it if only for the Liza Minnelli cameo that just about blew my mind.
I went with the exact same ladies I went to the first one with and just like the first time around we laughed, cried, flailed and danced in our seats. So brilliant.
OK, if you say so. Personally, I've been repelled by this amalgam from the very beginning. Call me superficial for not being able to get past the superficial. My skin, it crawls.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree about the show. Anyone who writes it off as pure materialism (which, honestly, it often was) missed something much, much more important. How many other shows have so much time devoted to a group of women talking to EACH OTHER???
ReplyDeletefrans?
ReplyDeleteyeah~
is it still on tv? i watched it when i was in my country,
it was one of the trendy drama at the time.
my favo is miranda i like her more in amadeus,
then she wasn't main character but i don't know
just impressive to me.
personally, not about the show, but
things what bothers me is not generally frans do.
what happened to me is more like what ill enemies do. my hates developed throughout time is not
like now shake hands and smiles and be friendly with, type things.
you can be frans whoever you like, and i have
my choice. by the way why I have to? do you think your pushing is normal?
editor's answer : we're talking about tv show.
do what you like we don't mind
I really like the series and absolutely loved the finale. Not because Carrie (my least favourite character, to put it mildly) finally got together with Big - Big meh - but because Miranda, by taking such gentle care of Steve's mother, performed one of the most selfless acts ever featured on the show; because Charlotte's deepest wish came true and because Samantha experienced the true meaning of love-making.
ReplyDeleteThe film completely ruined this and turned these complex women into horrible caricatures of themselves. One example springs to mind: remember when Samantha told Richard that she loved him but loved herself more? That was a justified statement. In the movie she said the same thing to Smith; this time however, it sounded horribly selfish.
Of course, to each her own but I've decided to wipe the first film from my memory and to ignore this second attempt at flogging a dead horse.
I've watched the first movie and will watch this 2nd part again.
ReplyDeleteThe second movie is horrible!
ReplyDeleteall the haters can suck it.
ReplyDeletewhen you think about ALL the terrible, predictable, misogynistic dick flicks that get a pass, i think we can lighten up about this movie...
friendship is universal and althought the stereotypes sometimes were forced to the limit, it was a nice show. I was trilled when they gave Sonia Braga a lesbipart. But.. called her "Maria" ?!?...
ReplyDeleteAs far as the movie is concerned, they are just collecting the last minute coins
I'm the one that called the franchise superficial. Now I'm being labeled a 'hater'? WTF? Like I say, I never watched ANY of it, but I surely couldn't escape the promotion and buzz about it. As far as I could tell it was about a bunch of women who cared mainly for designer clothes (want to buy me an Armani suit? I'll wear it) and BOYS, BOYS, BOYS! OK, maybe since they were all mature, maybe MEN! MEN! MEN! Neither of which is terribly compelling to me and which strikes me as a rather stereotypical depiction of women. Why should I have to apologize? Why as women and/or lesbians do we have to be in lockstep? How is this giving crappy action films a pass? That's nice they were friends and had them to share their hobbies with. But then, the Golden Girls were friends, Mary and Rhoda were friends, there are probably a lot more examples which escape me because so much episodic television bores the crap out me and I don't bother with it. But tell me please, why should I have to conform to stereotypes pushed on me by women (? Yeah, I know Candace Bushnell. In conjunction with a lot of men who still call most of the shots.) any more than those pushed by men, especially when they strike me as a repackaging of the stereotypes beloved by males?
ReplyDeleteWhat Dorothy said!
ReplyDeleteSATC always kind of reminded me of TLW for the same reason. Any time I would see Carrie and the gals at brunch, or Bette et al. at the Planet talking like real women, I'd get the warm fuzzies, because when everyone's so damn busy having texting friendships it's nice to see girls TALK to each other.
(I don't think enjoying SATC means I'm conforming to stereotypes pushed on me by women (or Darren Star). I make the choice to watch it, no one pushes, and I certainly don't conform to the stereotype portrayed on screen. I only own two pairs of shoes!)
I was obsessed with the tv show once it came out on TBS, but haven't seen the movies... nice to know others liked it too.
ReplyDeleteI just realized you could simply replace "Sex and the City" with "Seinfeld" or "South Park" and still have four people who have an unexpectedly solid friendship.
ReplyDeletethe second movie was so terrible I should have requested to get my money back. there was one redeeming scene between charlote and miranda but that's about it. horrible! just horrible. i feel bad for the actresses since they have their names on the it. they should have stopped at the first movie.
ReplyDelete