Yesterday a celebrity makeup artist giggled over the magic of the UK premiere of Sex and the City 2 and I’ll admit I was girl enough to gobble up the earful. She showed me a picture on her digital camera of her posing with Gok Wan and raved over how glamorous Sarah Jessica Parker is in real life. But then, she suddenly grew serious and, in a lowered voice, said, “The movie is really very good.”
I know the scope for me to knife a film before I’ve seen it is limited but having religiously watched season after season and willingly, nay, enthusiastically, watched the first movie, I struggle to believe her appraisal. While certainly reflective of modern dilemmas and women’s longing for enduring friendship, SATC has always exchanged character for caricature and true wit for cheap laughs. What’s more Carrie Bradshaw’s voiceovers convince us that she is not a writer rather than reminding us not only of her living but of the show’s raison d’être.
Still, I will likely add my hard-earned cash into the $75million-plus the film expects to fetch. I must see SATC2 for the clothes. There is nothing original in this – fashion has always been the bright light, the stroke of genius for the TV series as well as the films. It’s the reason Mad Men is currently so popular. And now that Carrie has jumped on to the vintage bandwagon, I will hardly be able to restrain myself. And it will make me feel dirty though perhaps not for the reasons you might think.
There is something worrying about the sheer materialism Sex and the City enshrines. One magazine this week identified Carrie’s new walk-in wardrobe, apparently a major highlight of the film, as reason enough to see it. Another devoted an article entirely to her shoes. Is it simply marketing? Certainly. But I worry about the way this (call it SATC culture perhaps?) manages to substitute full-blooded, empathetic women capable of complex relationships, worries and politics to hollow junkies whom stilettos parasitically feast upon.
We’re taught that a passion for fashion is synonymous with empty accumulation and that this is something to be celebrated in a woman. I don’t buy it. It’s insulting. A woman’s life is about more than lusting after things (and I include men, awards, apartments and careers in this category, just so you know). At the same time, enjoying the finer things in life does not necessarily preclude a commitment to contributing to the lives of others. There’s no reason why we can’t have both our wedges and our worth.
Adele Jarrett-Kerr
Comments
I’m just wondering my there’s been so much focus on the fashion (which incidentally, is ludicrously brilliant), but not a lot on the downright farcical comedy and semi-blatant racism… Here’s my review anyway:
http://alicewrites.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/sex-and-the-city-2-trashy-sexy-funny-and-just-a-little-bit-racist/
I think I expected the racism. Tragic really. Good review, by the way, Alice.
Yep, the reiviews are generally in line with anti-women, anti-Muslim and anti-comedy sentiments.
I'm just wondering my there's been so much focus on the fashion (which incidentally, is ludicrously brilliant), but not a lot on the downright farcical comedy and semi-blatant racism… Here's my review anyway:
http://alicewrites.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/sex…
I think I expected the racism. Tragic really. Good review, by the way, Alice.
Yep, the reiviews are generally in line with anti-women, anti-Muslim and anti-comedy sentiments.