Sex and the City: A Review of An Article About It

I have to be the first one to say it: I am not a SATC fan. I had to double-check another article just to spell the name of the show correctly. Why am I one of those women who just didn't get into the show? There were many reasons. First off, I don't have HBO money. Hell, I don't have History channel money so there was no way I was going to see this in its first run. Secondly, I was a bit turned off by a group of women who sat around talking about sex the way that they think men carry on about it. I've always hung out with guys; the guys who were willing to talk about sex in front of me (back in high school when just about everyone wants to "get some", even when 95% aren't getting any) were the unattached ones who were not exactly experienced. We exemplified the adage of "The more you talk about it, the less you've done," so I don't buy this need to talk about it with others...I've outgrown that. And it did get annoying when the few girlfriends I do have would talk about which character I was, because I had no idea what the hell they were talking about! I mean, I called Kim Cattrall "The Old One" because I couldn't remember her name for the life of me.

Well, to get to my point, I read an article written by a guy who was forced to go see the movie for his job. It's an article about the men who actually wanted to see this movie, but were embarrassed to admit it. One guy made a laughable claim: "You understand women better watching `Sex and the City.'" Really? Seriously? You understand women better after watching a show about four women who epitomize various vain women stereotypes? Yeah, whatever. I'm a woman who hates shopping [Especially for clothes because I'm just at that plus-size where most stores still carry items in my size but they're ugly, and for shoes because I wear a size 12, and Payless is all I can afford. DSW can suck it.], and I've not had a Cosmopolitan in my life. I (used to) drink whatever anyone gave me, and I am wary of any "named" old drinks after my introduction to the Manhattan, which is turpentine with a cherry in it (I had four of them; it was in honor of my late Grandfather-in-law).

Anyway, I move on to the latter part of the article:

"Sex and the City" is one of the few summer blockbusters targeting women. Most of the comic-book adaptations and R-rated comedies are aimed squarely at male teenagers. To [a 22 year old woman in attendance], guys having to go see "Sex and the City" helps balance the gender scales.

"What are women gaining when they go to `Iron Man'?" she wondered. "A lot of my friends were dragged to that. There's a give-and-take in movies, right?"

Wrong. I liked Iron Man. I've seen it twice and would like to see it one more time before it leaves the theaters, and I liked it because it was a good movie. It wasn't just a good "superhero" film, but a good movie with a strong script that stayed away from the cheesiness that other films in its genre have succumbed to of late. What are women gaining from SATC? Seriously, I need a fan of this show to explain it to me because I don't get it at all. I caught an episode on Saturday and it was when Carrie was dumped by Mr. Big and her friends recommended therapy, and John Mellencamp was another patient (I think), but I got so tired of it that I changed the channel to some old movie on Turner Classic Movies instead just to get away from the chatter.

Maybe I don't get it because I don't have girlfriends that I hang out with like they do. All of my girlfriends live in Cleveland, and I don't get to see them when I'm visiting family...but I don't miss their companionship all that much. It's fun when we get together, but I'm just as happy to sit at home and do my own thing on Friday nights. I don't feel like I missed something by not watching the show (and my DVD money goes towards anime, so I'm not buying the show's DVDs), but I am curious to see why anybody likes it. Is it the fashion? The fact that Kim Cattrall is, once again, playing the sex pot (considering one of her first movie roles was as "Lassie" in Porky's)? Is it the chatter? Oh God please don't let it be the chatter, because I'll want to get a suspension on my "lady license" right now until my gender can get that crap under control. They're not as bad as the Gabmore Girls (I went to a private school of the same name as the show, but as the name was spelled differently, I'll go with the parody name instead), but sometimes I just want them to shut up. These women get on my nerves, and I love to talk, so they've got to be completely out of control.

So, for all the SATC fans out there who may read this blog, help a sister out! Explain the phenomenon so that I may at least understand the show, if not like it.