Monday, June 2, 2008

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.

2 comments:

David Dust said...

I can't give you a woman's point of view, but I WILL give you this gay man's take on SATC.

First of all, the fashion was always worth a look. Many of us fags LOVE the fashion. Although when you get to be an XXXL/XXXXL like me, fashion tends to be less of an issue.

Secondly, many of us queens (like, I'm sure, many women) identify with one or more of the "girls". And we ALL have a slutty friend who's EXACTLY like Samantha (Kim Cattral). Or WE are exactly like slutty Samantha...

But for ME, the absolute best thing about the show was the love it showed for "the City" - New York. When I visited NYC as a ten-year-old with my Mom on a one-day bus trip from Pennsylvania, I fell in love with the city. I KNEW I would move here as soon as I was able, and I did. Everyone always said that New York was the fifth "girl" on SATC, and it many wayt that's true.

There is one episode where Carrie has a night of flirting with a hunky sailor, after a long day where "the City" had really worn her down. At the end of the episode, the sailor says something negative about NYC, and Carrie dismisses him for "talking shit about her man". Carrie, like myself, has an ongoing love affair with NYC that is hard to explain. Some days we may not be as 'in love' as others, but the love is always there.

SailorAlphaCentauri said...

Well, that certainly makes the show make a hell of a lot more sense than it did before my post. I think I'm glad I didn't get into the show partly because I would just get really bummed out to not be living in NYC. I can't leave my family by leaving the state (even though I choose to live 2 1/2 hours away), but I have always loved NYC. My first trip was at the age of 12 courtesy of an unobservant flight attendant who put us on the wrong plane [We were heading to LAX and went to La Guardia. Go figure.], and my only other trip was as a High School senior where I got to meet the ambassadors of Mozambique and Mali in the U.N. Let's just say that after three days, I didn't want to go back to Cleveland.

I'm not that into fashion (too much of a tomboy), but at least the show is no longer the enigma it was before. I'll probably never be a fan, but at least I can watch it and drool over how much I want to live in NYC, so thanks, David ;-)