Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Second Chance: Sex and the City the Movie 2

I must have done something wrong. I've no idea what it was, but believe me I'm sorry, as the punishment for this unknown wrongdoing was a viewing of Sex and the City the Movie 2. I've never watched an episode, and certainly haven't seen the original film, but I knew of the characters, their names and basic cliche stereotypes (Charlotte = prim and proper, Carrie = whiny clotheshorse, Miranda = businesslike, Samatha = whore) from pop-culture. I've never had any desire to watch anything even vaguely related to this show, and this viewing has only furthered this mission.



I think that the lead characters are supposed to be relatable, with their problems in their jobs (sexist male boss), homelives (insensitive male partner, hot nanny for their untrustworthy male partner to lust over) or just aging, but this relatability must be ignored due to the lifestyles the women lead; being far wealthier than most, if not all of their audience. Couple this with the free trip to Abu Dhabi they receive, all expenses paid, first class flights, personal chauffeur driven limos and their own butlers, and it’s far easier to hate these creatures than it is to empathize with their problems. In fact, some final reel tension is attempted by making a race against time dash to the airport, lest they have to face the terrible ordeal that is flying in coach.


About midway through the film though, I realised that this is a female version of a superhero film. Just as many can relate to Iron Man's crisis of conscience, Batman's family loss, the Hulk's lack of self control or Spiderman's issues with responsibility, none (or possibly, very few) of us have the super powers, impossibly vast fortunes and diligent servants of those protagonists. Therefore, my problem with the lack of relatability must be ignored.


Overall, this overstretched TV episode (2 1/4 hours!) has a fairytale air of 'everything will be OK' about it. Your marriage might not be exactly the same as your friends, but it'll be fine. Got a boss who doesn't like you? Why not just quit, it'll all work out. Hired a hot nanny that your husband drools over? No worries, she'll end up being a lesbian.

Choose Life 2/10

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