Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Sad Saga of the NYC Power Women

The true picture of Sex and the City

I admit that I saw the last Sex and the City movie. I even watched some of the TV show, although I did it after the show ended to see what all the hype was about.

I actually went to the movie to enjoy myself. There was a lot of talk about the costumes, and that the fashion designer had hundreds of shoes and dresses she had put together for the four actresses. Who doesn't want an hour or so of bright colors and fancy dresses?

But, the overall feeling I had during the movie was not of disappointment; there were some nice Manolo Blahnik shoes, and the designer didn't cut back on any extravagances. The feeling I had was of depression.

These women flaunt their clothes and supposedly fancy lives in one of the greatest cities in the world, yet they were all unhappy, or unhappily trying to make sense of their lives. One woman was almost ditched at her wedding by her fiancé, another had to deal with a distant husband while she's away at a full-time job, a third married too late to conceive her own child but got lucky thanks to modern technology, and the last was humiliated by her much younger boyfriend breaking up with her. I was surprised at the honesty of the writers. They wanted to infuse a bit of reality into the film, it seemed to me.

The "Sex and the City Part II" photo shoot

Here they are again, in part two of the movie. Their awkward and inelegant poses, their unattractive dresses exposing too much of themselves, their strange sense of color (blame it on the designer?) their listless hairstyles, and their forced smiles show the culmination of years of a TV show and a previous movie.

Their film lives also seems to spill over into their real ones.

Sarah Jessica Parker is undergoing tabloid-level scrutiny about the surrogate mother she and her husband (any longer?) decided to use. They already have a son, why not be happy with that?

Cynthia Dixon has become a lesbian, and is active in the California Proposition 8 scene.

Kim Cattrall, who is in her fifties, was dating a man decades younger than her, who also recently broke up with her.

Kristin Davies is perennially single, although she is pretty. But, her dark secret is that she is a recovering alcoholic.

So, needless to say, I won’t be watching Sex and the City Part II. I will probably buy a Vogue magazine if I want to look at pretty clothes and shoes.