Happy endings come at a high price

I often had trouble deciding whether the TV series Sex and the City was feminist, anti-feminist or if indeed it needed to be one or the other.

On the one hand, the show depicted four independent women who talked openly about sex in great detail, a once taboo act for women. The show addressed realistic problems (some more realistic than others) faced by the modern-day city girl. Carrie would present these issues with a question at the beginning of each episode -- Do men prefer women less successful than them? Is monogamy realistic?

On the other hand, the show depicts women as superficial shopaholics whose lives revolve around their dates, one-night stands and relationships with men.

There is, however, no question about the new film, Sex and the City: The Movie.

The film's major flaw is not its lack of plot or even its lack of character development, which was to be expected -- but rather its depiction of women.

As a woman, I found the film insulting. All that the six-year TV series had accomplished was destroyed in a mere 142 minutes.

Women are portrayed as two-dimensional, with their only interests being men and materialism. Similar to the TV series, it opens with a voice-over from Carrie: "Women come to New York for the two Ls -- labels and love."

The film starts off with a cheap stereotype, which is carried on throughout.

It seems in New York people are not only looking for love, they are looking for marriage and stability, and at any cost.

In the film, Carrie is weak and sidesteps any conflict between her and her man, Mr. Big. She is afraid of causing a stir and afraid of instability, or life without a man.

The film centers on the wedding between Carrie and Mr. Big. They decide to get married because it seems like the right thing to do, in the interest of finances and stability. It is an engagement devoid of romance.

Early on in the film, Big leaves Carrie and her multi-thousand-dollar Vivienne Westwood dress at the altar. She then spends the majority of the film wallowing in self-pity. Compared to this wallowing the resolution is quick and straight to the point. All is forgiven after a set of plagiarized love letters. And then comes the twist; Carrie, it seems, could actually be to blame for their falling out.

In the end, she compromises her values, friendship and dignity for a man who calls her "kid" and "young lady". The power imbalance between the two is, unfortunately, palpable.

And while the movie revolves around Carrie, the other three women -- Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda -- have equally undignified subplots.

In the TV series the three women were very strong characters, from the sexually promiscuous Samantha to the traditional Charlotte and the cynical Miranda. They were uncompromising within their own individual set of morals. In the movie these characteristics are diluted, and at times the characters, except for perhaps Charlotte, go against their values as displayed in the TV show.

Samantha becomes fat to the dismay of her friends, although it is difficult to see the alleged bulging belly. Charlotte, who is the brunt of some unsavory toilet humor, stops her daily running routine because she is pregnant. And Miranda, distraught by her own relationship problems, doesn't satisfy her man enough and is a suggested reason for Big's inability to turn show up on the big day.

Added to the mix is Louise, Carrie's new assistant, from St. Louis with an obsession for Louis Vuitton and love.

Consumerism was always a part of the TV series. But over-priced designer goods came with social consequences, ethical dilemmas and at times, realistically, debt. In the film, there are no such consequences as Carrie shops big and spends big.

At the beginning of the film, Big and Carrie buy a penthouse apartment in the Big Apple. The apartment is airy and has ample room. Daylight streams through the large windows. It is "heaven" and close to perfection save for one major design flaw: the size of the closet. Without a walk-in wardrobe where is our petite, fashionable protagonist supposed to house her numerous clothes, shoes and accessories?

When Big unveils her walk-in wardrobe, bigger than most New York apartments, Carrie gasps and declares her love. Love and labels are intertwined, and women, therefore, are shallow.

Where in the TV series the four main women had successful careers -- Samantha was a successful PR agent, Miranda a partner at a law firm, Charlotte a successful art dealer and Carrie a columnist of a major metropolitan daily -- the trials and tribulations of the workplace play an almost nonexistent role. This helps to reinforce the two-dimensional stereotype of women.

The women screeched and squawked every time they greeted each other, and I shuffled in my seat, cringing and lamenting the loss of four great characters.

Perhaps the problem is in the format; after the book, Sex and the City was only ever meant to be a TV show. In the TV series the women did not persevere through bad relationships and did not put up with the arrogance or ignorance of their partners. The format required them to move on, and with each new episode there was a new conundrum. The playing field was even.

But with the desire to have a happy ending in the movie, Carrie becomes feeble. Carrie must live happily ever after in the arms of one man even if that means forgoing her dignity and the dignity of women alike.

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This article was written by Jemise Anning and Angela Dewan, published at The Jakarta Post

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Monogamy, marriage new values at 'Sex and the City: The Movie'

They were once four savvy single women whose friendships came before love affairs, whose shoes came before a mortgage and whose men never came before they did, or else they'd be thrown out of bed. They were Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte of HBO's instant-hit series Sex and the City.

Ten years after the TV show's debut, promiscuity and independence is replaced with monogamy and marriage in the newly released Sex and the City: The Movie.

Dr. Astrid Henry, gender and women's studies professor at Grinnell College, in Iowa, the United States, and author of the essay Orgasms and Empowerment: Sex and the City and Third-Wave Feminism, said the film was conservative, contrived and inconsistent with the TV series.

"I was bothered by the ending, which has all the women married, except for Samantha, who, at the end of the film, is 'old, fat and alone'. She's left in a sort of 'loser' role, even though she was always happy with her autonomy in the series. The ending of the film makes her seem much more pathetic than the show did," she said, adding the characters had all become more like the character Charlotte in their quests for marriage and monogamy.

Noted writer Ashley Sayeau said the characters had evolved and the transformation from bachelorette to bride was in line with what the characters wanted.

"As in the series, the film did a good job of showing each character come to terms with what she wanted out of her life -- not what society wanted for her, or what men wanted for her, or even her friends, but what she wanted. I loved that Sam became single again," she said.

"The show said to them, if you want to marry, great. If you don't, that's great too. The same goes with the decision to have children or choose a particular career."

In its time, the show received more praise from feminists than criticism.

Dr. Nicola Evans, a media and cultural studies lecturer at the University of Wollongong, Australia, said, "Sex and the City broke new ground in the rather conservative terrain of American sitcoms. It refused to worship at the altar of marriage and monogamy, daring to suggest there might be other objectives in life worth pursuing."

Sayeau said, "It was one of the only series in the last decade that showed independent women making money, having relationships and just existing on their own terms."

Henry said, "The show made people more aware of female sexuality and the idea that women are sexual beings with desires -- and that they have a right to talk about their desires in public."

The show impressed feminists around the world with its portrayal of women as intelligent sexual beings, but critics agree the TV series' socio-economic politics did not reflect most viewers.

"The show represented a particular vision of female empowerment -- one focused on white, economically privileged, working women, who did not seem to be facing any of the traditional forms of oppression addressed by feminism," Henry said.

Evans said, "The series draws on the very familiar and very narrow demographics of TV land where to be visible, women must be white, young, attractive, well-paid and obsessed with expensive shoes."

Sayeau is aware of this skewed demographic, but said there was room for such a depiction on TV.

"Try to remember that it is a work of popular culture, not a literary theory text. As such, it's no surprise that it made certain concessions, like lots of shoes and nudity. But overall, I think the show did a lot more good than it did bad."

"Critics get upset by all the sex the women have, and all the money they make. They call these things as if they are making an aesthetic argument, but in reality it's a moral judgment. In real life, after all, women are making more money than ever and marrying later," she said.

In the film, however, the characters' socio-economic status has been pushed up a notch. The four are depicted as the shopaholics they always were -- times 10. When Samantha is feeling tied down in her relationships, she goes shopping, filling the trunk of her car with Chanel and Gucci goodies as she drives off with her new pooch, resembling a 50-year-old botoxed Paris Hilton.

"The film totally sidesteps questions about money and makes it seem like everyone is now in the upper tier financially, and that having three published books has made Carrie a wealthy woman -- highly unlikely -- who can now afford to give her assistant a US$5,000 designer bag," Henry said.

Sex and the City: The Movie offers a dramatic breakup, a Cinderella marriage proposal, a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress and one perfect husband.

These larger-than-life fantasies will please those looking for glamor and a fairy-tale ending, and will frustrate those hoping the characters had frozen in time just as they were in the TV series -- when it was all about women, sex and the city.

source: Jakarta Post

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