huntergrayson
Guest
Jul 6, 2024 5:23:26 GMT -4
|
Post by huntergrayson on Jun 4, 2010 10:58:43 GMT -4
I also think the "oh, it's just a silly movie, don't take it so seriously" idea is a real disservice to how good the show was/could be. Sure, there were fluffy, silly moments, but they also blended in moments of well-done drama too - things like the "My Motherboard, Myself" episode where Miranda's mom dies, the episode where Miranda finds out she's preggers and the girls talk about their abortion histories, Sam's cancer, Char's infertility.
And then the fluffy parts where actually well-done fluffy parts - good jokes, great chemistry with the gals, etc. The writers and cast took it seriously enough to bother making it funny and entertaining and well-executed.
I don't think it's expecting too much or taking it too seriously to expect this movie to have a small amount of that "seriousness" but everyone involved seemed to be going for a lazy paycheck, like Ocean's Thirteen. And all the potentially interesting plotlines, like Miranda's, are mostly ignored so they can wander around in an extended Abu Dhabi/Morocco tourism ad while wearing hideous clothers for what seems like hours.
|
|
litzikohanovich
Guest
Jul 6, 2024 5:23:26 GMT -4
|
Post by litzikohanovich on Jun 4, 2010 12:01:32 GMT -4
huntergrayson, your analysis was spot-on. The writing in the first few (for me, the first three)seasons was fantastic. I was actually thinking earlier today about the episode where the women talk about their abortion experiences and how well that was written -- no judgement, no preaching from the writers. I still cry when Steve and Aiden show up at Miranda's mom's funeral even though I have seen it 100 times. One of my favourite moments is when Carrie is having trouble with Big and she rings someone and says something to the effect of, 'I know things are not good between us right now, but I really need to talk to you. Can we meet at the coffee shop?' And, then we see Miranda waiting for Carrie. That just gets me every time. I miss this show! I miss the great writing -- the serious stuff, the fluff, all of it!
|
|
|
Post by BoroKat on Jun 4, 2010 14:41:38 GMT -4
Do you think that the show's serious moments left with Darren Star? Is King responsible for turning them into caricatures?
|
|
|
Post by magazinewhore on Jun 4, 2010 17:35:34 GMT -4
Or maybe when SJP took on greater responsibility as a producer? But that would be weird because she seems like such an intelligent person.
Yeah, I forgot about that political episode and the lack of politics the women had in that. That disappointed me too. Popular culture can reflect real life, and it can also have an effect on it. That's why I get annoyed when people dismiss any form of pop culture as something that's meaningless, because it never is. The very fact that the # 1 movie for female audiences is a movie about these four white, slim, (mostly) heterosexual, able-bodied, very privileged women is political.
|
|
WestEndGirl
Landed Gentry
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 969
Mar 14, 2005 22:12:17 GMT -4
|
Post by WestEndGirl on Jun 4, 2010 20:54:41 GMT -4
huntergrayson, your analysis was spot-on. The writing in the first few (for me, the first three)seasons was fantastic. I was actually thinking earlier today about the episode where the women talk about their abortion experiences and how well that was written -- no judgement, no preaching from the writers. I still cry when Steve and Aiden show up at Miranda's mom's funeral even though I have seen it 100 times. One of my favourite moments is when Carrie is having trouble with Big and she rings someone and says something to the effect of, 'I know things are not good between us right now, but I really need to talk to you. Can we meet at the coffee shop?' And, then we see Miranda waiting for Carrie. That just gets me every time. I miss this show! I miss the great writing -- the serious stuff, the fluff, all of it! These are two stand-outs for me, as well. I also like when Charlotte finally manages to pull herself together for Brady's birthday party, especially the scene where she gets ready (after watching the Elizabeth Taylor true hollywood story) and then sees Miranda at the party. I'm seeing the movie tomorrow. I've been a fan for so long, I feel like I have to see the movie. I'm prepared to be disappointed. I can't explain it.
|
|
squiggles
Guest
Jul 6, 2024 5:23:26 GMT -4
|
Post by squiggles on Jun 4, 2010 21:01:56 GMT -4
I enjoyed the movie and it had a few killer lines but I was left with a nasty taste in my mouth from some of the Abu Dhabi stuff.
Me and my friends are not the types to be easily offended, but a few of them have independently said to me that they thought that some of the treatment of the culture was offensive, especially by Samantha at the end. I honestly don't know how some parts of the movie got past so many people without someone questioning it.
|
|
|
Post by Yossarian on Jun 5, 2010 3:55:51 GMT -4
I saw this today and enjoyed it. No, the series leaves the movie for dead but, in the absence of any other SATC fix, this did quite nicely. The Charlotte and Miranda mother talk really resonated with me; it didn't come across to me like a celebration of privilege. I thought it was an acknowledgement of how hard parenting is and also how it's so hard to say that without feeling like a shitty parent.
As for the ugly Samantha scene in the souk: that was horrid to watch but having done quite a lot of travel in the Middle East I could kind of identify with it. I didn't end up throwing condoms at random strangers but I did end up in floods of tears on the Cairo subway after one too many men treated me like a Western whore just because I wasn't covered. It was just a shame they played out that misogyny in the context of a sex on the beach storyline because, frankly, public sex is an offence in American states too as far as I know. If they wanted to illustrate the sexism of the Middle East more casual everyday examples would have been better - the hissing, the demands to speak to the male, the invasion of personal space.
|
|
dragonflie
Blueblood
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 1,977
Mar 14, 2005 2:10:14 GMT -4
|
Post by dragonflie on Jun 5, 2010 6:40:35 GMT -4
I don't think the shift happened with Darren leaving. Alot of great eps came after. I think My motherboard myself is one of the best, and many others mentioned are in season 4 or later. Not sure when it happened, but the movies do not contain the same humanity the show did.
|
|
Karrit
Sloane Ranger
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 2,288
Mar 15, 2005 14:32:04 GMT -4
|
Post by Karrit on Jun 5, 2010 9:33:41 GMT -4
It was just a shame they played out that misogyny in the context of a sex on the beach storyline because, frankly, public sex is an offence in American states too as far as I know. If they wanted to illustrate the sexism of the Middle East more casual everyday examples would have been better - the hissing, the demands to speak to the male, the invasion of personal space. I have travelled a bit in Middle Eastern countries and I really agree with this. Even if you are modestly dressed you get the Western Whore treatment...not from everyone, but enough to be uncomfortable the entire time. Even so, I thought Samantha, as someone who was there on business, could have behaved so much more professionally, and that reflected more on Samantha rather than where she was. She could have avoided the whole disaster at the end. As a character who had a very successful business, you think she would have been a bit more savvy. As Yoss said, if they were really out to show the sexism of the culture, they should have shown Samantha trying to do PR for the country and them shutting her down at every turn, and questioning her wisdom and wanting to work with a man. And the strange unexpected things that come up...for instance, I was once told at an exhibition to remove any names that were even remotely Jewish from my demo database. Or they could have had Carrie looking at an issue of Vogue and seeing black bars across most of the models. There are lots of things that make you realise "you aren't in Kansas anymore" when you are in someplace as "western" as Dubai or Abu Dhabi. I think that as a woman, you really sense that you have second class status. My husband loves going to Dubai, but he is male, they treat him like a king, and I understand why he thinks it is great. And while I will go back if need be for a business trip, I will never go there for a holiday. And as for the scene in the souk, where the women take off their burkhas to reveal the latest fashions...I have a friend who was a flight attendant for BA and he said that as soon as an airplane left Saudi/Emirates airspace, the burkhas came off and the women were head to toe in the latest fashions. Whether they do that everyday...I don't know.On the whole...I didn't expect the movie equivalent of "My Motherboard, Myself" when I went, so I wasn't horribly disappointed. In fact, I probably liked it better than the first. But I think it is time to stop with the movies.
|
|
|
Post by margojata on Jun 5, 2010 12:55:00 GMT -4
For some reason MPK decided to do without the fantastic writers he had during the series. Who knows what caused his little egocentric foray into the movies, but it's a shame because they could have been so much better. Sure, there's only so much you can do in 2+ hours, but the show had a lot of heart .. the movies are just a bad imitation.
|
|