Movie night

So this week end we all went to the see Sex and the City along with scores of other women all dolled up and wearing impractical shoes and it was quite an anthropological experience.

I am not sure what I was expecting. I remember watching SATC on a winter night for the first time some 9 years ago. At the time I did not know NY and did not know anything about people’s lifestyle in the big apple, hence I did not understand the show. I did not understand people’s behavior, the issues they confronted seemed to be absurd not to mention they way they dressed.

Three years after that night I landed in the Big Apple and started watching the re-runs on TBS together with my friend S. one of the few real New-Yorkers. I remember asking her: "Is that what it’s like out there? Because this is so grim- I’m not growing up. Or going out. Ever."

And then we went out and we grew up. And we realized that yes, there are men who will ask to lick your face in a bar. There is someone out there who will try to slide his hand under your T-shirt on a train or try pick- you up while their gay partner is not watching.

Anyway, over the years I came to understand SATC and I came to understand why the show has had an impact on the way people view New York and the way twenty something women view themselves. Over the years I have come across people like the characters of SATC.

Going back to what I was expecting. I don’t know if I can say that I liked the film. I was engaged and drawn to t. But I couldn’t help but find several elements distasteful. The obsession with labels and the acquisition of expensive things seemed over the top.

I find Carrie supremely irritating and, as a woman, I actually despise her for allowing herself to be treated like crap for 10 years…10 years …by Big??? A big asshole but am not gonna go down the road of a post on self-respect now.

Mr. Big, is boring. NO allure at all. What seems to attract Carrie to Big in the film is his willingness to buy her a Fifth Avenue penthouse and the closet of her dreams (oh wait maybe his allure could be money how could I have been so stupid!).

Charlotte’s comments on Mexican food were inappropriate, considering the cockroaches and bed bugs invasion we have on Manhattan these days (this include restaurants in the 10021 area code bitch!).

Miranda is stiff as usual, treating her Russian nanny like crap and constantly reminding her husband how important she is and what piece of crap he is.

Samantha is the only good one. Finally a woman who loves herself more and first....and is honest about that. Also, she is the only one who has made a real effort.

This being said, what was really worth the $11 was being part of a SATC-like audience of women. As soon as we took our seats, spontaneous applause started…we sang happy birthday to two random people in the theater. There was a feeling joyful celebration.

It was a very night NY night in the end. We ended up eating some Gray’s papaya hot dogs in the Upper East side before heading off to drink Sangria in Spanish Harlem where the Puerto Rican community was getting ready and steady for next’s day parade.

All right. Carry on New-York, despite the cockroaches, the rats and the bedbugs I have grown to love you.