SEX AND THE CITY REVIEW

A women's movie goers wet dream? I may get flack for reviewing the biggest chick flick if there ever was one, but female driven films are just as important as minority films and I'll state why below. I'll also be reviewing high testosterone, ball-busting, Tom Cruise action flick Valkyrie later this week to balance the scale.  

Sex And The City (The Movie) is the big screen next installment of the HBO series centered around four middle-aged New York women who obsessive over their relationships. The center being Carrie Bradshaw, a fashionable love/sex columinist who nears closer to getting her "happy ending" with long-time romancer Mr. Big. The film also co-stars Jennifer Hudson in her first role, following her Oscar debut in Dreamgirls.

This may not be the popular "male" opinion, but as a TV series, Sex And The City stood for more than Carrie Bradshaw's boyfriend drama and high socialite New York fashion. At it's heart, Sex And The City was very introspective, often asking clever questions probing the dynamics of various types relationship woes. From questioning societies fascination with beauty by looking at modelizers to asking if two people can build a future together if they don't leave their past behind them, each episode represented a different aspect in the realm of sex, marriage, and love and we got to see it from the viewpoints of the four different characters and how it played out in their love life. The clip below is a prime example of this, where Carrie questions whether this new society can tolerate romance and if it even still exists. The clip below it is later in the episode, when Samantha, the resident whore, is so much about female empowerment that she won't even allow her boyfriend to hold her hand. 

This is where the film fails. The TV series was always smart and introspective, but in the big screen adaptation the introspectiveness was left on the cutting room floor. We're merely looking at the lives of these women four years later after the series ended but what they go through says nothing about the trials in relationships we all face. The theme of the movie was "happy endings" (i.e. Carrie's marriage) and if they're as glorious as they seem to be, but nothing about happy endings is ever really said. And two-and-a-half hours is a long time to watch a movie that doesn't really say anything.

Other things are also missing from the TV series like the spunkiness of Carrie Bradshaw. In the TV series she was a realist trooper who believed in love but never let herself fall victim to it. In the movie, she is a love-misering pile of ooze whose life seems to revolve around her relationship with Mr. Big and the success/destruction of their wedding. The two Carrie's seems far apart making Carrie's wedding fiasco melodramatic at best.

Everyone, with the exception of Mr. Big, puts on a competent performance, but why shouldn't they. They've had 94 episodes to perfect their characters. A movie, even at 150 minutes, should seem like child's play. What surprised me though, is Kristen's Davis' audacious portrayal of Charlotte, a character I often took for granted. She's the goody gumdrop around the often frank and perverted group of gals, yet Davis' portrays her with understanding and love for her friends, but also a boldness to stand up and stay true to herself and what she believes. I never saw it before, but the essence of Charlotte's character is more complex than any of the other women, even Carrie herself. 

All the other nuances for Sex And The City are still there. The sex, the nudity, the fashion, women's muskateer like-bond, and even the quirky quips the made Sex And The City so famous.

 

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

I support the Sex And The City Movie because, as I said earlier, films about women issues are just as important as films about minority issues. We all want to see the issues we deal with portrayed on the big screen. Hollywood has a history of neglecting women (not as much as minorities), but still, the more tolerant Hollywood becomes to stories about all different types of people, the more we all will benefit. And with the Sex And The City release, women showed they can be a powerful box office force to reckon with. So far, the film has grossed over 415 million dollars and women are also contributed to the reason Twilight was so successful. Women, just like minorities, are a subculture deprived of the depiction of strong, relatable characters and Hollywood attention. Maybe now, Hollywood will pay attention to all of us. 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

Kudos to Jennifer Hudson, whom had a better showing here than she did in The Secret Life of Bees. But I have to give a thumbs down to screenwriter Michael Patrick King, who, given the opportunity to use an Oscar winner to add color to the often colorless world of Sex and the City, squandered it by putting her in a very small, non-important role with no real character. The four women represent different viewpoints of femininity, but what does Hudson's character represent. Not much. She's a young twenty-something year old who still believes in love. The other characters are so vibrant, yet Hudson's character falls flat. The only thing you remember about her is that she pays for her expensive accessories by not ripping of the tags so she can return them later. Not as blatantly racist as other black characters, but still a very "black" thing to do. She was also given less screen-time than any other major character, except for exhibitionist Giles Marini. This means, the producers were banking on her name, most likely to grab the black female audience. 

RATING:

= 2 Stars
= 2 Black Fists

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES REVIEW

So much crying! This movie had as many emotions as Transformers had explosions. Clearly aimed toward black women, one would be quick to dub The Secret Life Of Bees a chick flick, but with the female movie demographic becoming more empowering, is that such a bad thing?

In The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) escapes with her caregiver (Jennifer Hudson) from her abusive father to embark on a journey to learn about her late mother's past. She is lead to the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys), three intelligent, independent, black women that make a good-living distributing honey. Here, Owens discovers the world of beekeeping, and deep racial prejudice of the south. The Secret Life of Bees was adapted by the novel of the same name written by Sue Monk Kidd, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and produced/executive produced by Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith respectively.  

This film is tailor-made for one demographic: black women. And it's about time. The film goes over and beyond in making a presence of strong black women known, including a scene about a black virgin mary. Spearheading this effort is the three women who portray the Boatwright sisters - Queen Latifah as August, Sophie Okonedo as May, and Alicia Keys as June. Later Rosaleen's (Jennifer Hudson) name is changed to July. For a film with three Oscar nominated actresses, the acting does fall flat. Latifah's southern accent and maternal instincts comes off contrived, Keys puts forth a solid but not outstanding effort, and Oscar winner Hudson comes off as novice. The true bright star here is Sophie Okenedo who's character is emotionally and mentally unstable.  SPOILER ALERT: May committing suicide is the most emotional part of the movie. Until the others ruin the moment by soaking it in tears. 

Other than the disenchanting performances, the film comes off decent. The story pulls of a multi-objective Spike Lee trick, intertwining a daughter's quest to learn her mother's past, empowering black women, and showcasing the deep racial prejudice in the south and senseless violence it led to. The film runs a bit slow, and too long, and doesn't really hit home a point in the end, but it's still nice to see a movie paying homage to the "sistahs" for a change. 

CULTURAL INTROSPECTION:

Dakota Fanning is a white girl who lives with a group of black women in the segregated south. She sees the hardships but is still not able to understand where the black women are coming from. Hence, Keys blowing a fit when Fanning comes close to their black, Virgin Mary statue or taking offense when Fanning is surprised that their cultured. Queen Latifah says it best when referring to Fanning's mother, for whom she nannied- "We were living in two separate worlds. Love can never be perfect." I remember the South Park episode when Token makes Stan realize no matter how much he thinks he understands black people's plights, he'll never truly understand what they go through. I also remember during the democratic primaries, Joe Biden calling Obama a clean African-American and then white people not understanding why blacks were outraged. Biden treated "clean African-American" as an oxymoron. It obviously wasn't malicious, but it was still anti-progressive and hurtful. Hopefully in this so-called "post racial America", we can start seeing where each other is coming from a little easier. 

THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE:

This is an empowering film for black women. So much is debated about Jesus being black. If Jesus was black, then wouldn't Virgin Mary be as well? The Boatwright sisters are articulate, cultured, independent, entrepreneurial, and kind-hearted (except Keys who softens). Even the battered Rosalene comes into her own. This film goes far to oppose the stereotype of ignorant, oversexulized, angry black women a.k.a. Tisha Campbell is Zack and Miri Make A Porno. Just look how different both movies portray black women and you'll see how important movies like The Secret Life Of Bees are in today's mainstream society. 

SIDENOTE:

The Secret Life of Bees was okay, but I think it would have turned out better had it been for better actors. Latifah, Keys, and Hudson, put forth solid efforts, but there are a ton of black actresses that would have done the roles justice. It's obvious the three women were casted for their star power wattage, but that's Hollywood.  When the studios finance a movie they think big names equal profits, and the overall effectiveness of the storytelling takes a back-seat. A film like-this being green-lighted by a studio is an achievement in itself. Hopefully they give Gina Prince-Bythewood and other female African-American women directors many more chances to proudly represent this oppressed demographic. 

RATING:

= 3 Stars

= 5 Black Fists

EXTRAS:

• The Secret Life Of Bees grossed over 37 million dollars making it the highest grossing movie by a black, female director. Gina Prince-Bythewood topped her previous record, 28 million from Love & Basketball.
• Morale of the story: If We Support Positive Black Movies, We'll Get More Positive Black Movies!