I never thought it would happen, but alas, I’m joining the zillions who’ve covered the SATC 2 film; I think with it being such a gigantic, successful phenomenon in both art and culture, as an artist, it would be remiss to ignore it. Plus…who doesn’t enjoy a night in with those clever, outrageous reruns! I went with a girlfriend to see it, and I had a blast. This blast had little to do with the plot or the writing, and most disappointingly, little to do with the clothes or beauty, or even relationship insights, but instead with the experience of a night out with not just my friend, but the SATC girls, who—love them or hate them—have become a familiar touchstone of comfort over the years. Oh Samantha! You wouldn’t. Oh, but you would, and that is precisely why we love to watch!
Which brings me to the fiction writing lesson I gleaned from this film. People want to put themselves in the place of your heroine. They want to imagine what it would be like to experience whatever it is we are captivated by in the character’s experience. And whether that is of four women living the glamorous New York City lifestyle that barely any of us will ever be able to afford or stay up late enough for, or a young wizard making his way through Hogwarts, we want what we came for. And it is this fulfillment that we are seeking when we reach for certain types of books, or sit down with a bucket of popcorn and the fatigue of a ho-hum week before certain types of movies.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to be reading my first Candace Bushnell novel, One Fifth, this same week. And this book is a perfect demonstration of satisfaction in getting what you came for. There were monstrous Fifth Avenue apartments, expertly articulated extravagant purchases on nearly every page, chauffeured vehicles I felt I could see, and plenty of underhanded characters looking to get in on the action. So in contrast, what exactly was it that made SATC 2 disappoint in this vein? Well, the most obvious bit is, what could possibly make the creators decide to take the girls out of the city where all the sex happens? What could possibly make them take the sex out of it all? How, with all their wardrobe experience, could they disappoint on the clothes front (except for that wonderful Galiano newsprint dress)?
Well, since I, too, have once been in the center of all this glitzy activity myself, I have my suspicions. You see, when you’re in the thick of that glamorous life, and have been for as long as you can recall, you stop thinking it’s fresh, and you want to do something different. Okay, good on ya! Every creator wants to be creative, doesn’t want to get pigeon-holed into the same old, same old. But remember that to most of the world, that glitzy life is still fresh. Stay in touch with the world outside your own (there are other benefits, too; read last week’s post on the role of place in fiction). And, if you’re gonna venture off the course at such a juncture as the SATC franchise finds itself in, you’d better do it perfectly, and you’d better complement it with those things we already love about our four girls from the Big Apple! Look how great the Friends were in London for Ross’s wedding! And that’s because we know them so well and they reacted exactly as we’d expect them to abroad. In fact, we’d probably let them get away with just about anything when those characters stay true to themselves. But, what was Sex and The City without the sex, without the city, and jammed in those slots instead, a bunch of fumbling Ugly American incidents that might have worked in Marilyn Monroe’s time, but today, only showed a lack of international cultural awareness and sensitivity that a story taking place in the middle east at such a time, and with such an audience, and such a budget, should have deftly accomplished. When they had the whole world at the edge of their seats, what did this movie try to teach us? That underneath it all, Middle Eastern women wear couture, too! I’m not big on criticizing; I don’t like to preach that art should or could be something when it isn’t, but I don’t think the example could be any better for us artists to learn from. It is no surprise that the scene didn’t work, and that all the criticism showed the girls as out of touch with values and reality, rather than the girlfriends who seem to have read our minds all those years, off on a zany adventure. Writer’s pay attention!
I admire SATC 2’s attempt at the black and white film, the old glamour, but if you’re going to do this, give us a great romance, give us an hysterical series of hyjinx, go all-out campy, only with the clever writing and poignant points we crave from you, so that, no matter how far-fetched, we can imagine ourselves there in the way we’ve done with you all along, and forgive the clumsy, cringe-worthy scenes. Or from the get-go, do as Candace Bushnell did in One Fifth, and create a bunch of characters we’re not meant to like, only enjoy. Because once you’ve hooked your audience, they’ll let you get away with quite a lot—they want to, because that’s all part of the fun. But drop the illusion you’ve created—even for a second—and your audience will know. They’re a smart bunch…after all, they like you, don’t they?
What were your opinions of the film? Did you love it? Hate it? Want Carrie and Big to get off the sofa?
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