Sex and the City 2: Desperately Dated Chick Fest or Genre Crossing Stunner?

Do you hear that? That lady squeeing sweeping the land? That sound marks the arrival of Sex and the City 2, writer/ director Michael Patrick King’s homage to the films of the Depression era.

When asked about the film’s obliviousness to the current economic climate and decision to change the titular city, King has been saying that he took his cues from filmmakers who worked during the Great Depression, putting out movies provided that short, escapist vacation from grim reality.

(Except the same escapist, movie going experience would have cost about 5 cents in the Depression. Today, that same escapism is gonna cost you at least 9 bucks which, even adjusting for inflation, is outrageous. 5 cents in the Depression is about the same as 84 cents today. Nowhere near 9 bucks. Just sayin’.)

Recent reviews have called SATC2 dated, but I beg to differ. It’s dated only if one considers it to be standard chick flick fare.

I believe that Sex and the City 2 has switched genres – it’s now firmly in the realm of fantasy, right up there with Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Neverending Story.

How so? Behold the evidence:

Mystical beings who don’t age as humans do – their skins are frozen in time, but their eyes. . . dear god, their dead, soulless eyes:

Costumes that are only socially acceptable in the world of the movie (or at conventions):

A companion guide book complete with a section detailing how you can re-create the costumes. That’s right, people. Sex and the City now comes with LARPing. Provided you have enough money, which you probably don’t.

Riding strange animals:

OK, so they’re camels, not oliphants or unicorns or Falkor, but they’re stranger than most of what we have in the Western world. Although, these camels do look a bit like Falkor in the face.

Exotic locales with names that won’t roll off the tongues of average Americans. I can say Abu Dhabi. I’m sure you can, too. But, we’re accustomed to saying things like “ Tatooine” and “Expelliarmus” and “ Silmarillion” without having to slow down and think about each syllable.

Must have objects: I’m not certain the plot involves one ring to rule them all or a sword in a stone or anything with genuine dramatic gravity, but there will be shiny things the ladies (sorry, I can’t legitimately call them “girls” anymore) must have, and by extension, the viewer will want. BTW, if Charlotte’s daughter parades around with another Judith Leiber clutch like she did in the first movie, I’ll wig out. Yes, it was cutely shaped like a cupcake, but giving a toddler a $3000 bag to carry is messed up.

And then, there’s Lilly, who pushes SATC2 right to the edge of horror with her portrayal of a”Creepy Little Girl”.

Lilly says:

“I’m the only Asian in this entire series who doesn’t give pedicures or otherwise serve these white heroines. I grow weary of being the visual shortcut that shows how progressive and open-minded these women are.”

Seriously. Look at this kid. Chin down, intent glare. She’s plotting the demise of them all.

Now that’s a movie I’d pay 84 cents to see.

Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.

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