Taliban Dreams

When I called the first Sex in the City movie "a Taliban recruitment film," I was referring to a notion that young Arab men might be so repelled by its celebration of putrid 21st Century chick culture that joining the Taliban might seem freshly appealing. How curious, then, that a portion of the upcoming Sex and City 2 (opening 5.28.10) has triggered Taliban-ish associations by having the girls visit Morocco, an Arab-Muslim nation teeming with keffiyahs and camels and sand dunes.

It's almost as if director-writer Michael Patrick King said to the New Line/Warner honchos, "I think we need to confront this Taliban thing head-on by taking the girls (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon) right into the belly of the beast. Well, Morocco, I mean, which looks like it's in the belly. It'll be a kind of joke, a way of confronting and maybe charming a culture founded on a spiritual creed that completely despises what Sex and the City is all about! I love it!"

And I'm not kidding. I really and truly believe that films like '08's Sex and the City (and, I'm sure, the upcoming sequel) reflect what's seriously corrupt and poisoned about the values that our nation has come to represent since the get-all-you-can Reaganesque '80s. Especially in these times with the mentality of wealth-flaunters being seen as one of the root causes of our economic calamity.

"The soul of this movie is [about] the flaunting of me-me egos and the endless nurturing of the characters' greed and/or sense of entitlement," I wrote on 5.28.08. "It's all about money to piss away and flashy things to wear and lush places where the the girls lunch and exchange dreary confessional chit-chat. And this, mind you, is where millions of middle-class women in every semi-developed country around the globe live in their dreams.

"All I know is that I felt ashamed, sitting in a Paris movie theatre, that this film, right now, is portraying middle-class female American values, and that this somehow reflects upon the country that I love and care deeply about.

"It's a kind of advertisement for the cultural shallowness that's been spreading like the plague for years, and for what young American womanhood seems to be currently about -- what it wants, cherishes, pines for. Not so much the realizing of intriguing ambitions or creative dreams as much as wallowing in nouveau-riche ickiness as the girls cackle and toss back Margaritas."

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 23, 2009 at 6:14 AM

comment #1

DeadPool Author Profile Page says ...

That trailer triggered my menstrual cycle.

Posted by DeadPool Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 7:31 AM

comment #2

Lehigh Author Profile Page says ...

Even if it meant the continuation of one loathesome franchise, I would welcome Saw: Sex and the City.

Posted by Lehigh Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 7:45 AM

comment #3

Pynchon8 Author Profile Page says ...

Wells talking out his ass again.

Posted by Pynchon8 Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 7:53 AM

comment #4

crazynine Author Profile Page says ...

" the get-all-you-can Reaganesque '80s"

Yes, because the libertine Clintonesque '90s were a model of moral rectitude.

Remember those goal posts, kids: amoral greed is a condition afflicting people only during Republican presidential administrations.

Posted by crazynine Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 8:04 AM

comment #5

Floyd Thursby Author Profile Page says ...

The Sex in the City franchise and films de Nancy Meyers y Nora Ephron are not far removed from the comic-book, SF, and action movies that fanboys go gaga over: fantasies bearing little resemblance to reality, just trading machine guns for mascara.

Posted by Floyd Thursby Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 8:16 AM

comment #6

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

Someone please explain to me how raising taxes and eliminating the deficit is "libertine."

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 8:31 AM

comment #7

TL Author Profile Page says ...

It seems like this sort of luxury porn is the last thing that people living in the 10% unemployment real world would want to see ....

Posted by TL Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 8:40 AM

comment #8

joefilm1 Author Profile Page says ...

I really wish Wells lived somewhere with snow so for one lovely day this Christmas season there would be no one on his lawn for him to yell at. I don't think you're upset about the values the film portrays but that some people enjoy the vapid escape it offers. If you honestly believe every person who would pay money to see SATC sits there and aspires to that life... wow, ok.

Posted by joefilm1 Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 8:53 AM

comment #9

Snoop Marlo Author Profile Page says ...

I wonder if Chris Noth had to put himself in a self induced coma to kiss SJP? Or was the paycheck enough?

This movie's perfect for all the spinsters who pissed away their prime years waiting for the perfect guy who never existed in the first place.

Posted by Snoop Marlo Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:04 AM

comment #10

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

joe, you know Wells lives in New york, right

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:10 AM

comment #11

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

Actually the screenplay of this film is an adaptation of a short story **SPOILER ALERT** by Paul Bowles ("A Distant Episode").

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:11 AM

comment #12

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

Also just objectively that's an amazingly shitty trailer.

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:13 AM

comment #13

btwnproductions Author Profile Page says ...

Noth has been kissing SJP for years, on the show and onscreen. It's habit by now.

Posted by btwnproductions Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:14 AM

comment #14

Manitoba Author Profile Page says ...

I don't think this will make Jeff rush out and see Sex and the City 2 as soon as it opens next year, but apparently Liza Minneli and Barbra Streisand make guest appearances in the sequel. I tripped over this fact while checking a CD title on Streisand's offical web site. It links to a Sydney Morning Herald story on how Liza will perform Beyonce's Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) backed by two female dancers in wigs. Quote: "Fellow diva Streisand will also appear in the sequel's lavish wedding scene."Minnelli apparently "revealed" the sequel's biggest secret that "she has a performance with Barbra Streisand in the film."I believe the scene involves a gay wedding if I read it right. Jeff might enjoy the "articles of interest" section on Streisand's site which links to writing by non Republicans. That is if all this Sex and the City 2 talk hasn't made him ill.

Posted by Manitoba Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:36 AM

comment #15

Pomerania Author Profile Page says ...

Do you dole out this kind of vitriol to the brainless actioners created for young men, Jeff, which are all about guns and swagger? Or is it just reserved for women? Did you actually see the film? It was trite and silly, and I'm the last person to want to defend it, but the story was all about Sarah Jessica parker learning what real love is - not the big showy wedding she thought she wanted, but the quality of the man himself. Even saying this feels like I'm crediting it with more depth than it deserves, but your remarks are way, way over the top. There's so much fear and loathing of the other sex on this site. Sorry, but that's my observation after many months of reading. Big Shame.

Posted by Pomerania Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:37 AM

comment #16

PastePotPete Author Profile Page says ...

"Do you dole out this kind of vitriol to the brainless actioners created for young men, Jeff, which are all about guns and swagger? "

Yes, he does...

Posted by PastePotPete Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:47 AM

comment #17

Colin Author Profile Page says ...

@Pomerania

Search sherlock holmes trailer on HE. Wells tore that a new one in less time than the trailer played.

Posted by Colin Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 9:56 AM

comment #18

JapAdapters Author Profile Page says ...

And to think I used to like Sarah Jessica Parker and thought she seemed like a cool person.

"I'd like it if they liked us, but I don't think they like us." No, no I don't.

Posted by JapAdapters Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 10:06 AM

comment #19

Renfield Author Profile Page says ...

How would SJP vote on the new health care bill?


Naaaaaaaaay.

Posted by Renfield Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 11:22 AM

comment #20

Rob Author Profile Page says ...

"Liza will perform Beyonce's Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) backed by two female dancers in wigs. Quote: 'Fellow diva Streisand will also appear in the sequel's lavish wedding scene.' Minnelli apparently 'revealed' the sequel's biggest secret that 'she has a performance with Barbra Streisand in the film.' I believe the scene involves a gay wedding if I read it right."

As a gay guy, I'm so offended right now I could scream.

Posted by Rob Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 11:29 AM

comment #21

Rob Author Profile Page says ...

Or rather, now I know how Armond White felt during the fried chicken scene in Precious.

Posted by Rob Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 11:30 AM

comment #22

THE MovieBob Author Profile Page says ...

George Prager-
"Someone please explain to me how raising taxes and eliminating the deficit is "libertine."

It doesn't, but the genius of Bill Clinton was to recognize that his "swing" power-base (read: white hippies-turned-yuppies) valued the veneer of libertinism - or rather the reassurance that they were still "cool" even though they'd married, gotten white-collar jobs and moved to the 'burbs - MORE than they did a low tax-rate... so long as the stock market was up high enough that there was still "enough" disposable income around, of course.

Clinton, right down to his you-know-I'm-full-of-shit denials, projected an aura of a skirt-chasin', dope-smokin', high-livin', sax-blowin' "whatever" anti-moralism that said to swing-able 40-50somethings: "See, man? I've still got it, so do you. We sleep around, we're cool with gay people, we still hit a little weed on occasion, we've got some Hendrix in the 5-Disc Changer; a nominal white-collar tax increase isn't a huge price for that, right?"

Posted by THE MovieBob Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 11:39 AM

comment #23

joefilm1 Author Profile Page says ...

oh Burma, you're hilarious. thanks for the holiday laugh.

Posted by joefilm1 Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 11:48 AM

comment #24

Travis Crabtree Author Profile Page says ...

Way back when I thought perhaps Jeff was being harsh.

Last night at a friend's house "Sex and the City" - the movie was playing on television. I watch it off and on.

I wanted to fly a plane into a building. Seriously.

(and I liked the first two seasons of the show, you know, when it was a COMEDY and not some god-awful "will she get with Big?" chick wank-fest)

Posted by Travis Crabtree Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 12:35 PM

comment #25

DeeZee Author Profile Page says ...

I'm just wondering what Jeff's reaction to Knight & Day is ATM.

Posted by DeeZee Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 12:47 PM

comment #26

erniesouchak Author Profile Page says ...

That film was HATEFUL.

Posted by erniesouchak Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 1:10 PM

comment #27

Luke Y. Thompson Author Profile Page says ...

Clearly these filmmakers are counting on nobody remembering ISHTAR...that's the first thing that came to my mind.

Posted by Luke Y. Thompson Author Profile Page at December 23, 2009 4:42 PM

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