Gal pals and gay idols Miranda (Cynthia Nixon, left), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) get ready for the wedding of the century. (Photo by Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema)
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GREG MARZULLO
Friday, May 30, 2008
Flowing fabrics, anonymous sex, couture, heaps of shoes and the tried-and-true friendships of best girlfriends — of course, we’re talking about “Sex and the City.” Gay fans everywhere will be queuing up to catch the long-awaited film, which opens May 30, although some might want to check theaters before heading out. Many area multiplexes, including Georgetown, Gallery Place and Regal 10 Bethesda, are already selling out opening day screenings.
Starting in 1998, the series about four single (and sometimes not) women living in New York became a runaway hit that spanned a total of six seasons and ended in 2004. Not surprisingly, the girl-power story, which came with regular doses of hot men, amazing clothes and gay BFFs, became a gay cultural icon.
“I think that on some level gay men identify with the friendship between the four women,” says Stephen Tropiano, the founding director of the Ithaca College Los Angeles Program and the author of “The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on Television.”
The show’s (and movie’s) creator Michael Patrick King is gay, and a gay sensibility is written all over the storylines of the series — some cultural critics have even suggested that the four women are just archetypes of gay men.
However, Tropiano offers a different reason for the affinity between characters and their gay fans — the way women and gay men talk about and deal with sex and emotions.
“We’re probably a little bit more open, much more than straight men are,” he says, adding that many television shows and films are written “to appeal very much to heterosexually defined emotions.”
GAY ‘SEX’ ADDICTS also saw themselves, and their relationships with their straight girlfriends, in Carrie’s gay best friend Stanford (Willie Garson) and Charlotte’s wedding planner, stylist and friend, Anthony (Mario Cantone). While these characters are somewhat peripheral in the series and the film, that doesn’t seem to be so much of a slight to gay characters as it is narrowing the show’s focus to the women.
“As much as gay men are marginalized, I think the straight men are also not extremely fleshed out,” Tropiano says with a laugh, citing Carrie’s eternal love interest Big as the perfect example. That character’s fear of commitment and desire to be with the heroine fueled six seasons of (sometimes tired) plotlines.
Deep cultural analysis aside, let’s not forget that part of the show’s gay sensibility was its sumptuous visual sense and its ability to capture the ethos of turn of the 21st-century New York, including the post-Sept. 11 blues.
“[The show] focuses on things like fashion, consumerism, materialism, the shoes that a lot of gay men are interested in,” says Tropiano, acknowledging that there’s more than a grain of truth to the stereotypes about gay men.
“There is this sort of crossing over so much now of gay culture into mainstream culture. I think about all the reality shows that have to do with being able to dance, being able to cook, dress well, decorate — there’s this cottage industry. I think that this show and film is probably not hesitating about trying to tap into that at all.”
Ten long years have passed since the “Sex and the City” girls captured gay hearts everywhere with their musings on living single in the Big Apple. No topic was taboo (remember Mr. Funky Spunk?) and no dress was too outrageous.
With a brilliant opening montage that quickly recaps the journeys of the four leading ladies, the film “Sex and the City” quickly brings fans and neophytes up to speed, simultaneously letting the viewers know that our heroines are wrangling with the challenges of adulthood — love, marriage, stability and identity.
However, before you worry that this is a down-in-the-mouth flick about fabulous girls who go boring, there are plenty of shoes, hats and bolts of eye-popping fabric mixed with one-liners and hot asses to keep the tone of the film as glam-tastic as humanly possible.
Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker, who unbelievably seems more beautiful than ever) and longtime paramour Big (a frequently touching Chris Noth) are apartment hunting, and given Big’s big bank account, they settle on a gorgeous penthouse. During their search, they decide to tie-the-knot, and very quickly, a quiet affair turns into a guest list of 200, a Vogue wedding shoot (culminating in a Vivienne Westwood gown that, as Carrie says, “could bring a wedding tear from even the most unbelieving of women”) and the renting of the New York Public Library as the venue.
In the midst of all this, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is being her usual, anal-retentive, tiresome self and spends much of the film in separation proceedings from her husband, Steve (a wonderful David Eigenberg), after he remorsefully confesses to having a one-night fling. (Mind you, this is after Miranda says “can’t we get this over with” during the first time the couple has had sex in six months.)
Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker are the couple ‘Sex and the City’ fans rooted for during the series. (Photo by Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema) |
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Despite my own intense dislike of the character, in the film Miranda serves a vital purpose among the four friends — she provides much needed texture. Unlike the perky Charlotte (Kristin Davis), the sexed-up Samantha (Kim Cattrall), and the narcissistic Carrie, Miranda actually seems like an ambassador from the regular world — a working mom who lives in Brooklyn. Her storyline and character foil help to anchor the film to a necessary sense of reality. (Plus, Nixon manages to pull off her drama without becoming entirely hated.)
FOR THE OTHER LADIES, Charlotte is cruising along in her life as an adoptive mother, a happy wife and a support to her friends. It’s only much later in the film (spoiler alert — skip to the next paragraph) that we start to get some real meat from her character — notably when she rails at Big for dumping Carrie at the altar and when Charlotte gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl. Davis maintains all her uptight charm while bringing real warmth to the character’s blossoming motherhood and her righteous betrayal and anger over Big’s behavior.
Perhaps most beloved by gay men (or at least this one) is Samantha, the unrepentant slut who knows who she is and rejoices in it. She’s out in L.A. living with the unbelievably hot Jerry Jerrod (Jason Lewis), but as the film goes on, she discovers she’s neither an L.A. girl nor someone interested in a relationship that isn’t between equals.
Cattrall again delivers on the dirty quips and delightful outbursts (“Hey, dickwad, I’m speaking,” she shouts after being repeatedly interrupted by a macho jerk during her speech at the rehearsal dinner), but it’s her one moment of nursing Carrie back to happiness when Cattrall manages to show us why Samantha’s so adored by her friends — with one wink, she reminds her depressed gal pal that everything will come out in the end and that she’ll always be there for her.
Clothes are a veritable character in the film, and costumer Patricia Fields, sloshed almost to the point of slurred speech at the New York premiere, delivers in spades. Wedding gowns are central (Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, and some unidentified piece on Jennifer Hudson, who gives a beautifully nuanced performance as Carrie’s personal assistant, Louise), and bursts of vibrant colors are found in dresses, shoes and stunning accent pieces.
Gay boys also make the cut in the film with Mario Cantone and Willie Garson reappearing as Anthony and Stanford, respectively. The pair share some fun moments, especially during an unexpected interaction at a New Year’s Eve party, and it’s wonderful to find these women’s gay best friends still in their lives and on screen.
In the end, though, it’s really all about the ladies, and through them, the film touchingly strikes on the reality of romantic relationships. They’re rarely perfect, often achingly painful and, on the good days, provide some of the most glorious moments in life. Director King manages to balance the tears with the laughter, reminding us all that despite our darkest hours, brighter days are ahead, especially when those days involve our dearest friends.
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