Atlas Shrugged: The Mocking

Friday, May 30, 2008

Kathryn Jean goes to the movies.

Katy Jean has taken off time from her approaching nuptials to attend a showing of Sex and the City, the movie. And why wouldn't she, with her mind on wedding dresses, converting to her new religion, and kidnapping luring meeting Mitt Romney at the Little Church Around the Bend?
Kathryn Jean finds a problem right away, no doubt to her dismay.

Here’s a movie that in many ways was a beautiful — albeit crass and p.c. and
graphic (like the late television show) — love story. Here’s a movie with
suffering and joy and life and cultural lessons, but some of the people I heard
leaving the theater didn’t seem to have been affected.
...

But there’s hope: Even the girls I walked out of the theater with might think twice
before they stomp all over the hearts of their Mr. Big or Steve, and they might
realize that the deeper message of the film is that it’s not hooking up but true
love and marriage and children they want.
We'll avert our eyes from the "hip" "lingo" and ask how it is that Sex and the City is able to influence the heart of even the stoniest New York gal?

The movie, like the series, is an important cultural contribution. It’s a
mirror. And you don’t have to be promiscuous or crass like Carrie and Samantha
and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) tend to be to see a
reflection.

It's only a mirror if your view of the world was formed when you overdosed on Disney movies when you were ten. Otherwise it's a soap opera, Cinderella version, with all the traditional elements--romance, heart ache, best friends, cute guys, riches, nice dresses, and cool shoes. But there's trouble in Happily Ever After, and the women must decide if they really want their Prince Charmings after all. Kathryn Jean doesn't understand the problem. In Sex and the City:

There is a real focus on men, and on what women do to men: Women don’t forgive men. Women don’t think about men and their feelings. For as sensitive as the modern man is supposed to be to a women’s feelings and as sensitive as a man is supposed to look, he’s not really supposed to register an opinion. Or slip up. Or be honest.

Why would the women treat the men this way? Kathryn Jean is glad you asked. It's because "[Carrie] didn’t care about [Mr. Big's] side of the story." She and her friends are "self- and sisterhood-obsessed." The woman doesn't count. "And she doesn’t quite realize that, for her, it really is about her." How dare she think her own life was about her? Doesn't she know it's about "true love and marriage and children."? In other words, marriage is about your husband and children, what they want, not what you want. That's being selfish. And marriage and children is what all women want, according to Katy Jean. That's the only way to be happy.

The poison poured into the ear of this woman as a child must have been incredible. You don't matter. What you want doesn't matter. It's selfish to please yourself. It's promiscuous to pick your own partners. You exist to serve men and children. If a man cheats on you, take him back and forgive him; it's your Christian duty.

No wonder she's such a mess.

4 comments:

Righteous Bubba said...

And you don’t have to be promiscuous or crass like Carrie and Samantha and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) tend to be to see a reflection.

As an easily-wounded he-man I am pleased to see that girl-talk about willies is not universal and that unsullied gems like K-Lo will always be with us. Until they die.

Susan of Texas said...

K-Lo's a gem, alright.

The funny thing is that I dislike Sex and the City more than K-Lo evidently does, for the exact opposite reason. I think Big thought Carrie was his inferior and she was too insecure and besotted with her fairy-tale dreams to act like an adult.

Righteous Bubba said...

I'm with you. Carrie-as-girlfriend makes me shiver with dread and Big was an obvious jerk. Nevertheless I thought the show was funny.

Susan of Texas said...

Oh, yes, the show was fun. I'll skip the movie, but I enjoy the reruns.