Sex and the City is now in movie theaters and thankfully doing well. Before it premiered, Hollywood insiders were biting their lips and shaking their heads. They were concerned over the axiom that a movie starring a woman over a certain age could not make money. The track record (though shoddy at best) suggests that it is not possible and therefore there was a lot of fretful murmuring: Would SATC make money at the box office? Despite that it is a beloved and well known brand. Despite that it had a healthy, proven fan-base. Despite that people were clamoring for a movie even before the television show left the air. And despite all the frenzied paparazzi-stalking and blogosphere ruminating that the set suffered during filming. The stars are all woman over 40! Could it possibly make any money? To which anyone with half a brain would have raised a disbelieving eyebrow, but the doomsayers would have their way. So much so that on Saturday morning, some ticket talliers were saying things like, "It made money on Friday...but will it make money on Saturday?" It was unsettling. And oddly, it felt like fear-mongering: If you ladies won't buy this one, then we might not make a movie for you ever again!
We women are a tricky target. Whenever a manufacturer or a marketer goes after us as a group, we inevitably let them down by not buying whatever pink crap they put into our face and tell us we want. Hence, why Hollywood prefers to make big shoot-em up films and not quiet dramas. 18-year old boys will buy anything that goes BANG! But women won't go see just any hearts and flowers epic. If you're going to spend 8-digit money on a product, you may as well spend it on something that you know is a sure bet. I understand the logic, however, I can't help to feel the bias against me as a discerning consumer. Especially since I wasn't a SATC fan. Oh, sure. I watched a few episodes when they aired on TBS. But since I was a single gal in NYC, and I didn't spend my Mondays sipping lattes at brunch and later cosmos at happy hour before trotting off in my $600 heels to my brownstone where I would languish in bed with one of many lovers, I didn't find it all that identifiable. If truth be know, I found it to be a laughable fairy tale...and not in a nice way. OK, so the writing was pretty funny at times, and I certainly appreciated the portraits of independent females; I just wasn't a fan. However. I will see the movie.
Why? Because I feel like I have to take one for the team. (Actually, it'll be two for the team. I saw Mad Money for the same reason. You're welcome Callie Khouri.) I feel that it is my feminist duty to see Sex and the City at the theater were my money makes an impact on studio decisions about which films get made. If I want more movies (or television shows) about women and their issues, then I've got to go see this one. It's not fair, but that's the simple truth of it. So this weekend, I will be knocking back a cosmo (though, by now, those savvy ladies are onto mojitos), putting on a pair of pairful stilettos, and making my way to the theater where I will plunk down my $14 all in the name of the sisterhood. I'll send you news from the front.
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