'Sex' and the Feminist

Saw Sex and the City. Loved the TV show. Guilty pleasure.

As a moviegoer, I enjoyed it. I was entertained. I appreciate a movie (and TV show) whose central characters are multidimensional women in their 40s. Hollywood needs more female representation, on- and off-screen. It was funny.

But as an academic, I thought: Really? I'm tired of the message that fairy tales really do come true, as long as women lower their standards. Trust me, the film is explicit about this. Also: Another one-dimensional "magical negro" character who, with her earthy, keep-it-real honesty, saves the damaged white woman from her cynicism? Sarah Jessica Parker's character actually says to Jennifer Hudson's character: "Thank you. You saved my life." Before Jennifer Hudson goes back to the 'hood (where apparently she belongs) and marries her old sweetheart.

So. Go see the movie, enjoy it, but don't expect any new ground to be broken. It's, ahem, hardly a feminist consolation prize for Hillary not getting the nomination, as some pundits—seriously—suggested. It's not a feminist film. But that doesn't mean feminists can't enjoy it.