Sexism and the Movies

Now, I've got no fish to fry with Sex and the City (when I watched the TV show with my wife, it seemed fun enough, if absurd the way that Carrie could survive in the big city as a journalist), but I have been a bit shocked at how vicious the reviews of the Sex in the City 2 movie have been. First there was a reaction against the Photoshopping of the movie poster, to which Sarah Jessica Parker had a great reaction: "How come no one asks Tom Cruise or Will Smith why their posters are Photoshopped?" Now these really mean-spirited reviews, which can be fun to read, but misses the larger point that some people just like bad movies. As this site notes:

My contention is that there is nothing more intrinsically objectionable in women fantasizing about big shopping and the ups and downs of urban sexuality than men fantasizing about war, gangs or fast cars. ... What really irritates me is the effortless assumption of male superiority that suggests male fantasy lives are more serious and real than female ones. ... It’s all trashy and silly. There is nothing inherently noble or serious-minded about men screaming for one patch of the earth’s surface against another patch, as they follow 11 people in shirts and shorts booting a ball. Watching Tarantino films about Americans scalping Nazis, or gladiators capering about in a mock-up of ancient Rome isn’t “higher” than watching women engage in competitive shopping ‘n’ bitching. Indeed, it’s further away from everyday realities, not closer to them. ... In short, the critics of ‘Sex and the City’ need to lighten up and remember that everyone has a different fantasy world.

It's an excellent point, and one that's driven home to me again everytime I turn on an On Demand video for my son while some uber-violent preview is shown in the corner. "Daddy," Hunter says, "they're fighting on the TV. Why?" I have no answer.