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May 2010 

Return to Table of Contents May 2010

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Editor’s Note

Do you like Sex and the City?




Now that the second Sex and the City movie is being released I’m bracing myself. Not for a bad film, although in all honesty I have no idea whether it’ll be any good. I’m bracing myself for the fresh batch of vitriol that will be sent Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda’s way.

When the first movie came out it was open season on the Sex and the City ladies, and I don’t use that hunting allusion lightly. One blogger suggested locking the theatre doors during the film and gassing its patrons, another wrote, “To hell with this movie, and scratch any woman who says she liked it off the list. For anything.” Ouch. For many who hated it — or hate the show and didn’t even see the movie — their criticisms fall along predictable chauvinistic lines. The women are materialistic, oversexed, stupid, unlikeable, they say. I could pick apart every one of those criticisms if I had the room, but since I don’t, I’ll concentrate on the one that interests me most — that the characters are unlikeable.

For the most part, I don’t disagree. I’ve happily watched every episode, yet I find Samantha crass, Charlotte too precious, Miranda cold and Carrie, well, Carrie’s okay. Of course, they’re also loyal, self-sufficient, caring and strong. It’s the idea that we’re only supposed to enjoy movies and TV shows with entirely likeable characters that I find simplistic. It’s like the art lover who only appreciates landscapes awash in pretty flowers or still lifes constructed around pleasantly arranged fruit.

The issue is only magnified because these characters have existed for so long, gone through so many experiences, had so many opportunities to behave well and to behave poorly. They are anything but one-dimensional, as many who hate them after catching a snippet of dialogue here or there will say.

Looking at some of my favourite TV shows, I find very few of their characters truly likeable — from the remote Nate on Six Feet Under to the irritating Michael Scott on The Office to House’s pathological doctor, Gregory House. Show me an entirely likeable character and I’ll show you a character whose show will be cancelled before the end of the season.

In “More to Life than Sex” we talk to Kim Cattrall, who plays the least warm and fuzzy of the lot, the sexually promiscuous, unapologetically ballsy Samantha Jones. Man, I hate her.

Ben Kingsley isn’t even trying to be likeable in his new role. He plays the villain in the videogame spinoff Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. You wanna know how evil he is? He has a goatee. He’s goatee-evil. Read “Game for Anything” to find out what Kingsley tried to bring to this role.

How can you not like Jay Baruchel? He’s smart, unassuming — in other words, typically Canadian. Which fits, since the Montreal native can’t stop raving about his hometown. And, despite being much sought-after for big U.S. productions, he prefers to make his movies right here, like he did with The Trotsky. In “The Revolution Begins at Home,” Baruchel tells you about his new film.

And you’re sure to find something you like in this summer’s slate of movies. Check out our Summer Movie Preview and start working on your must-see list.

Marni Weisz, editor


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