Women Over 40 Rock!

My friend, Carol, organized a SATC girls’ night out for the opening weekend. She not only paid for the tickets, the hot dogs, soft drinks, valet parking but also gave each of us a chilled 12 ounce Cosmo filled Vitamin Water bottle (conveniently purse size). Carol is one generous woman who knows how to party! Seeing this movie with friends was the perfect setting for a film that pays homage to the strength of women’s friendships. The bond women have with each other was reflected not only on the screen but in the thousands of SATC parties across the nation. And our four SATC ladies, all over 40, looked gorgeous. In a town where actresses are in the final chapter of their career at 35, here is a film in which Samantha, still sexy and hot to trot, celebrates her 50th birthday. That was a ground-breaking moment for a mainstream Hollywood film. My friends and I highly recommend the film. It is funny, sweet and yes, even moving.
The reviews and blogs about this film have been mixed and many have been downright scathing. In Melissa Silverstein’s June 1 Women & Hollywood blog, she included quotes from “the misogynist” column of Jeff Wells from Hollywood Elsewhere. He called SATC a “Taliban Recruitment Film”. In another blog, he went on to attack the largely female audience for this film: “…an indication that a certain portion of middle-class American females — pre-teens, teens, 20- and 30-somethings, middle-agers — are, no offense, social dimwits and aesthetically clueless saps with the collective depth of three or four quarters laid on top of each other.”
Jeff-Jeff, chill, the movie is a light comedy and certainly there is a parallel to action films geared to a male audience. When “Fast & the Furious” came out, would you have attacked the mostly male audience that flocked to that film? Would you have been scurrilous in your criticism calling them testosterone fueled macho young men, mindless, reckless road racers, hell-bent on destruction? Jeff, you criticized the suburban women who attend SATC, implying they are shop-a-holics who “….use their f—ing credit cards to stay ‘in the game’ regardless of her age.” Perhaps you object to spending $525 for a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes. But a set of custom wheels could easily set you back more than $500 bucks? The shoes and the wheels both get you there in style, so what’s the difference?
But Jeff, why are you on the attack? Why are you picking on us? There is a huge segment of the population (perhaps your older sisters, your mother and aunts) for whom there have been few mainstream films that provide a little escapism. You can see by the turn out how hungry we are for a fun, upbeat film that speaks to us. It’s been years since we’ve had a film to flock to. The last one was “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006; before that “Something’s Gotta Give” in 2003; there was “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in 2002; and before that in 1996 “First Wives Club”; and, before that 1991 “Thelma and Louise”. Notice the number of years between these films – note, too, that everyone was a huge box office hit and yet was considered an anomaly. We get crumbs, Jeff, crumbs, so excuse us for being a little giddy about a film that’s a bit of a fantasy but a lot of fun and along the way celebrates women’s friendships.
Jeff, I also think you are totally missing the economic good that is being done by this picture. These are dire economic times, buddy, and in bad times we prefer to think about good times. Simplistic, but there you have it. One chief element that keeps the economy going is consumer spending. Not only are women turning out in droves to buy tickets and drinks and dinner for a night out, but also are given a chance to do a little fantasy shopping. These days there’s not a lot of actual shopping going on. Have you been to the malls lately, Jeff? In many stores, the sales staff out-numbers the customers. Things are bad, Jeff, according to The New York Times of 6.1.08, even the rich are selling the diamonds they don’t wear to make ends meet. So, maybe SATC will get women to spend their rebate checks (like the President wants us to) on stuff rather than use them to pay off our f—ing credit cards you said we’re so addicted to.

Jan Bina, blogger for In the Trenches Productions, The First Entertainment Website Celebrating the Power and Beauty of Women Over 40