thoughts on Sex and the City 2 (spoilers)

So. I saw Sex and the City 2. I had fairly mixed feelings about it. Like, I went in pretty skeptical. I was really excited for the first Sex and the City movie; I thought the TV show left some loose ends to tie up, so the movie almost seemed necessary. And while I never felt the urge to watch that movie a second time, I was fairly happy with it at the time I saw it; Carrie and Big finally got married, Charlotte and Miranda ended the whole thing happy with their marriages, and Samantha decided she was happy being single and was going to stay that way forever. I was satisfied with where all the characters ended up and would have been happy had they just left it at that, though I heard almost right away that they were thinking about a sequel. I am (was?) a big enough fan of the series that of course I was going to see it, but I wasn't overly excited about going to it.

And...hmm. I will admit that I was smiling by the end, and that once again, I was fairly happy with how/where they left things. However...like, when did Carrie become so infuriating? I remember back in the day, when the show was actually on, thinking that Carrie was the only realistic character, and that Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha were all pretty broad types (though I liked all of them). That's not true anymore. Like, at this point, Miranda and Charlotte are the only ones who act anything remotely like real adult women. My favorite scene in the whole movie is one where the two of them just sit having drinks and talking about motherhood. I've always kind of related to how Charlotte feels the need to put on a smile at all times and act like everything is fine, and I liked Miranda coaxing her to just talk freely about her frustrations.

Miranda is pretty great throughout the movie, by the way. She's the only one who reads up on Middle Eastern culture before their trip to Abu Dhabi, and thus is the only one who knows any of the customs or could speak any of the language. I found myself wishing that the other women were...smarter, or something, though I don't recall ever feeling that way when I used to watch the actual show. And here's where I'll get to the parts of the movie that I found frustrating, namely CARRIE.

Okay, so here's the thing. Like I said, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha have always been somewhat broad types, though this time around, Miranda and Charlotte at least have lives that are somewhat relatable, albeit far more glamorous than that of the average woman (at one point, they openly acknowledge this, expressing gratitude that at least they can afford hiring nannies to help with their kids, and that they are impressed by women who have to tackle motherhood on their own). And Sam-- sure, she's over the top in this movie, but she always has been, and she knows it, and is proud of it. Sometimes I rolled my eyes at her, but she at least seems like fun; you can understand why women like Miranda and Charlotte would want to hang out with her, though it seemed fairly clear that the two of them are kind of growing apart from the others. (Charlotte isn't overly excited to leave her husband and kids to go on vacation with her girlfriends; the others act like this is ridiculous. While part of her reluctance comes from being afraid her husband will cheat with their braless nanny, which is ridiculous, I also think her hesitation is more normal than the movie wants us to think.) But Carrie...

Okay. I've read stuff in the past about how part of the genius of Sarah Jessica Parker is that she's able to make Carrie likable even while she does unlikable things. During the series, I would agree with that; I understood, for example, why she would cheat on Aiden with Big, and I totally got her commitment issues and bad spending habits. However, throughout much of this movie she is just ridiculous. Like, yes, Big has done his fair share of crappy things over the years, but in this movie she's constantly on his case because...he buys a flat screen TV for the bedroom? Because he doesn't want to go out every night? Like, there is one moment near the beginning of the movie where she asks where they should make reservations for dinner, and he asks if they have anything they can eat at home. She says no, and he suggests that, since they have been out of town all weekend at a wedding, maybe they could just get takeout and stay in. And she says-- get ready for this-- "But we had takeout twice last week." Are you KIDDING me, Carrie? You can afford to eat food from restaurants every single night, and you're bent out of shape because your husband wants to eat it at home a couple of times a week? That's, like, borderline offensive. SERIOUSLY. Also, later she is very mean to Charlotte, all because Charlotte suggests that Carrie is "playing with fire" when she decides to go out to dinner with Aiden, who she randomly runs into in Abu Dhabi. Actually, she is very snotty to Charlotte any time Charlotte questions anything about Carrie's marriage to Big; I think we are supposed to be on Carrie's side and think that Charlotte's too rigid in her beliefs about marriage, but there is no reason for Carrie to be as nasty as she is to one of her supposed best friends.

And of course, Carrie does kiss Aiden, which at least has the effect of making her realize that she's been kind of ridiculous about her expectations for her marriage and that she's ruining everything. She immediately calls Big to confess and when she gets home, he has a little talk with her that basically amounts to, "If you'll grow up and start acting like you're married and stop freaking out every time you and I start to seem too boring or traditional, then I guess we don't have to have a TV in the bedroom." Early in the conversation, she tells him that she'd thought he'd left (because he wasn't home when she got back from Abu Dhabi), and he says something along the lines of, "No. I'm an adult. I took vows." And I was like, "THANK YOU!"

There is also some dumb crap that I won't go into much detail about that involves Samantha causing a public disturbance by wearing a tank top and shorts in the middle of Abu Dhabi, which women aren't supposed to do, then accidentally dumping her purse full of condoms all over the street and basically going ape on the men who are offended by this. This causes the four women to have to disguise themselves in burkas and whatnot to get away because if they're late to the airport they will have to-- gasp!-- fly coach. Also, at one point during the commotion they can't find Charlotte and think something horrible has happened to her, only to find that she has just stopped to look at souvenir t-shirts for her kids. It is pretty much the dumbest thing of all time.

So, anyway. The overall message of the movie seems to be that marriage-- and life--can be whatever you want it to be, and you don't have to follow tradition/convention. I'm okay with that and, like I said, left the theater smiling. There was far too much stupid/frustrating stuff going on for me to really recommend this movie, though.