Sex & The City Movie - Corrupting Women?

reply to post by q_ball


I completely agree with where you are coming from.

It's the same reason I stopped reading the magazine Cosmo. It was so hypocritical and contradictory it made me want to puke. There would be articles all throughout the magazine of women talking about their one night stands and hot sexual encounters, their embarrassing sex stories, some articles about 'top ten ways to turn him on' or 'how to bed that good looking stranger' etc. Of course the magazine would also be crammed packed with haute couture stick thin airbrushed models.

Then... in every issue there would be a 'real life drama' story about an average woman (complete with her very non-model looking photo) and her battle with AIDS, a single mother struggling to support her children without knowing who the father is, etc. It sent such a mixed message.

There is nothing wrong with a woman enjoying sex but SITC is so way over the top in that regard. In my opinion, it devalues women. That's my two cents.

Originally posted by Sonya610
pexx421 okay peace. : )

And to some other posters...Sex in the City is entertainment that appeals to women. It is fun and amusing and women can identify with some of the characters...big deal!

What about the shows that appeal to men? What about the "car chase shoot em up films" that glorify brutality and violence and seek to appeal to young male viewers? Are you people going to start bashing video games next...because they appeal to males and often have violent themes?

Maybe the real problem with Sex and the City is not so much that women are sleeping around, but that many of the themes revolve around the WOMEN themselves, and not just the women seeking to please men! In fact it is even MORE perverse than that...the men are often seen as there to please women! And I can see where that sort of thing could be dangerous indeed. The end is surely near.

In my own humble opinion, I am here to please A *singular* A woman, but not only sexually, and im not going to say not sexually.. woman have needs to. BUT My role, in my opinion, is to please the woman I love, help to make her happy, shower her with affection and love, let her know how beautiful she is and when she doesnt feel that way remind her.
I've never been the kind of guy to think the male gender needs pleased, because in all actuality, pleased and be pleased or in the least apeased. You dont need exess like the SITC girls, but its nice to have the right amount of everything.

That being said, im not single. *That was a joke by the way even though its true*

But really, back to it. That being said, the things in media lately are making men and woman think they deserve over the tops. Its not that its like they try, humans just generally LOVE to be influenced by the alphas in society. Its human nature.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
Yes. When someone starts a thread about video games, violent moives and porn corrupting men, I'll be happy to add my two cents to that.

HaHa! Fantastic point! I expect that it will be ignored, but I agree. There shouldnt be a double standard at work here. I think ALL people are being "corrupted" by the media in the sense that it feeds us unrealistic expectations of our selves and of others, and distracts us from more important issues with fluff and lies.

a) The show is called SEX in the City, so it's not wholly unsurprising that one finds quite a bit of emphasis on men, sex & relationships. Shockingly enough, many women in reality do obsess over these very things all on their own, without needing a television show to tell them this is what they should obsess over. Fashion, image & all manner of "materialistic" concerns as well. Even more shockingly, women have seemingly been "obsessing" over men, sex, relationships, fashion, etc. for years! Centuries. Millenia even. Throughout recorded history you find women have always been concerned with these very things. Damn media. Or is it damn human nature?

b) The show is called Sex in the CITY, and is about a group of professional women in their thirties living in MANHATTAN, so no, it's not anywhere near close to being a reflection of the "average" American lifestyle. Although, I think it's a pretty accurate portrayal of the geo-socio-economic group it represents, in as much as a 30 minute comedy (or a two hour movie) can accurately portray an entire group of people, however small that group.

While there are very real problems with the media, let's not get crazy. SITC is almost innocuous as far as corrupting influences in the media goes(Can anyone say Girls Gone Wild? Far more corrupting and disturbing...) Yes, the focus in SITC was often on "shallow, materialistic" things, but the characters also spent a lot of time focusing on "real" concerns (within the context of a 30 minute comedy) mostly centered around what it means to be an [urban] woman of a certain age in today's world and the effect that has on career, relationships and life in general. Kind of like real life, where people find themselves having both shallow, materialistic concerns (I do not believe all of you computer having internet users are ascetics) as well as more serious concerns. I fail to see how such a portrayal of women is "corrupting."

It seems like many of you commenting never really watched the show, and so don't fully understand what it was about. Fine, everyone is entitled to an opinion. That said, IMO setting up a soap box based on uneducated, half-formed opinions as a knee-jerk response to some percieved downward decline of western civilization through materialistic overconsumption and moral degradation can be just as dangerous as allowing yourself to be mindlessly seduced and brainwashed by the media. In fact, it's my further opinion that this perception of the western world as a gluttonous, over-consumptive, morally shallow beast destroying all that's good and right is merely another carefully crafted product presented for your consumption by the media. The product of choice for the people who like to think that they're thinking for themselves, the people convinced that they somehow are special and exempt from the corrupting influence and reach of the media. Chances are, you're not.

This thread reminded me about a Family Guy episode where Brian watches Sex in the City and he says "so this show is about three hookers and their mom?"

Pretty much sums it up.

Originally posted by Merigold
reply to post by q_ball

 

*sighs* I'm no fan of Sex in the City. Truth is I can't relate to their lives - A big fancy apartment in NYC, a job paying enough you can spend hundreds on shoes, multible partners, lesbian flings ect; IT IS NOT an accurate reflection of society.


However, I don't think there are any conspiracies or nefarious intentions on the part of the filmakers. It is entertainment and a lot of people are entertained by the SITC franchise.

I don't think any of the themes of the show/movie are wrong or immoral - it's a choice and I think the movie celebrates the fact that women have more choices now compared to an earlier time.

It isn't wrong, it just isn't for me..I don't judge ( ok, I judge a little, but I'm only human!)

Errrrr, you might want to broaden your understand of the potential controlling influence of the ‘Film’ industry and one Edward Bernays influence on how you live today. Also, look at how the ‘Feminists’ movement got started by the CIA (yeah, I’m sure it was to offer you women more liberating choice?), and how the breaking up of the family was a ‘neat’ way to get more of you women paying more taxes as you experience the joys of the rat race?

Have a look and then see if you think it’s all harmless fun making? But, if you know all this and enjoy the film then that’s cool no-ones saying that you can’t.

reply to post by q_ball


Sounds like someone is bitter about not getting any;>

It is a T.V show depictiping women of taking control of their lives and doing what thety want, if they want to sleep around what's the problem?! Women aren't dim enough to take Sex and the city as god. Tut Tut

The world is a pop-culture.
People imitate pop-culture to "fit in."
Young women see scantily clad, unrespectful, permiscuous women on tv, videos, movies, etc, all under the guise of self-empowerment and freedom, when all they're really doing is being self-disrespecting and irresponsible.
Men do it too, but it has been generally more of an accepted behavior for "guys."

Who is to blame though, the ones advertising the self-disrespectful images, attitudes, and behaviors, or the ones following and immitating them in the guise of expressing their freedom and individualism?

Originally posted by theendisnear69
This thread reminded me about a Family Guy episode where Brian watches Sex in the City and he says "so this show is about three hookers and their mom?"

Pretty much sums it up.

Teheheeeee [Gives a suppressed schoolboy s n i g g e r]

[edit on 28-5-2008 by mlmijyd]

ATS won't let me use the word s n i g g e r?????


[edit on 28-5-2008 by mlmijyd]

yet these are being pushed as idols onto women and a new generation..with i think negative implications such as women avoiding monogamy, sleeping around etc etc So what does this mean?

If that were true, it would only mean that those people who idolise somebody just because they see that person on their TV screen suffer from severe lack of sophistication.
But I don't think that's the case at all.
By now, after so many decades of TV and cinema, everyone knows - or should know - that TV is not meant to be "edifying", presenting (only) paragons for people to admire and emulate.

Which is why I don't see how they are "pushed as idols" (and "onto women", no less!)

And anyone who could be "corrupted" by a TV series is very easily corrupted indeed...






[edit on 28-5-2008 by Vanitas]

Society as a whole ( some present company excluded) is already corrupted on sexual views. In my opinion. I am sure this movie is garbage. They are all over the hill (as am I, for that matter) but yuck!

reply to post by q_ball


So what? Men have been proping themselves up with material wealth, always having a beautiful woman on their arm, partying and playing games forever now..is O.K if we have a shot at it? BTW the largest growing population of HIV victims is married women.

Corrupting women, as if they can't think for themselves, that they are so influenced a tv show. I hardly see tv or movies as an ideal for anyone and I doubt it has corrupted women anymore than violent movies and violent sports have corrupted men.

A few points from a long time fan of Sex and the City...

1) The issues the characters obsess over like sex, men, fashion, going out, partying, having fun, etc are all issues that real women have obsessed over since long before the show was a glimmer in HBO's eye. The reason the show became so popular is because it presented a reflection of what women ALREADY saw or wanted to see in themselves; the show didn't create the modern woman, it was only marketed to them. Furthermore, everyone knows life isn't really like this. If you're a single woman in Manhattan I doubt you can afford to wear new designer threads every week. It's hyperbole, like other visual entertainment.

2) Women like SITC because it's fun! Even if we don't agree with every choice a character makes, we can find aspects of them that relate to how we see ourselves and how we would like to see ourselves. What woman doesn't wish they had 3 supertight girlfriends who will always be there no matter what? What woman wouldn't love to go shopping for shoes every time the urge hit and have a superhot date every weekend? What woman couldn't relate to Charlotte when her marriage fell apart after she put heart, soul, and faith into making it work and she thought she had achieved her dream wedding and dream life?

I love SITC for these very reasons...I love fashion. I love the cinematography. And I've gotten to know the characters and I love them too for all their foibles. I'm not saying I agree with all their behavior. I found it downright offensive when Carrie was talking to a boyfriend's mother and they were discussing how it was ok to be anything in the world...as long as it wasn't a Republican. But the show isn't about politics...it's about having fun and that's why I'm a fan. As long as one can seperate fantasy from reality what's the harm?

reply to post by AshleyD


well put, i agree..its so mixed and its corrupting a generation..

As for others, never said what men are doing is any better...lots of idiot guys around too

I would like to state for the record, that as a young single man, if Sex in the City is corrupting women, I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever.

Shows like SITC are deadly cultural poison. Human beings learn from their role models, so shows/movies like Sex in the City absolutely train young women to act/think and plan their lives to emulate these women.

The makers of shows like this don't have an agenda? They absolutely have an agenda. They have a seething hatred for traditional femininity.

And part of it is economic too. In the 1950's, even blue collar American men could support a wife and bunch of kids. Nowadays? Two parents both working struggle to support their one or two children, if they bother to reproduce at all. But that doesn't mean that women's work actually disappears.

Who raises these people's kids? Servants/slaves by any other name. The black or Mexican babysitter, or the young teenager down the street. But more than anything else, the television.

The joke to all this is, as a women on this thread pointed out: no matter how hard women try to be "career" women, it all comes back to women's stuff. These women obsess over love/sex, fashion, and their waistlines... except instead of growing up past "teenager mode," this becomes their life. They literally abort their female life cycles to be perpetual emotional teenagers.

Why are American marriages falling apart? Partly it's that the economy does not allow men and women to fill their proper roles. Both sexes have to work to keep up with our over-bloated consumer lifestyle. And partly it is that women do not want to be women. And yes, I am a guy putting this blame on women, because women are the teachers of our species. Us men are all foolish boys inside in need of training to force us to grow up and assume responsibility as men. When women dilly-dally chasing illusions of vain "independence," they fail in their role. When women consent to being used as sexual playthings to tickle their own egos, they fail in their role. The result is easy to see, and it has now damaged more than one generation of American children growing up in broken homes.

I have to say that this show is absolute crap.

Not to be sexist because it goes both ways, but it's show like this that cause already stupid people to have false perception of reality embedded in their heads where everyone is rich, oversexed, beautiful, and payed large sums of money to do absolutely nothing.

I's comple BS.

Then when the same stupid women...or men. Cannot replicate the conditions they buy into on TV they are suddenly depressed and dissatisfied with reality, which is extremely sad.

You know, how you beat it? Wheel that POS TV out to the curb and don't look back.

There is not one damned thing on TV that isn't full of crap or agenda based. This is why it's called "PROGRAMMING".

This is also why there are endless hordes of idiots in such debt trying to live up to these fictional expectations pounded into ther brainless heads on TV by getting stuck with homes and cars the cannot possibly afford because they feel sub-standard without them not being like these floosies on TV.

But yeah that has got to be one of the most mindlessly moronic shows, only second to the death/rape perversion of the entire CSI series.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
shows/movies like Sex in the City absolutely train young women to act/think and plan their lives to emulate these women.

The makers of shows like this don't have an agenda? They absolutely have an agenda. They have a seething hatred for traditional femininity.

Yeah...no.

Women already think and act like the women on Sex In the City. The show/movie just allow women to be more comfortable with expressing and talking about what they have been doing for decades.

Although i can see what the OP is linking his thoughts to, i cant see it myself in SITC. It does reflect a part of todays society. To certain women, it will appeal to an awful lot. Any conspiracies drawn from SITC is just looking at it way to hard, and drawing the dots that are galaxies apart together.

Off Topic, sorry to divert the thread but -

Someone mentioned Family Guy in the first page, which brings back the thoughts i had the other day. Does anyone here watch it. If so could you see the connection ive made about Family Guy expressing Spirituality. I think in every season in maybe almost every, or every other episode, there is always subliminal messages about Spiritualism, signs, wheather you have to interperate or not, they are deffently there. Was thinking about making a thread about it, but wouldnt want it to get instantly burned, in the first second of posting. Peace