Too Much To Twitter

I wasn't going to post today. Then I was going to "tweet" something small. Then I realized that I couldn't restrain myself and just had to put up a post.

I finally saw Sex and the City! I loved it! I've been waiting for this movie since I first heard that it was being made. I didn't watch the series from the beginning, but got into it by renting the DVDs and watching it in syndication. I've seen all the shows, but there is something so comforting about watching this show. Especially right before I go to sleep, almost like a lullaby. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Read this.

The show is primarily about friendship, not sex. I think the only reason the show has that title is so that the writers and producers could sell it. Sure there is sex, but that's not the main point. The fashion is fun too, but again, that is not the main point. The show and the movie are really about friends. And it was summed up so well in the last episode. I cry everytime I see it. It's the scene when Mr. Big goes to see Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda and asks if he still has a chance with Carrie. He says that he knows that they are the loves of her life and a guy is just lucky to come in fourth. Perfection.

Anyway, as a black women who is not necessarily supposed to be part of the demographic who would like the show or movie, I just wanted to say a few things. First, if you click here, there are some interesting comments about whether black women liked the show. Like any other group of women, some liked it and some did not. The article talks about the issue of black women being cast in movies as the "black best friend" or BBF. Personally I liked Jennifer Hudson's role in the movie.

I really wish that "the powers that be" would be more open to the different groups of people who will watch a television show or a movie. I knew that SATC would open big and find it shocking that studio executives were shocked about how much money it made. If you looked at the following of the show, how could you be shocked? What kind of market research were they doing? Also from people that I've spoken to, there are men who plan to see the movie or at least watch the DVD when it's released.

Women will pay to see movies that resonate with them. Men and teenage boys are not the only ones who can turn out in big numbers to make a movie a smash hit. And this brings me to a movie that is struggling to be made. I've mentioned before that I loved the book The Dirty Girls Social Club. It's a great book! Here is a summary of the characters from the book's website.

"--Lauren, the "caliente" columnist for the local Boston paper whose love live has recently led her to her boyfriend's closet...to catch him in the act with someone else
--Sara, the perfect wife and mother who's got it all but who is paying a high price
--Amber, raised a Valley girl without a word of Spanish but who is becoming a huge rock en espanol star
--Elizabeth, the stunning black Latina whose TV anchor job conflicts with her intensely private personal life
--Rebecca, hyper-in-command in the world of her glossy magazine, Ella, but totally at sea when it comes to men
--Usnavys, fabulous and larger than life, whose agenda to land the kind of man who can keep her in Manolos almost prevents her finding true love"

So you can see that the book is about six Latinas, middle-class, educated, and successful women in Boston. This should not be a stretch for anyone to believe. The author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez based the characters on herself and her friends while she was going to school and living in Boston.

The book is in the process of being turned into a movie, but funding is an issue. Apparently the studios don't think that the characters are realistic. Here is an excerpt from one of the author's recent posts.

"A few posts back, I video-blogged about the response we'd gotten on "The Dirty Girls Social Club" movie from nearly all major US film studio heads. I told you about how several of them said the movie's characters were "not believable as real Latinas," presumably because they were well-educated, accomplished, interesting, sardonic, etc...

The feeling it gave me to go through this experience was similar to how I felt in the late 1980s and early 1990s when I was a student at Berklee College of Music, confused as to why I'd endured 2 years of music history without hearing of a single woman. When I asked the teacher, Dennis LeClaire, in front of a packed auditorium, his response had been, 'That's easy, Miss Valdes; it's because I teach history as pertains to the greats, and there have been no women greats.'"

Click here to learn more. The author posted a this video message to her blog to give fans of the book an update on the movie. I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie. It will be just as fun as SATC. We have to get past racial and ethnic stereotypes in this country. This is something that I've dealt with my whole life.

*Updated 9/1/2011* I'm looking at old posts today and finding bad links and outdated material, so I'm cleaning up what I can. Interesting what you learn reading these old post. The author has a new book coming out in a couple of weeks, the 3rd in the Dirty Girl series.
Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.

This Post's Link

Comments

Unknown said…
Thanks for the info on "The Dirty Girls Social Club"!!! I will definitely check out the sites you mentioned. I do not understand why studio heads have such a problem. Maybe because they never step outside of their box long enough to see they are not the only people the world.
Tera said…
I never really got into the whole Sex and the City craze, I just watched sometimes because a couple of my friends are fanatics! I may have to check the movie out, because aside from it all, it did give me a good giggle every now and again! :)
Ooh The Dirty Girls Social Club sounds awesome! And yeah, I don't get why studio execs were so shocked by what SATC did in the first weekend either. I mean, honestly? What *were* they looking at it?

I enjoyed the film as well even though I was never a fanatic; I only started watching a few months ago b/c they finally put the episodes on in English here. I probably still haven't seen them all, but it was enough to want to know what happened with the girls ;)
Lisa Johnson said…
moody gemini - Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you liked the information. Studio heads really do need to get a clue.

tera - The movie is funny, but serious too. I laghed and cried from happiness, but some sadness too. They tackle some real issues.

bleeding espresso - You should rent all the DVDs and watch them in order. I guess I'm assuming it's easy to rent DVDs in Italy... Once I knew how everything turned out and the order that it happened, it made it more enjoyable watching the re-runs.
So So Simple said…
Hi Anali
The SATC movie has opened here last week.
I had tickets booked but have a surprise trip to the tropics instead. Will have to wait until I return.
Glad you liked it.Like the thought of the Dirty Girls Social club might be good holiday reading.
Cheers
Lisa Johnson said…
so simple - If you loved the show, you will love the movie. Enjoy your trip to Tahiti! I just stopped by your blog yesterday. : )

Popular Posts