LOVE, Kloudiia

Be wowed.

Get your eyes prepared to indulge in a feast of sinfully extravagance, splendour and glamour.  Four ladies sizzle on screen with to-die-for dresses, killer stiletto heels, bigger than big accessories and oh-my-goodness gorgeous wedding gowns are what you can get from the movie Sex and the City.

Besides Carrie Bradshow’s (Sarah Jessic Parker) wedding, Charlotte York’s (Kristin Davis) magical pregnancy, Miranda Hobbes’ (Cynthia Nixon) departure from marriage and Samantha Jones’ (Kim Cattrall) struggle to stay in her relationship without cheating, this movie attempts to dive into something deeper in everybody’s lives than just the two things that girls flock to New York for – labels and love, as what Carrie’s voice-over right in the beginning of the movie says.

As I said attempt to, it means the effect isn’t completely achieved, but awareness has certainly been brought to the audience. What are the other things that matter besides label and love, oh and of course, sex? They are forgiveness, true friendship and happiness. One more – about marriage.

I am impressed and touched by the girls’ friendship. Guess it is most evident when they all appear to help Carrie pack to move. 20 years of belongings plus an extremely huge closet is not that easy to clear, really. It’s easy to stick through good times as people always say. So when all of them threw their work aside (seriously, besides Miranda who seemed genuinely busy, all the girls look like they only have themselves and occasionally, their men to please to while their time away) and fly to Mexico to help a heart-shattered Carrie get back on her legs, or rather her dresses so she can get back on her life.

There are some betrayals, and thence comes the forgiveness part. Maybe in life, we just need somebody to kick us in the ass and tell it to our face. Otherwise, we will always get stuck in the victim mode and cling on to those nasty feelings, bemoan and do nothing about it. Forgiveness means the willingness to face our emotions towards the party who have caused us hurt squarely, and to recognise that that hurts but we can still choose to proceed on by letting it go and focus on rebuilding something else for our future. Something positive.

Like how Mr. Big initially caves into his fear of getting married but finally conquers it as he realises that Carrie is still the love of his life. It lets into a man’s inner world of fears about commitment, especially for those who have been through failed marriages.

It is interesting to see how men and women view weddings and marriages so differently. Mr Big is a typical case here. While he is more than happy to just walk into City Hall (the equivalent of ROM here) and just announce his marriage vows, sign the paper and walk away a happy married man, Carrie is all consumed by the fairy-tale wedding come true with champagne, close friends and not-so-close friends and that perfect wedding gown of every woman’s dream. Even a 40 year old dreams about the wedding gown, trust me.

Don’t believe? Check this out…

Maybe to women, wedding is no different from our marriage. It is a beginning, and how we like the beginnings to start off ever so beautifully and lovingly. It is as if when the wedding is a successful one, then the marriage will be better too. But men just treat that as, well, another event. Wedding and marriage are completely different affairs!

He only wants her, period. With or without the dress doesn’t matter. What does she want then? Him, obviously, but not only him! It has to come with a grand wedding! I’ve learnt some lessons from this segment, and I guess that’s what make this movie enjoyable, because it reflects some issues and teaches us some lessons on love and marriage, dating and relationships that are very true in reality. (Because of all the labels in it, it somehow makes one feel surreal throughout the movie!)

This entire movie looks just like an extended episode, with the exception that they bring closures to all the main issues that the four women are grappling with. And it seems like this is what the movie is for – to bring closures.

At this point, I need to confess. I have not seen the Sex and the City TV drama yet. If my memory didn’t fail me too badly, I vaguely recalled that I’ve watched between 1-2 episodes. One was purely acidental as I was waiting to use the shower room and sat at the sofa in a holiday chalet in Hong Kong when this show was playing. I found it pretty entertaining then, but I didn’t take note of when it was aired to catch it regularly.

But if I were to guess it correctly, the essense of the show is to highlight the struggles that modern women have when it comes to work, love, relationships, marriage and sex. And it feels that ultimately the girls have got their answer towards the million dollar question: Is marriage good, or not?

Well, if out of the four, only one is left single with no wish to marry or even have a fully-committed relationship, then I guess the answer is pretty obvious, right?

Enjoy the movie with your favourite snacks, and I’m sure the 145 minutes will fly by without you noticing it. Who can have enough of those fabulous clothes, right?