Just one of the girls

News that Sex and the City 2 is launching with evening preview screenings May 26 was exciting. I’ve long been an admirer of the S&TC television series if less so of the movie franchise. Nevertheless I hope to be there for next week’s first screening even though I might be among a handful – if that! – of men among a mass of women (and, anyway, what’s so bad about that?).....Frankly it never occurred to me that S&TC was such an ultimate chick, uh, magnate. Obviously the TV series and films are about four successful Manhattan gal pals. So of course this would attract women who, while perhaps not of the same socio-economic or even sophistication of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, could relate on some level to their passions and misadventures over work, men and, as women, where they fit into the fleeting if sometimes crazy world around them.....But the reason I got hooked on it – indeed it is the only TV series in 20 years I watched consistently week after week – was hardly because of those things, though they were interesting......What glued me to the TV set was the series’ unabashed fresh personalities. I loved the roles created for these characters – their independence and wit, and even their style (in a world where fashion was heading steadily downhill)...... And the writing was great. Virtually every line of dialogue was witty or a set up to some extraordinarily hilarious moment or sub-plot. Not that the show was just a laugh fest. But the humour seemed to make these characters and the circumstances they encountered all the more real......And finally, especially in the Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones) character, here at last was an independent woman being as sexually promiscuous as any man. I loved the fact the series so completely broke gender roles.....The movie version so far has been a little disappointing. It’s been great to see the girls back, but it seemed a bit like they were going through the motions. Nevertheless there were a few sparks in the 2008 edition. Let’s hope for more this time around.