July 5, 2007

Sex and the Pity

There are no good roles for women in their 40s. When will Hollywood grow up and acknowledge the fact that middle aged women are still sexy? Well, the announcement of the new "Sex and the City" movie from New Line and HBO should quell all the carping about ageism in the industry. And yet...The Stylephile hates to admit that even we don't want to watch a 51-year-old Kim Cattrall smirk about her about fellatio-capades over a Cobb salad or hear Cynthia Nixon snicker about "the secret passage."

Are we as bad as the producers who pair 28 year old leading ladies with Sean Connery or Harrison Ford? No. It's not that a foursome of middle aged women can't be compelling. But the notion of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha swapping stories about their first silver pubic hairs (We predict that Samantha will go to her grave with a Brazilian bikini wax and prefer a "Grey Lady" to a dyed downstairs) or their posteriors collapsing like souffles makes us shudder--for many reasons, of course. That's not to say that these gals can only converse about the anatomical ravages of aging. Still, the draw of SATC was its most novel treatment of sexually liberated women, who spoke frankly about their bodies, conquests and insecurities.

Clearly, Michael Patrick King (the show's creator and writer/director attached to the film) can't present a sanitized take on these women's lives. Then again, who can predict what has happened for the ladies in the three years since the show ceased? The announcement made us think of a movie we were sort of forced to watch on a recent flight from NYC to LA. In this film, four middle aged dudes reclaimed their masculinity and virility by taking a cross country motorcycle jaunt on their Harleys. It was silly and predictable and somehow, not nearly as dreadful as anticipated. Yes, it was "Wild Hogs." What somehow salvaged the inane plot points and sight of Bill Macy in leather pants was the set up: these guys were all deficient in some way. Their wives nagged them, their kids ignored them, and even their pets had little or no respect for them. Maybe it was the mixture of ambien and Chardonnay, but The Stylephile actually rooted for them. Might have even shouted a "Woo Hoo!" -- again, thanks to the aforementioned cocktail.

Unlike the "Wild Hogs," the SATC girls have oft been vulnerable, but never full on pathetic. The starting point here is different. They're too old to go to Sandals and bang every cabana boy at the resort, but too young to continue the legacy of "Grouchy Old Men." What a conundrum. Here's an idea: We suggest that Carrie adopt a pregnant teenager so that she can wear one of those tacky, gold necklaces that reads, "Number One Grandma."