Sex and the City, too

satc2 is attracting a crowd to the neighborhood

06/04/2010 11:33 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

Saw it alone opening night last Thursday, after walking the short distance over from my house to my favorite 16-screen movie theater. Went back tonight with three friends (it's best to see SATC movies in a foursome like they were), again to the Roosevelt Collection, of course. And all I can say is both times it was like one of Smith Jared's premieres. Young women flocking in wearing high heels and short skirts. They get dropped off in fancy cars in the circular driveway. They seem to be piling in from the suburbs and outlying neighborhoods. They also seem too young to have been interested in the original HBO series--but I guess it's a classic and they have caught on to the satire, the emotional poignancy and the beauty of New York and the Sex and the City characters.

SATC2 is attracting groups of girls to the South Loop--and they spend money and add excitement. They crowd into the theater's restaurant/lounge. And they pop for the expensive tickets where you get a little TV-tray aside your seat on which to put your pizza or yogurt or popcorn or favorite alcoholic beverage. That's where we four sat tonight. And there were gasps when Carrie kissed Aiden in Abu Dhabi; and shouts of "no, don't do it" when Carrie tries to decide whether to tell Mr. Big back in New York.

My three friends and I--we all live within a stone's through of the theater--call each other by SATC names. I'm Carrie, of course, because I'm a writer like she is and I have a long face and a sort of big nose. Carole is Miranda because she always minds her Ps and Qs. Marilyn is Charlotte because she is traditional and conservative; and Paulette is proud to call herself Samantha--but she never tells us why.

After the movie, which we loved--all the more so when we discussed the finer points in the lounge over drinks and bacon popcorn--I noted many inside references in the movie to moments, clothes, lines, places and faces in the six-year series that you can pick up on if you watch the episodes On Demand every night like I do. I also showed off my new Patricia Field necklace from Payless. We sat at a table next to some very young women--and to the picture windows looking north. There was a special little red menu with special drink names: Carried Away, The Charlotte, The Samantha, The Miranda and Mr. Big. The place knows it's a destination spot for the moment. And it's giving what it's getting: enthusiasm.

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By Judy C from South Loop
Posted: 06/17/2010 8:47 PM

Bonnie, I was so pleased to read that you and your girlfriends enjoyed SATC2. I too really enjoyed the movie. I saw it with my best girlfriend (we're in our 50s) and we had a ball. After reading all of the negative reviews however, I began to feel somehow inferior. Then I got mad. I realized that the critics were all middle aged men. Don't they get that the movie is a fantasy? Men have their stupid sports and super hero fantasy flicks. Why can't we girls have ours?