An enormous pop culture phenomenon that is to women what Star Wars is to men, Sex And The City returns four years after the series finale in a silver screen incarnation, continuing the ups and downs of its four female main characters in the Big Apple. Contributor Iskandar Liem reports.

When audiences last saw them, idealistic Charlotte had adopted a Chinese girl, cynical Miranda had moved to the suburbs in domestic bliss, promiscuous Samantha had finally settled down with her boy toy while Carrie had finally nailed the elusive Mr. Big after six seasons of whirlwind courtship. The film picks up four years later with a new set of conflicts, including wedding plans going awry for Carrie's impending nuptials to Big.

A smash in the US where it grossed $57 million in its opening weekend and unexpectedly toppled Indiana Jones off the top of the box office, the Sex And The City (SATC) movie looks set to get local female (and mostly gay male) moviegoers rushing to cinemas in droves when it opens here next week.

Cheryl Lynne, 24, is a fan of the series who is planning to see the SATC movie with a group of her closest female friends. The trend of women flocking to see the movie in small groups makes up the vast majority of its box office receipts in the US and this pattern is likely to repeat itself here. Cheryl attributes the show's massive following to its empowering depiction of women and their strong bonds with one another.

"Each of the girls represents three basic archetypes of the female population, with Carrie being a combination of the three. Hence most women would definitely identify with the characters."

Cheryl, who likes the complex Carrie best among the four girls, added that another major factor of SATC's universal appeal is the resplendent lineup of outfits the cast wears on the series. This fashion smorgasbord naturally also applies in its big screen venture.

Another devoted fan who thinks SATC's wardrobe is to die for is model and presenter Caroline Zachrie.

"I love how the different characters have evolved when it comes to fashion. All four have distinct styles that truly depict their individuality, especially Carrie," she said.

But has Carrie Bradshaw's risqu* style, which walks a fine line between sublime and atrocious, actually inspired Indonesian women to dress badly?

"Unconventional fashion sense doesn't suit everyone. It takes a genuine joie de vivre attitude to pull off a Carrie ensemble," Caroline said.

This sentiment is echoed by Sari Nila, fashion stylist to Indonesian Idol contestants, who says she would "never style my clients according to what I see on SATC because the clothes have to match his or her personality".

She also loves the most talked-about outfit in the film: Carrie's Vivienne Westwood wedding dress with green feathered hairpiece, which fans have long been able to view in magazines and websites, thanks to paparazzi shots taken during filming. More conservative fashionistas have remarked that the ensemble is hideous and over the top, but Sari Nila begs to differ.

"It's edgy and individual, which sums up my personal style actually," she quipped.

However, as much as she loves to observe Carrie's eclectic fashion lineup for inspiration when dressing herself, Sari Nila admits that she actually doesn't like SATC that much. Hence she's probably not waiting for the film's release with bated breath. Especially since one doesn't need to see the film to see its outfits, with numerous photos of them plastered and discussed all over the Internet.

A quick browse on Indonesian web forums reveal that SATC has several other detractors as well. One local SATC thread on Yahoo Movies forum has a post by Novita Maizir, chastising it as "hedonistic and a blatant propaganda of consumerism". Another post by Angga Pratama laments how "young people nowadays would rather emulate Carrie Bradshaw's hairstyle and clothes rather than the Pancasila (the five Indonesian national ideology)". Angga also elaborates that SATC isn't suitable for Indonesians as it clashes with the country's conservative Asian values.

For a series that single-handedly put the phrase "he's just not that into you" in dating lexicons everywhere, it turns out that there are many people who are just not that into SATC after all.

The film censorship board is also hardly a fan of the show. SATC's abundance of nudity and sex scenes meant that when the series aired on TV, it was heavily censored, occasionally deleting whole story arcs (usually involving the sexually adventurous Samantha) and intentionally mistranslating the explicit banter, which provided bilingual audience members with amusement while reading the subtitles.

With only a couple of early seasons aired and the locally produced DVD of the series heavily butchered by the censors, the easiest way locals could watch the series in its entirety is through pirated DVDs, which are illegal copies of the uncut American Region 1 version, and sell like hot cakes.

Andre Poernomo, 31, a Bandung-based male fan of the series, plans to buy the film's pirated DVD although he will definitely catch it in cinemas first. "Just to see what scenes the censors cut out," he said.

It is indeed ironic that the success of SATC's big screen venture is dependent on the preceding series' popularity, which is largely attributed to rampant piracy.

Andre, who claims to be "obsessed" with SATC, also plans on traveling to Jakarta solely for the purpose of catching the film at its premiere midnight screening. He reasoned that if he were to wait for the film to screen in Bandung, it may be a few months before it arrives in the West Java city.

"Watching a film that I have waited four long years for with a group of close friends is almost like a pilgrimage to me," Andre said. "After the movie, we'll all go to Sarinah shopping complex for drinks just like Carrie and her friends. Except we'll have iced tea instead of Cosmopolitans."

With abundance of fans and foes alike, will the SATC movie be as successful here as it was in the US? Will Samantha settle for monogamy? Will Charlotte have a biological offspring? Is Miranda's domestic bliss really that blissful? Will Carrie be Mrs. Big before the end titles roll?

Well, as Ms. Bradshaw would put it: I couldn't help but wonder.

Sex And The City: The Movie opens 20 June at Blitz Megaplex and 21 Cinemas.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia