I’m happy to report that in its inaugural weekend it only took me 7 hours to see the Sex and the City flick. 

You’re probably wondering how a self professed lover of art house Euro dramas could have found the tenacity required to vie in line with a veritable exodus of South Beach princesses, queens, hags and Chihuahuas for this full portion of cinematic cheese.  Where was Moses to part this sea of people? My mom had been pestering me for over a month to take her to see SATC, but I have to admit to my own admiration for the creative talent that made the show.

I prepared for the worst. Let’s be realistic a movie about 4 aging women still caught up in the ministrations of finding a suitable partner for a dinner date? Shouldn’t one be occupied with more existential endeavors at such an advanced stage in life? I mean what could they do for an encore? Could they keep on referencing Manolo Blahnik’s shoes ad sempiternum? Was there any couturista yet to be unnamed in the show? Were they going to become this generation's Golden Girls? I was in dire doubt of the writing for such a part deux.

The popularity of any character depends on how the public identifies with it. I've lost count on how many professional gay men have come up to me and confided as if sharing some larger than life dark secret that he is Carrie Bradshaw down to her Carolina Herrera panties and Coach tampons. Whereas the truth is akin to the fact that these gentlemen are closer in ethos to Samantha Jones, it is the ever questioning serial datist Miss Bradshaw and her fairy tale heroism that they unequivocally look up to.

It is easy to see why Carrie has become the gay male’s PR role model meanwhile we tend to keep our inner Samantha in the closet. After all, who wants to be called a slut, again…uhhh…I mean, yet. I cannot but feel sympathy towards the once bodacious and sassy Sam. There is no BS about her. She enjoys sex and finds no moral caveat with it. Very much like gay men she is practical in these matters. Curiously enough neither does Carry have any scruples in getting down and dirty with a dude but that is not the quality that so many gays and their hags find irresistible about her.

The thing with Carrie is that she represents our collective necessity to believe that perfect love can occur even in the midst of the chaos that is NYC. Just as she won’t give up on love we hold on to what she represents, even when many of us have in all practicality given up on it. The most powerful moments in the show as in the film are when Carrie has been jilted and her illusions lie shattered. We have all been there at some point so we empathize at the same time that her character’s strength buoys us back to life. This is her main asset, she refuses to be sunk, she doesn’t give up on her hope that there is someone for her and she will do whatever it takes to find him. At this point we discount all her superficiality and scatter brained immaturity for this aching touch of humanity. Carrie is always ready to pick herself up from the floor and continue her quest undaunted and we find that inspiring.

SATC really is a collage of 4 approaches at searching for and attaining love. Most of us have been trained by pop culture to look for the story book fantasy and hope for that BIG, ideal love but SATC reminds us not to discount those other perhaps less obvious or glamorous routes to finding that special someone. We have the down to earth examples of Steve and Miranda, Charlotte and Hairy who, after much strife, settle into blissful heteronormalcy and gasp! Reproduction! Whatever!  Albeit with less fanfare they too have found their BIG love.    

Perhaps the most courageous character still is Samantha who, at a point in life at which most people realize their only option is to settle, refuses to do so and makes life about herself again. This is empowering if not without an iota of self immolation. Most of us want to find a life partner that will be there when we are old and may no longer be able to attract others. For this we are willing to sacrifice varying degrees of self love and herein lies one of the most interesting debates about loving: a romantic will say true love needs self sacrifice ironically achieving happiness in overcoming one’s ego, they see a life lesson in this whereas Samantha’s actions contain that most lonely and gayest of sentiments: the greatest love of all is loving yourself.

Whatever you make of this conundrum the film is great and you shouldn't miss it, so please grab your Jimmy Choos, your cosmo and your numero uno hag and head to the theater ASAP.

G .P. Harris writes tongue in cheek (no pun intended!) via the Devil’s Advocate feature of GaySOFLA.   The purpose of his column is to generate dialogue regarding issues that concern the GLBT community.  Harris can reached via email at bananafish199@yahoo.com.