CRASH
SEX AND THE CITY 2
So lets talk about racism. It should be acknowledged that there’s a direct connection between our imperialist past and the way that people from other cultures are treated today. Empires across the world have helped fuel countless civil wars in third world countries simply by sticking their noses in and taking advantage of people for profit. The way to stamp out racism is for rich white Westerners, who still get privileges, to admit that there is still a problem, but the moral message of the award winning Crash is simply; everybody in the entire world is a racist. This rather basic misunderstanding of the issue of race, particularly in America, isn’t helping anyone, and furthermore allows privileged White Americans who live in a society best suited for them, to shift the blame. The only character that comes close to the truth is Anthony, who is depicted as a hypocrite. Furthermore Matt Dillon’s character is portrayed as one of the most sympathetic, as he transcends from being a racist cop who sexually assaults a black woman to saving said black woman from a car accident, while she merely screams like a child and is portrayed as pathetic. In fact pretty much all of the white characters are forgiven for their bigotry, while everyone else is depicted as hypocritical. And the only white guy who seems to stand up for the injustice of it all then turns around and- due to a hilarious misunderstanding- shoots dead a perfectly innocent black man. It would seem Crash is more concerned with being ironic than actually tackling the issue of race.
I look forward to sharing the wonderful medium of film with my hypothetical child. By the time she's twelve I would already have introduced her to such classics as The Thing, The Fly and The Evil Dead, but I would think twice before allowing her to see something as warped and immoral as Sex and the City 2. Aside from the stereotyping of homosexuality, the racism, sexism and general stupidity of it all, the film depicts a world that has descended into a poisonous, superficial void and then actually teaches people to embrace it. Sex and the City 2 follows the lives of four rich, egotistical, consumerist witches who spend a good deal of time complaining about their pampered, self indulgent lives. What's worse is that these women are not depicted as the fairy tale villains they so clearly embody, but instead the audience are expected to actually sympathise and care about their story. I don't believe films have a moral obligation to teach the audience anything, but I do think that the power cinema has shouldn't be taken lightly. I also think it is possible for a film to be objectively bad, and Sex and the City 2 is certainly that. But the real problem here is that the movie is intentionally sending a morally bankrupt message to its audience; it promotes materialism as a means to define a woman's equality and individuality. According to the shallow world of Sex and the City, women must buy their identity, and can only express themselves by decorating their bodies with jewellery, expensive clothes and other meaningless stuff. Perhaps Sex and the City is not to blame, perhaps it is simply a reflection of the world we live in. But if this is what our society has come to, a mass lobotomy where the most worthless things are given the most value, and self indulgent, egomaniacal, emptyheaded depthless gargoyles are our new Gods, then fuck it. I don't want to live in that world, so bring on a wave of zombies, or time travelling robots, a mutant spider or a thing from another world, because we're crying out for a fucking purge.
Join us again next time for another funfilled lighthearted Top Five film list!
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