<\/p>\n
This week, my daughter’s sixth-grade class visited a mosque. <\/span>In advance, the teacher prepared instructions about how to dress and behave. <\/span>At home, we talked about respecting others’ faith (even when And, with an unusual day off, I went to see the new movie Sex and the City 2<\/i>. <\/span> <\/span>I confess: as a woman of a “certain age,” I’m pretty Sex and the City 2 <\/i>does All of this sounds as if it might make a good movie–the sort Throughout the picture, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are The filmmakers were quick to point out the In the end, Carrie and girls flee the new Middle East back In the next movie, I wish Carrie and the girls would This week, my daughter’s sixth-grade class visited a mosque. In advance, the teacher prepared instructions about how to dress and behave. At home, we talked about respecting others’ faith (even when we find things difficult to understand), expectations of religious modesty, and differing roles for men and women in Christianity and Islam. On trip day,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,13,2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-film","category-islam","category-media-and-religion"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nwe find things difficult to understand), expectations of religious modesty, and
\ndiffering roles for men and women in Christianity and Islam. <\/span>On trip day, my Episcopal girl went to school in long pants and a long sleeved shirt
\nwith a floral headscarf tucked in her backpack.<\/p>\n
\nmuch the target audience for the old HBO show and its movie spin-offs. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nnot take place in New York; rather, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte
\nfind themselves on an adventure in Abu Dhabi at the behest of a
\npublicity-seeking hotelier who wants to show off the “new Middle East” to
\nthem. <\/span>Set at a glamorous
\nwestern-style resort, the Sex <\/i>ladies
\nthink they have discovered an exotic paradise that mixes high fashion with
\nancient culture and meticulous hospitality. <\/span>But they quickly find themselves in any number of
\ncross-cultural mishaps, the most damaging (spoiler alert!<\/i>) being Samantha’s
\ninability to fit into the sexual mores of even the “new” Middle East. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nof comedic road picture send-up of the mid-20th<\/sup> century in a
\npost-feminist form–and I was prepared to laugh. <\/span>But I didn’t.
\n<\/span>At least not very much. <\/span>It
\njust wasn’t very funny to see four smart American women parading western
\nconsumerism and sexualized identity in blatantly insensitive and anti-religious
\nways in a traditional world. <\/span>I
\nknew that they wouldn’t be robed in burqas (and wouldn’t want them to be), but
\nI didn’t quite expect the Sex and the
\nCity <\/i>women to lead a religious-style revival meeting for America in the
\nUnited Arab Emirates while gyrating to “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar.” <\/span><\/p>\n
\nall trivialized. <\/span>Christianity is,
\nas it has been in the whole series, mostly invisible and seen only through the
\nlens of materialist culture; Judaism received strange treatment during a gay
\nwedding scene and through Charlotte’s conversion; and well, there are no words
\nto describe the mean-spirited stereotypes heaped upon Islam. <\/span>I wasn’t sure what was more
\noffensive–having American ideals of freedom depicted by freewheeling sex-on-the-beach
\nor having Muslims pictured as rich sheikhs, women-hating fundamentalists, and repressed female sexual power. What was this? <\/span>The 1940s? <\/span>Not
\neven a vague attempt at post-9\/11 Abrahamic interreligious understanding? <\/span><\/p>\n
\ninconsistencies–or rather hypocrisies–of Islam while saying nary a negative
\nword about western cultural colonialism or corporate consumerism. <\/span>Non-western cultures were joyfully trashed
\nand western materialism was equally joyfully celebrated. <\/span>As one of Carrie’s tee-shirts
\nproclaimed proudly in the middle of a traditional souk, “J’Adore Dior.”<\/p>\n
\nto the safe embrace of old New York. <\/span>They return from their journey untouched, relieved to have escaped
\nwith their Birkin bags intact. <\/span>You
\nknow, I like Dior, too. <\/span>But the Sex <\/i>girls, like their loyal fans, are
\nnow forty- and fifty-something women.
\n<\/span>And this whole film was vaguely insulting to the journey of womanhood
\nthat the film (I think) intended to celebrate. Mature women<\/span> need to laugh–we like escapism and we can sigh over
\nbeautiful clothes. <\/span>But our
\njourneys have taught us a thing or two–like it is good to be sensitive, open,
\nand curious about the world, beliefs, and politics. <\/span>That respect and modesty are not bad words and that
\nsometimes you really need your sixth grade teacher to send along a set of instructions
\nfor the trip. <\/span>Going outside your comfort
\nzone can be a good thing only if you choose to learn from the journey. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\ndiscover that growing-up isn’t a curse. <\/span> <\/span>Just once I’d
\nlike to see the sadly self-centered ladies of Sex and the City<\/i> wearing tee-shirts saying “J’Adore My Neighbor as
\nMyself.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"