The Chick Flick to End All Chick Flicks

My excuse: "It makes me think of my ex-grilfriend, sorry babe"

Sent by Kevin | 2:51 PM ET | 05-29-2008

My husband and I have been laughing about his escaping the movie for months. Not only did I just print the get out of the movie card for him, I REALLY don't want him to go with me.

Sent by Jennifer (listening on the sly at work) Gardner | 2:53 PM ET | 05-29-2008

im going to stay home and set my eyes on fire and then bury them instead. luckily, my girlfriend has charcter depth and feels the same as i.

Sent by john simon | 2:54 PM ET | 05-29-2008

How is SITC any worse or less realistic or more shallow than James Bond movies?

Sent by Gretchen | 2:55 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I have never watched the TV show and have not desire to see the movie. But in support of the sister-hood, I must comment on the total lack of attention your show has given to the endless stream of stupid boy movies we are subjected to. Seriously, I would like to see a show on why girls don't refuse to see that tripe while their boyfriends ridicule and avoid so-called chick-flicks.

Sent by Polly | 2:55 PM ET | 05-29-2008

John Kass' tirade is pretty tiresome. SATC is a movie, people, a MOVIE. Not reality. Escapism, pure escapism. If you don't like it, don't see it. Leave the rest of us to our guilty pleasure, it's really not that big of a deal.

Sent by Erika | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

These SATC women are dreary. They represent the final wimpers of a dying civilization. Why would I go? I am going to see Prince Caspian.

Sent by Lynn Johnson | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I'm a woman. Last weekend, me and my roommate (also a female) went to see Iron Man. Loved it! A friend of ours recommended we see Sex and the City this weekend. We both cringed. So what's OUR excuse?

Sent by Crystal | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I'm a woman and have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of seeing the moving!

Sent by Jan | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I'm a confirmed shoe addict but I will do everything I can to avoid this movie. Couldn't stand the tv show, can't stand the actresses. Iron Man - here I come

Sent by Kerri London | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I take offense at the implication that only women watch torturous films. My boyfriend loves romantic comedies, which I find inane and sexist. They have the same formulaic Cinderella theme - boy meets girl, they overcome an obstacle and live happily ever after. The alternative of car chases isn't much better. Maybe you can offer suggestions on how a woman can get out of going to watch these stupid films.

Sent by Mary | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

As a considerate wife; if I did like movies like this one (which I don't incidentally), I would never force my husband to watch it with me. If there's something I want to see and he doesn't, I'm happy to set him free to drink a Fat Tire, while watching Spike TV to his heart's delight.

Sent by Stephanie | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

When will you provide a list of excuses to NOT watch golf or other sporting events? This was such pandering to an audience that listens to Rush rather NPR.

Sent by Lisalyn Tristano | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

This is so biased towards men. You don't do a feature when IRONMAN or the latest resident evil comes out about how girls want to get out of seeing movies of all brawn and no brains!

Sent by Nancy modi | 2:56 PM ET | 05-29-2008

John Kass is making himself sound incredibly unintelligent with his rant against this "estrogen fest." I am not a Sex and the City fan in any form of the word, but his criticism is extending beyond the grounds of just the movie, it's generalizing women and it's shameful!

Love is a constant compromise and you shouldn't be giving men an option to "bail out" of a date with their significant other. There are multiple painful things both men and women do to in order to prove their love for their partner and this is just one of them. It's not all one-sided. Give up the rant, you're making me sick!

Sent by Kendra Kavan | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Forget about getting out of going to see this movie. Who wants to see a movie with someone who has no interest in going? Nothing makes a situation more enjoyable than experiencing it with someone who is miserable, right? Are women so codependent that they can't go anywhere without their man?

Sent by Denise | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I want one of these cards - and I'm a woman! Sex and the City is the most ridiculous mockery of femininity and women's sexual health (or lack thereof) I've ever seen. What a waste of time (and talent, and money...)

Sent by Heather Stombaugh | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Hey, I'm a guy and I teared up a little during a crucial scene in Iron Man, so who needs Sex and The City?

Sent by Glenn | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

You couldn't get me near the Sex...City movie - or the show for that matter. I'm a heterosexual woman and really think this genre of shows/movies debase women and men! I'll be grilling the veggies though, you can have Iron Man too! lol

Sent by Caryn Foshaug | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

In speaking for what is apparently a minority of women, I resent even the HINT that I might be even remotely similar to these bimbos. They pretend they are strong, successful representations of the new woman and women, like the sheep they have often shown themselves to be, follow right along. This is NOT what we all are.

I wouldn't see this movie for less than a week's salary for one of the overpaid idiotic actresses.

Sent by Lynn | 2:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

While I'm not a huge fan of the movie or the shallow consumerism it promotes, I do have a problem with Talk of the Nation devoting an entire show segment on avoiding this "chick flick." I find this segment completely sexist. I'd like to hear a segment about avoiding the next "man movie" featuring excessive amounts of violence and women as sexual objects. A show like this just encourages men to be misogynistic. I expected more for Talk of the Nation. You've got to be kidding me.

Sent by Vivian | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Give us a break. I don't know any WOMEN who want to see this. Just gay men.

Sent by Suzy Miller | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

By the way, its just a movie fellas. Fear breeds Misogynist. Have fun being angry alone.

Sent by Becca | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Unfortunately the justification Mr. Kass has for disliking Sex and the City seems about as sophisticated and uninteresting as the movie itself.

Sent by NOGO | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I think the women who want to take their husband/boyfriend are fools.
Take your girlfriends! It is girlfriend night.

Sent by Lyndsey | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I feel sorry for all of your girlfriends and wives...I also want to say that IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU MEN. Sorry you can not relate. It is not even clear if Mr. Kass saw the movie or even the series. Do not see it then, it is not for you; but do not put down what you have not seen yet and stop being so sexist. If you can not relate..do not hate! Get over yourselves.

Sent by Helen | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

You guys are taking this way too seriously. If you don't want to go, please stay home and we'll have a lot more fun!

Sent by Vicky | 2:58 PM ET | 05-29-2008

As a red-blooded straight American male who's seen an early screening of "Sex and the City", I say this: I had a lot of fun, and except for some of the melodrama, it was very entertaining throughout and it flew by. Don't take the film or yourself all that seriously. Lighten up and enjoy.

Sent by Colin Thomson | 2:59 PM ET | 05-29-2008

In defense of women:

I am married woman in my mid-thirties and a former Manhattan resident. I never watched Sex in the City when it was on HBO, and I would far rather see Iron Man with my husband than drop a dime on tickets to see this film!

Sent by Karen Hatch | 2:59 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I may be morally obligated to take my wife. You see I took her to "Conan the Barbarian" on our first date.....

Sent by John Metier | 2:59 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Listening to the men who are calling in to this show is a PERFECT example of why "Sex and the City" resonates with women so strongly. Leave it to these guys to see the show at its most superficial level...it's not about shoes, or clothes, or "women of a certain age whining" as your guest so sensitively posits. It's about the complexity or relationships, and how hard it is for women and men to communicate.

Duh.

Sent by Leslie Foley | 3:00 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I completely understand that NPR intended to air this segment as something "humorous," but it only came across as downright offensive to women. Your guest was a sexist, male chauvanist. I am amazed that NPR even aired this drivel.

Sent by Kara | 3:00 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I was a late convert to SATC, watching all six shows on DVD over several months. My husband decided that he really liked it(because it's funny and well written) and wants to see the movie. However, a couple we know and usually see movies with will NOT be seeing it - she HATES the show and will have nothing to do with it.

Sent by Catherine Beach | 3:01 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I am not dragging my boyfriend to the Sex and the City movie, he actually wants to go!
He finds the mindless entertainment relaxing and frankly so do I. Going to the Sex and the City movie will not be an emasculating experience for either of us.
Women can play Grand Theft Auto and men can watch Sex and the City!
Get out of the sexist stone age!

Sent by Megan | 3:01 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Come on guys! I get it, you're manly. I listen to NPR for intelligent discourse, and would have hoped to hear a bit about the cultural implications of "men's" vs. "women's" movies and why they differ, but was not impressed with your guest's attitude.

Sent by emily | 3:01 PM ET | 05-29-2008

All year long we have to deal with movies made by men for men, all about men, and no one talks about how women get dragged to that -- or have no choice to watch because that's all there is. Now we have a single movie all about women and we have to hear a bunch of whiney men talk about their disgust for women and their annoyance at the women in their lives for wanting to see it. Give me a break! This segment is simply women-bashing.

Sent by Emma Cofod | 3:02 PM ET | 05-29-2008

My husband actually WANTS to go see the movie. We both enjoy the show, and when he heard I'd made plans to go with one of my girlfriends, he immediately wanted to tag along.

But even if he didn't, he wouldn't have to "barter" to "get out" of going to see it. He just would say he didn't want to go, and I'd go with someone else. No whiny exuses and begging here, which is perfect with me.

Sent by Ashley | 3:02 PM ET | 05-29-2008

What about the women trying to get out of having to see the Sex and the City movie? I am a straight woman in a committed relationship with the man of dreams who would be more likely to coerce him into seeing a horror movie than this soulless tripe, but even so I would simply find someone else to see a movie with. If any of my girlfriends insist on seeing Sex and the City on our next movie night, I'll simply leave. And I'll probably be laughing at (not with)all the spineless men at the bar with me who are trading stories about how they cleverly eluded their women.

Sent by Gina Black | 3:03 PM ET | 05-29-2008

This is the most idiotic discussion I've ever heard on this show! I don't recall TOTN ever having a program like this for any of the MANY incredibly stupid and violent movies out there for men. I am a woman who has never seen Sex and the City on television, nor do I have any desire to see the movie, but I find this discussion asinine and bordering on offensive.

Sent by Annoyed | 3:04 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I am amazed at the misogynist rhetoric that I am listening to right now. I have never listened to an NPR show on how get out of watching machismo films or films that depict violent against women. What gives? What is wrong with love, fashion, and female bonding? This seems like a backlash against empowered, non-traditional women.

Sent by Jennifer Gurecki | 3:04 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Chick flick & how to get out of going? This is stupid! There are movies that appeal to every type of person. Will we be having the same discussion about a movie that appeals to Men. Come on. Haven't we gotten past all this! And please don't put ill, grouchy, bitter, sexist men reporters on the radio! What a frustrating buzz kill to my day!

Sent by Sabrina Nichols | 3:04 PM ET | 05-29-2008

As a 23 yr old male, former HS football captain, former Alaskan salmon fishing deckhand, and current financial consultant in the financial district of Manhattan, I'm a little surprised by this drastic reaction to the Sex and the City movie. Not only is the show a gem (if you can get through the first ten episodes and used to the humor) but its not a show meant to portray reality in Manhattan for the vast majority of Manhattan women. I know, I'm dating one.

Sent by Dave | 3:07 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I wanted to comment further that men themed movies are shallow and without depth. For example, Ironman, heavily laden with special effects. It is basically about an "average" rich guy who has so much money that he can change his identity and gain super strength. What makes that more redeeming than Sex and the City. I personally LOVE and LOVED the Sex and the City series. For a lot of you who don't know or understand, it is about friendship, the ups and downs of relations and loving the life you are living. I applaud the fact the all the actresses are over forty. We should all be applauding this. I am looking forward to watching this movie with my GIRLFRIENDS, much like the ladies depicted in the series and film.

Sent by Helen | 3:07 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I cannot belive the ignorant chauvenistic, and be honest, inherently homophobic ramblings that were presented to the audience today. I cannot belive that I am supposed to be entertainedby a man who belives that red meat consumption and Rocky watching are teh only ways to prove the size of one's balls. The idea that a movie that is esstentially a fantasy, which stars women actually playing age approiate chracters is to be met by such vitriol is simply bizarre. All the 007 movies are essentially extactly the same as Sex and the City, but with a different target audience. A man in his midforties lives a glamouros life of travel casino hopping, and playing with guns (both literal and figurative), and at the end he always ends up with a gorgeous woman ten years younger. Despite the Bond movies product placement, lavish wardrobe, and unnattainable lifestyle portrayals; they are consiered classics to be seen by men and women alike. In constrast, Sex and the City is being treated as if a man while become castrated merely through a viewing.

Sent by Molly | 3:08 PM ET | 05-29-2008

What is it, Neanderthal Day on Talk of the Nation or something? Are you going to have some women on talking about getting out of seeing "Iron Man" for balance? I tune in NPR to get away from ham-handed gender stereotyping -- give me a break!

My husband, who served in the Marine Corps for 10 years and is routinely described as "a hunk," will be happy to see SATC with me, as he finds the writing clever and funny. He does have some conditions, though -- in exchange, I have to watch the recent movie version of Sweeney Todd with him. (I'm not a Sondheim fan.)

Sent by Linda Kernohan | 3:08 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Why are you only interested in the reaction of men? I suggest men who are dragged (or bought off) should reconsider their choice of women. What a life in store for them! Some of us have enough brains and independence not to be dragged down to the dregs.

Sent by Ruth Reinhold | 3:09 PM ET | 05-29-2008

This article as discussed on Talk of the Nation made me angry. I feel that in our culture I have to worry as being dismissed as a woman if I show interest in something sappy, or baby animals, or a good meal; I have to worry about being mocked as a man-wannabe if I show interest in video games, comic books, and movies where things blow up. I am sick of being reminded of this. We are simply human beings; isn't anyone else ready for equality and the real choice to simply like what you like without being judged?

Sent by Kelly | 3:11 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I may not fully understand the conflict since I am a woman who loves action flicks... but I can't fathom a wife or girlfriend over the age of 18 not understanding her guy telling her he would rather not see something "so please take your girlfriends"... if they don't it's just pure manipulation. I love the coupon though :)

Sent by Alexis | 3:14 PM ET | 05-29-2008

What astounding male chauvinism expressed in the comments about the new "Sex in the City" movie! I have no interest in seeing this vacuous film but at least I can recognize it as satire about the very women the rest of us laugh at. I'd rather see a comedy about $700 shoes than films like "Shoot 'em Up" which "entertains" us with uninhibited violence, countless murders, and the brutal misfortunes of women of the night. Don't get me started on "Harold and Kumar."
(I'm from Bethlehem, PA)

Sent by Kathy McAuley | 3:14 PM ET | 05-29-2008

i cannot believe that somebody can actually make a movie which has no substance at all.it is completely demeaning to all women and makes us all look like mentally challenged people. i cannot even dream of my girls ever behaving like them

Sent by radhapatnana | 3:18 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I do have a problem with Talk of the Nation devoting an entire show segment on avoiding this "chick flick."

AGREED. Also, John Kass is a tool. How is he even still in the communications field?

As for his umbrage with the consumerism of the film, I guess that films with guns and bombs (yah, Iron Man, which I DID see and loved

Finally, for someone with so many opinions and so much knowledge of the plot devices and character portraits, he must have seen and thought about all of the episodes of the television show, right!? Oh, no wait. I bet he is just talking out of his @$$ like usual.

PS -- I'm way more interested in seeing this film w/ my girlfriends, NOT my boyfriend, anyway (even if I HAVE seen all of the comic book movies of the last two years with him). I don't feel like he "owes" me, and luckily I have plenty of friends that I needn't rely on him to be by my side for every little social excursion I decide to go on.

Sent by K | 3:18 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I'm completely disgusted by this offensive and inane topic: as if women don't have to put up with films made for men, about men, by men, with a couple of eye-candy teenage girls thrown in as the only female element. I am thoroughly disappointed by NPR. Are you trying to appeal to the red states with this?

Sent by Emma | 3:22 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I had to choose between watching the movie or watching 7 DVD box sets with my significant other. I chose the movie but I do plan on bringing my iPOD with me to block out the devilish howls over the finest in female footwear.

Sent by Justin Beck | 3:25 PM ET | 05-29-2008

What a complete waste of air time! NPR is typically known for its insightful coverage of issues, but the segment about SATC reminded me more of what I always avoid on the AM dial -- sexist, absurd BS. Thanks for nothing, Neil!

Sent by Josh | 3:25 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Boy, I hope you guys who try to get out of going to see "Sex and the City" don't get "any" for a very long time! I'm going, maybe I'll find one of your lady's to watch it with.

Sent by Greg | 3:46 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I say if you don't want to watch SATC then don't. Personally, I can't wait and my husband wants to see it too. I love the friendships of the SATC girls and can't wait to see what they are doing next.

Sent by Kelly Martin | 3:53 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I'm dissapointed by your coverage of Sex in the City. Extremely male centric.

Sent by Carrie | 3:53 PM ET | 05-29-2008

As some of you know, whether you want to or not, tomorrow is the opening day of the much anticipated Sex and the City Movie. Now as a fan of the show, I plan on going to see it, but as someone who doesn't like to push my preferences on others, I don't plan on "dragging" along any unsuspecting friends. This is a movie, like watching any series, that would be riddled with inside jokes and back-story and things I just don't feel like explaining. It's also filled with egocentric narcissism and a lot of shallow dialogue that I don't take for anything other than entertainment.

Watching Sex and the City has nothing to do with $400 shoes or fancy clubs or even specifically men and sex. It does have a lot to do with self and realizations and I just think that it's a wonderfully written show and I'm drawn in by the characters and the relationships and the stories that have evolved and grown over it's 6 season run. It's a show that I shared with a few people and we would talk about the characters to each other as if we were talking about our own friends. Call us delusional, call us crazy, just don't judge us by something you haven't given a chance to understand.

If you don't like the show, fine. If you don't want to see the movie, great, but don't go around making uneducated claims and passing terribly sexist judgments on something that would in no way what so ever affects your life.

For example, I just listened to an interview on Chicago Public Radio's Talk of the Nation. The segment was called "How to Escape Watching Sex and the City" It's Neal Conan interviewing John Kass, a writer for the Chicago Tribune, about excuses men can use to get out of having to go see this movie. While they offered no real advice for these alleged victims, other than seeing Ironman instead and only a few examples from callers (and one caller who said he liked the show and planned on seeing the movie, in which they replied with "we'll be grilling meat"), they felt free to tear into a movie that they had no idea about. Claiming that this movie made women want to go out and buy expensive shoes and trying to back this by making a plea for women who had to work at Kmart all day (and I bet you those women love this show) and how they themselves can't afford these shoes. The show is not about shoes.

And fine, perhaps (and more than likely) this movie won't live up to the expectations the show was so careful to hold, but in what way does this movie or any movie affect your life to such a point that you have to single out an entire sex. "Go see Ironman" they'd plea. Yeah, that's right, go cook some meat and drink beer and watch sports and degrade women and do all things that will make you a man. God knows that we all have to know just how manly you are. Don't go see a movie that has not one, but four heroines. Please don't go see a movie that features relations and fashion over war and guns.

In a time when we're striving so hard to overcome oppression and show how diverse we can be as a whole, I can't believe how closed minded and shallow people can still be. I mean, we have a woman running for the presidential cadency, and these are grown men making very blatant statements about how they feel about women. No wonder some no brained moron yelled, "Iron my shirt" to Sen. Hillary Clinton at one of the earlier debates. Grow up.

No, this is no longer a blog on the movie; it's a plight for open-mindedness. I found that piece to be sexist and wrong. It sends a horrible message to men and women on their sex roles and place in society.

So see the movie, don't go see the movie. See Ironman, see Sex and the City, go see The Strangers for all I care, but don't judge an entire sect of people based on... well, nothing other than what you think you're supposed to think as a man or a woman. Good job. Kudos.

Sent by jennifer rogalin | 3:57 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I must agree wholeheartedly with Neal Conan and John Kass. This is the stupidity of Hollywood in its finest hour.

It has nothing to do with dating or gender. It just shows that if Hollywood puts junk on a screen like this- [They- the ignorant movie going crowd] will come and watch it.

Women going to shop for shoes at $700 per pair?? Puh-lee-uz!!! ANd the average film going crowd realy wants to see this garbage?

Where's my copy of a real film like Felini's La Dolce Vita? Why is there not any real artful filmwork in America?

How many people here in this forum have ever seen a real artfully made film? Worked on a Hollywood film set? Or contributed to the film making process?

Mark
Portland Oregon

Sent by Mark Seibold | 4:06 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I know you mean this to be a light piece, but I think it does prove one of the points that people have tried to make in relationship to the Democratic race: that while racism is treated seriously in our (dominant) culture, sexism is still alive and well and even humorous. All this discussion of "estrogen" movies and his dismissal of the women as "old" and whinny and his own caricature of men as "meat-eaters" is all very tired. How about more analysis of gender issues, including perhaps a consideration of why some old guys feel that there identity should be invested in knocking a "chick flick" that shows women happy in their friendship with each other.

Sent by Sadie | 4:10 PM ET | 05-29-2008

What a bunch of cry-babies! For every Ninja/Adam Sandlar movie I've suffered through, spare me! Buying $700 shoes IS my fantasy! Drinking Cosmos to excess and being able hail a cab in suburbia IS my fantasy! Don't demean my dreams buy saying this is a detriment to women.....dreaming big for men means they can be Bond or McGuiver, save the world and bed many women, while women get to SHOE SHOP? Be thankful we allow you those fantasies and ours are so happy and frivolous you want to stay home. Crawl back into the cave my friends!

Sent by Jackie Lovejoy | 4:44 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Kass' reflexive misogyny and unfunniness is way more repulsive to me than SATC's portrayal of women. Kass underestimates the intelligence of women and men equally. What an uncreative attempt to garner a cheap laugh.

Sent by Donna | 5:02 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I consider myself blessed that my wife hates SATC with a passion and would rather watch a Scorsese, Tarantino or Peter Jackson flick any day of the week. My mother, on the hand, is probably in line for tickets already. I pray she left my dad at the bookstore.

Sent by andy carvin, npr | 5:04 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Never have I seen a preview for a movie that made it look so much like torture for the unfortunate male viewers. Very early on have I been tactful but very clear and specific with my wife : she should start planning her life around the fact that she's going to sit through that thing either alone or with girlfriends.

Sent by ElCabri | 5:21 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I turned on the radio and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Who is this guy Kass. I had to check the calendar and see if it was 1950. I am a man, I saw the show a few times it was okay not something I want to see agian but if women enjoy watching it and going to see the movie then what's the big deal? This guy Kass not only degrades women but insults us men as well with his comments. There are still some men out here who love and respect women.

Sent by john | 5:30 PM ET | 05-29-2008

(edited comment previously posted)

I do have a problem with Talk of the Nation devoting an entire show segment on avoiding this "chick flick."

AGREED. Also, John Kass. How is he even still in the communications field?

As for his umbrage with the consumerism of the film, I guess that films with guns and bombs (yah, Iron Man, which I DID see and loved), are A-OK by him, in comparison to people buying things with the money they made as professional adults.

Finally, for someone with so many opinions and so much knowledge of the plot devices and character portraits, he must have seen and thought about all of the episodes of the television show, right!? Oh, no wait. I bet he is just talking out of his @$$ like usual.

PS -- I'm way more interested in seeing this film w/ my girlfriends, NOT my boyfriend, anyway (even if I HAVE seen all of the comic book movies of the last two years with him). I don't feel like he "owes" me, and luckily I have plenty of friends that I needn't rely on him to be by my side for every little social excursion I decide to go on.

Also, kudos to Jennifer Rogalin above.

Sent by K | 5:44 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I resent all you dragging the good name of Iron Man through the mud to justify this Sex and the City tripe. Men just don't understand? of course not! 1) Ugly old vapid ladies trying to stay young by buying expensive stuff and sleeping around and more importantly, 2) It just isn't funny/relevant/interesting. Anyway, if you're going to bash a "guy" movie, bash Indiana Jones. That movie was lame.

Sent by Alex | 9:00 PM ET | 05-29-2008

Why is NPR discriminating against something that was such a success on TV? I mean ..its not as bad as "Beauty and the Beast" ...besides, how many of the people who "cried" about not watching this movie has spent two hours watching a senseless comedy like "Harold and Kumar"? Its personal choice ya'all, and it doesnt really make me any shallow or deeper to just watch this movie. It hasn't even come out for god sakes, and you'all are already wasting your time whining. Like someone said above, "Lighten up".

Sent by Sohani | 11:18 PM ET | 05-29-2008

I have to say that as a regular listener, I was offended by such blatant bias on this show. I think most of us women who like SATC are grounded enough in reality to recognize the escapist nature of the show/movie. SATC is no more indulgent or superficial than James Bond or most superhero movies. How about getting someone else on the show to rant about how silly those movies are?

Sent by Yin | 12:09 AM ET | 05-30-2008

Why the firestorm over the Sex and the City movie? After putting up with movies released year round aimed solely at the male audience women should be allowed to enjoy the measly tidbits tossed their way. Why do women have to tune into NPR and listen to misogynistic carping about a film that doesn't target the male gender?

Sent by rebecca | 12:50 AM ET | 05-30-2008

What about a "get out of jail"... I mean "get out of Sex and The City" (same thing) card for women who are dating guys who are fans of Sex and The City?

Sent by Carly Jean | 1:00 AM ET | 05-30-2008

Honestly, as a straight guy, I watched the show with my wife for years and I found it to be just as entertaining as anything else on television. I'm going to see this damn film and enjoy it, John Kass and his uninformed opinions delivered via airwaves/print be damned.

Sent by Cillian | 2:48 AM ET | 05-30-2008

Because I am a busy New York woman I have to catch up on NPR via podcast. I assure you however that if I had been listening in real time I would have called in, just to confirm with Kass that he listen to this again and note how utterly unintelligent he sounds. This was the least interesting segment of the show I have ever experienced. I felt as though i were listening in on a group of 12 year old boys. Get the chip off your shoulder! I have never spent three hours in front of an NFL game, talk about a past-time driven by consumerism, it seems 90% of the time slot is advertisements. And Kass, I will enjoy the movie that much more, thinking of you sitting at home, where ever that may be, and knowing that while you stew in your generalizations, you very obviously don't understand the world of young independent women.

Sent by Katie | 8:37 AM ET | 05-30-2008

I enjoy a good panning as much as anyone, but your guest displayed a level of venom toward the supposed audience that was just ugly. WTF?

Sent by April | 10:29 AM ET | 05-30-2008

Hello all you small minded people who think only men want to avoid this movie! I am a fun, intelligent, cute 38 year old female--I have NEVER seen the TV show and have no intention of watching this movie. I am tired of men complaining that their women are shallow, fussy, and obsessed with high-heeled shoes--well, why would you stay with someone who would drag you against your will to that movie? The world is full of real women who are aware that the real world is experiencing hardships, ecoconomic uncertainty and natural disasters. I am one woman who will be out hiking, jogging, playing with my children, out helping those in need, laughing with and enjoying my husband at home--not in the theater watching a stupid movie about shallow, miserable women. Hopefully you men won't be out watching a movie about over-testosteroned, murder-minded, oversexed men. Hmmmm....

Sent by Charlotte Coots, Homer Alaska | 12:32 PM ET | 05-30-2008

What woman in her right mind would even want to see it with her boyfriend. This is not a co-ed activity!

Sent by Y | 2:23 PM ET | 05-30-2008

i am genuinely horrified by this whole discussion.

what in the WORLD is so wrong with people's relationships that they can't spend a whopping two and a half hours apart while one party sees a movie in which the other party isn't interested?

i say this as a woman who has already seen "iron man" twice and has absolutely NO desire to see "sex and the city." however, there have been several movies that my fiance didn't want to see, and i made what is apparently a SHOCKING move--i went without him. i went with a friend, or i went by myself. the fact is that i've never really even thought twice about such behavior, and to my knowledge, neither has he. we're engaged--not attached at the hip.

a lot of good points have been made regarding both the idiocy of the characters (i've been subjected to the show from time to time) and the latent misogyny of statements like "what happened to men that we have to bargain?"

however, i can't help but think that the whole argument demonstrates a much deeper problem--one that i find, well, creepy.

Sent by cate glenn | 4:45 PM ET | 05-30-2008

I'm with you, Cate - this whole string is just crazy. Who on earth is dragging their man to the movie? Or their woman?

Is their no one in America who feels empowered enough to just say no ... or yes ... to whatever movie they want?

Some people like to watch silliness. Others hate it. Who cares????

I don't get it.

Sent by M | 7:38 PM ET | 05-30-2008

The problem with this segment was that it wasn't funny. The column is slightly more humorous -- though I'm setting the bar pretty low -- so maybe Kass was hopped up on pain killers for his eye infection. Maybe that's why he just sounded angry, abrasive, and misogynistic. Or, maybe "ever-vinegary" is a euphemism for angry, abrasive, misogynistic, and unfunny.

Sent by Megan | 9:53 PM ET | 05-30-2008

Shame on you, NPR. What a waste of air time. I love the show, but this was such a disappointment. I am however happy to see that I wasn't the only one outraged by this sexist coverage. It truly does seem that sexism is the last acceptable form of discrimination. How about working on being more evolved and stop promoting it? That's what I - and clearly many others - would expect of you.

Sent by Janelle | 3:58 AM ET | 06-01-2008

Who are these women who want to take their unwilling boyfriend/husband/guy friend to this movie in the first place? As far as I'm concerned, SATC was a show about friendship, and I intend to see it with my friends.

And the complaint about pricey shoes while the economy is so bad? If I recall, films during the 1930's had little to do with bread lines and plenty to do with escapist entertainment.

Sent by Erin | 6:57 PM ET | 06-02-2008

Nice! TotN didn't even acknowledge ONE of the statements above that criticized their this piece last week! Just the "pro-piece" comments. Super awesome.

Sent by K | 2:48 PM ET | 06-03-2008

I agree with K- it would have been admirable in TotN would have included even one criticism of their sexist, banal segment on the SatC movie.

Sent by erin | 4:29 PM ET | 06-04-2008

Miranda's Right to "Grow A National Forest"

In a trailer for the latest parade of professional consumerism: Sex And The City ... Cattrell's character chides Miranda (red hair) for not shaving her leg (or other nether region) hair.

Miranda, "when you're married you have other priorities".
Cattrell,"Well, this one's married and she's not growing a National Forest!!"

Schizophrenic.

Our society says we punish pedophiles ... yet we also demand that women denude themselves of the hair that shows (among other things) that she is not prepubescent?

We don't demand that of men. Why women?

Now my friend in cosmetology school tells me that the latest trend is to get
"Brazilians", wax hair removal that is applied over the ENTIRE body ... yep everywhere except the eybrows and head. (shudder). We don't demand this of men. I had surgery on my exhaust port and I gotta commisserate with how painful it is for the hair down there to grow back! I wouldn't wish that on anyone except the toxic people.

Yet women are supposed to be just as good as men at work, AND make time for all this waxing and mowing etc. etc. ?

Viscious.

I know that I am a minority of men and also of a fair (though smaller) proportion of American women ... but in my humble opinion, Women should look like WOmen, and not prepubescent!

That's my opinion, I know I'm in the minority. So really what we need is a place where its OK to go either way.

Sent by Christopher Maxwell | 6:48 PM ET | 06-04-2008