To no one’s surprise, and to everyone’s chagrin, a movie based on a book that was itself based on a single line in an episode of Sex and The City is the number one movie in America. Jesus wept.
But also? How does a movie set in Baltimore — a city with a population that’s 60% black — not have a single black lead character? We’re not conspiracy theorists around here, but what are you supposed to conclude when the people who cast much-loved touchstones of popular culture (the aforementioned Sex and the City, Friends, etc.) completely obliterate all the people of color from the not-very-white locales* in which they’re set? SATC might get a pass, if only because it was about the lives of four insufferable Upper East Siders, denizens of the WASPiest place in the city. But Friends? Friends was set in the Village, which is like the actual, physical manifestation of every one of Pat Buchanan’s nightmare scenarios.
*Except for wisecracking co-workers/hair dressers/service workers who have no plots of their own but plenty of sage advice for the white protagonists. Ditto, gay folks.
UPDATE: Latoya offers some advice for prospective viewers.
If you must go see this movie, I recommend you take at least the following:
* A flask filled with the alcohol of your choice (juice if you’re under 21 kids!)
* That one friend who cries into her mixed house drinks once a month about the same freaking man problem you’ve been dealing with since you were both sixteen. She will probably relate to the film and peg herself as a character.
* A guy you’re angry at and want to punish.
* A cell phone with good reception so you can text your snarky comments to your friends who had enough sense to stay away from this movie.