'Sex' Token

Aw hell. I knew I wasn't excited about the new Sex movie, but now I remember exactly why I wasn't in love with the show in the first place. Now, don't get me wrong: I love, love, love, love, love the clothes. That, to me, is the best part of the show.

And really the only part. The angry radfem in me sees this as yet another show with women over thirty trying to do the proverbial "having it all" in the cliche NYC. Their ultimate goals in life being finding a man and having babies. Over it. The second part of me was annoyed (like I was with the show Friends) that in a place like NYC, the show's writers and creators couldn't manage to find successful people of color to be included in the show. What few specks of color Sex had were few and far between. Disappointing. So I had to settle on the cheap knock-off Girlfriends and ended up falling in love with it.

Here's the thing: I understand that people do tend to spend time, date and marry, etc. people of their own race, socio-economic class, belief systems, but this is TV/Hollywood where anything is possible. God knows nothing else was realistic on Sex, Friends, or Girlfriends so why not throw in some diversity to inspire us regular folk?

But I watched Sex anyway for the clothes and found myself wishing to be Carrie Bradshaw, and wanting a man like Mr. Big. The show ended (Can I tell you how much I love the song that played over the ending credits of the last episode?). People were sad. They moved on to other shows. I grew sick of Cosmos. Gay men friends were still all the rage. And now here we are with Sex the movie.

I came across this article, which reminded me that Oscar-winning, former American Idol contestant, Jennifer Hudson is on this movie. I totally forgot about that buzz. Ms. Jennifer fucking Hudson is in this movie and she's playing a sidekick. To Carrie. And this is when I am reminded why I didn't like Sex in the first place. I know you can't just introduce a sixth character (NYC being the fifth lady) just like that, but this is all you can do? I guess I should be grateful that she isn't playing Charlotte's maid or Miranda's nanny. But for all the press and hype, no one has mentioned Jen. I've seen all the leads ad naseum, but where is OSCAR-WINNER Jennifer Hudson? She's practically an afterthought.

Personally, I think Jennifer deserves better, but I know that roles for Black women are few and far between, especially in big movies like this one. This is an opportunity, but one that I hope doesn't lead to more buddy/supporting/sidekick roles for an actor of Jennifer's caliber.