“Did You Hear About the Morgans?” and “Sex and the City 2” are two different movies with two different story plots, the only two things in common between them are the lead actress, Sara Jessica Parker, and the fact that I watched the first one on the plane on my way to London and the second three days upon my arrival to London.

 

 

In “Did You Hear about The Morgans?” SJP’s and Hugh’s characters are a married couple who are going through a separation because of the husband’s infidelity. In a desperate attempt by the husband to patch things up, he takes his estranged wife out to dinner. What was meant to be a romantic evening turns into a catastrophe when the couple by pure accident witnesses a murder. Being well known professionals the killer recognizes them and go after SJP. The police thus put them on a witness protection program. They are forced to leave the busy, chaotic city of New York and are moved to the small, quite village of Ray Wyoming.

 

 

The scene that made me repeat it around 4 times is what I want to relate to you. SJP’s character and her husband are dinning in the only café in the village disguised and pretending that they are visiting from Chicago. Sara gets annoyed by the smoking man sitting at the table behind her. The waitress tells her he is the owner of the café but this does not deter her from turning around and talking to the old man. The scene goes like this:

 

• Excuse me, I’m Meryl and this is my husband and we are from Chicago….

I was just wondering would you mind terribly blowing the smoke in another direction. Thank you.

 

• I don’t know how you do stuff in Chicago. I’ve never been there. This is God fearing country America and we don’t take kindly strangers trying to tell us how to live.

 

• People in Chicago are as American and God fearing as in Wyoming.

 

• Next time you’ll tell us you are a democrat!!

 

 

 

Could this unpleasant confrontation happen in real life? Absolutely, I have witnessed lots of British, Americans as well as Arabs responding the same way to any criticism about their way of living. Does this make the old man in the movie a racist? Or is it SJP’s character the one that comes through as arrogant and culturally insensitive? It is easier to judge others and point out their pitfalls, but it is sad that when you dare to point to them their shortcomings it turns into a cultural war! How amazing!!!

 

 

 

Don’t miss Shelina’s amazing preview of “Sex and the City 2”, where the “ladies” goes on an oriental trip and applies all through the oriental stereotypes (confusing Arabic to Indian culture and language- for them we are basically the same). It is yet another pathetic depiction of an Arab city- supposedly Abu Dhabi whereas in reality it was filmed in Marrakesh! I bet there was good money paid to make sure all of Carrie’s outfits were new season and fresh from the catwalk, but no one cared to get the facts right about Arabic language and the present culture of the 21^st century. Instead of serious research, they retrieved to Hollywood’s distorted depiction of the Arab world. But will they get away with tainting other cultures as they did in the past. I don’t think so, and this would be one of the few things that we have benefited out of globalization, having our voices heard by them.

 

 

 

“While independence and autonomy are important, maybe Middle Eastern women think there is a different way to achieve them than through the self-obsessed, fashion-focused, emotionally unstable way that this film displays.” Shelina Janmohamed