EPISODE 914: DON’T THREATEN ME WITH A GOOD TIME

All joyful transformations should be sacred.

Apr 15, 2024

POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW

Hi and welcome to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, the Substack that wonders, Why stop at one or two entries a week when you can do five?

Whoo-ah, it was a full feast of Wow last week. What am I, the New York Times? But I hope you enjoyed it. We’re back to normal this week.

Speaking of which…

THE WOWND UP

So the eclipse happened. From what I read some people wept buckets when the skies went dark. Here in New York City we mostly sat around in zany glasses enjoying one another’s company. (One friend said he was going to spend the afternoon robbing cheese from stores where the owners went out to look. I hope he got a gouda hunk of something.)

I did delight in this, courtesy of Rohan Salmond at Modern Relics.

Click on the image to see the video.

In other news, your taxes are due today (sorry), and I FEEL this post sent to me by Friend of the Wow and Comrade in the Struggle Sarah Vincent.

Taxes…. Man, that stuff is crazy. (Wonder what it’s like for a guy who hasn’t had to file pretty much his entire adult life? Stay tuned later this week.)

Finally, Easter happened, like two weeks ago. If it’s taken me a minute to mention it, it’s because I’m still trying to process the fact that I was held hostage through a 40-minute sung version of the Passion on Good Friday. Marie’s Crisis, it was not.

Based on the reactions I got amongst my friends on Facebook, this seems to be some sort of a trend, with a lot of debate about whether that’s a good thing or a bad. (Note: It’s bad. It’s like having a strange priest preside at your dad’s funeral and insist on singing the entire Mass. This moment ain’t about you, buddy.)

EASTER IS AN INHERENTLY QUEER FEAST

In his Substack Rohan also noted that Easter Sunday was both Trans Day of Visibility and the 25^th anniversary of the release of the Matrix, which was created by trans artists Lana and Lilly Wachowski. I adore a synchronicity. I myself was particularly taken with this headline from John Pavlovitz on his wonderfully-named Substack, “This Beautiful Mess”.

Never wanting to miss a chance to weigh in, last week the Vatican released yet another God Loves Everyone Trojan Horse in which, after insisting that the dignity of human beings cannot be bridged, said that gender surgery and challenging one’s birth gender were “grave violations of human dignity.”

As the kids say, lol.

The current church strategy with regard to queer people in general and trans/nonbinary people in particular seems to be to say what we know to be true—that God loves everyone and that our identities are gifts from God; then insist on something that is the opposite, and when anyone calls them on it to just do this.

I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure incoherence is not the same as theological mystery.

In his article, Pavlovitz highlights the bright ray of sunshine that Easter brings to the Trans Day of Visibility:

“I think about my siblings in the human race who are, after much grief and despair, breaking through the darkness of a dead past and into the radiant light of full life.”

I HAVE FINISHED SEX AND THE CITY. I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Thanks in no small part to the encouragement of Friend of the Wow and Star Trek’s real Prime Directive Ann Marie Segal, I finished Sex and the City and sequel series …And Just Like That this week. I have to say, I found much of it remarkably apt. The questions, the conversations, the kinds of people the four women encounter all have their queer 21^st century counterparts, and I suspect their straight ones, too.

Maybe more surprising for me was the emotional depth the show achieves. The writing staff did a remarkable job of stepping back and considering each of its main characters in the later seasons and the new show, and confronting them with their greatest weaknesses as a way to help them grow.

A case in point is Charlotte, who begins the series holding on to all kinds of little girl fairy tale fantasies. And then she basically gets what she wants—a handsome, wealthy man who will do whatever she wants—and it turns out to be a mess. Her real Prince Charming is a blunt, hairy Jewish divorce lawyer. And achieving the life she wants involves a tremendous amount of sacrifice and also a pretty significant amount of suffering. But she does get it. One of the things I love about …And Just Like That, in fact, is the way in which Charlotte becomes kind of the bedrock and truth teller for everyone else. And Kristin Davis is just luminous in the role.

They each get a journey like that: Samantha—who is in some ways the real vision of the show, a sex positive, empowered woman—is confronted by a guy who really loves her; Miranda her own fear of acting from the heart;; and Carrie her natural inclination for a daddy to take care of her.

Here are my top 11 favorite moments in the series (in chronological order).

Drag Barbecue (318)

There are some things about the original series that don’t age well. Sometimes its comments about queer people are really cringe. But the writers generally seem to be very aware of the mistakes the characters are making, and make adjustments. So after some really uncomfortable comments about queer people early in episode 318, we end the episode with drag barbecue that while still imperfect is kind of wonderful.

Charlotte and Miranda (411)

I spent a lot of the first few seasons enjoying the watch, but not necessarily feeling anything. But this scene, where Charlotte tries to avoid Miranda on the street after she learns that she probably can’t have kids (while Charlotte has accidentally just conceived) is lovely.

Miranda’s Mom’s Funeral (408)

It’s fascinating: the family members of the four main characters are never mentioned on the show, with the exception of the unexpected death of Miranda’s mother.

The support they show for each other in this scene captures what made this show so special. (Also, Kim Cattrall’s breakdown is perfection.)

Love Letter to New York (418)

Sex and the City ends season 4 with Carrie walking home from Big’s now-empty apartment. Henry Mancini’s instrumental version of “Moon River” plays as the first autumn leaf tumbles down in front of Carrie. And she muses that while seasons change, the people you love are always in your heart. The episode ends with a dedication to “our City of New York;” season 4 aired shortly after 9/11.

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Charlotte’s Courage (612)

In the sixth season, as Charlotte deals with having lost a baby, she becomes fascinated with a documentary about Elizabeth Taylor. The strength Taylor showed in the midst of her own losses inspires Charlotte to courage of her own. It’s really the moment of change for Charlotte as a character, and it’s glorious to behold.

I looked all over for the clip, but the best I could do is this moment from a bigger collection of Charlotte clips. It starts right around the 30 minute mark.

Samantha’s Hair (616)

In the last season there are a couple tremendous moments where Samantha is surprised and overwhelmed by the love that Smith shows for her. This is one of my favorites.

Samantha’s Breast Cancer Speech (619)

This is one of the show’s most famous moments, and with good reason.

Carrie and John (AJLT 101)

Even as Big/John is the great love of Carrie’s life, we get very few moments in the series of the two of them together simply enjoying one another’s company. For me this scene speaks volumes about the comfort they have found with each other.

Scattering Big’s Ashes (AJLT 110)

Sex and the City is known for its fashion, and Carrie really brings it here, as she scatters John’s ashes in a tangerine Valentino gown. But rather than just being some kind of statement piece it feels absolutely fitting. The moment really just broke me.

Charlotte Goes into a Blizzard to Get Condoms for Lily (AJLT 206)

There are so many good Charlotte moments in AJLT. There’s her coming home drunk and telling her family she had a life before all of them, and then later explaining to Harry, actually no, he’s not doing everything, he’s helping a little right now, which is tremendous.

But I love the moment where Charlotte finds out Lily is going to have sex with her boyfriend but doesn’t have condoms, and ventures out into a snowstorm to get her what she needs. For me it captures the real world-meets-fairy tale of Charlotte’s life: She has this wonderful child; but in order to be the mom she always wanted to be she has to accept and do things she never would have thought possible. And she fights through it and delivers.

Miranda’s Shock at Steve (AJLT 206)

Cynthia Nixon is an acting goddess. And one of the things she does so well is work as a scene partner. If you look at the first two seasons of …And Just Like That, there are endless examples of the characters she’s paired with delivering incredible moments.

Probably the greatest is the moment where Miranda finally confronts Steve about when he’s going to move out. It’s David Eigenberg’s finest work—he and Evan Handler both just kill it in the new series—and also Miranda’s reaction to what he has to say is just so visceral and in the moment.

There are so many other tremendous characters introduced in the new show, too: Sarita Choudhury bringing big boss lady energy; Nicole Ari Parker as a wife and mother who takes her career as a filmmaker seriously; Karen Pittman as a law professor who struggles with a husband that wants kids; and Sara Ramirez as a non-binary person who is passionate and joyous. It’s a great show.

MOMENT OF WOW