‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2′ Made Me Glad to be a Dude
Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 6, 2008
Like the other film opening wide early this week, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 isn’t for me. In the case of this film, I’m a guy. And I have to say that after watching this sequel to the 2005 girl-power hit, I am so glad that I am a dude.
In general, I try to avoid any movie with the word “Sisterhood” in the title. Be it traveling pants or divine Ya-Ya secrets, the s-word in the title is a red flag to me that it will not be my cup of tea. (However, I might be convinced to see a movie called The Slaughterhouse Sisterhood or Sisterhood Bedtime Orgy, but I’m not holding my breath for these to show up on the studio slate anytime soon.)
Not having seen the first film, I will admit that I was a bit lost. Fortunately, for the newcomer, the narration at the beginning of the movie served to fill in the holes. The film follows four girls who were friends in high school but have moved on to different lives as they enter college. The thing that keeps them together is a pair of pants that miraculously fit all four girls even though they are completely different sizes.
During their first summer home from college, the girls try to rekindle the sisterhood, but different educational opportunities and a slew of boyfriend troubles derail their efforts. The film follows the four disparate storylines, which eventually intersect again, challenging the girls to be friends again.
I would imagine that the target audience (being women as young as junior high and as old as their 30s) will eat this film up. It revels in the angst of relationship problems. One girl has a pregnancy scare. Another sees her true love married to another woman. Yet another finds a too-good-to-be-true British actor who has her in his sites.
To the average guy, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 can be a blessing or a curse. The curse is obvious. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of men dragged to this movie like they were dragged to Mamma Mia! and Sex and the City. As a person with testosterone as his main hormone, you will probably be left befuddled at how much the girls bicker with each other and are completely unable to level with their best friends and tell how they really feel.
Take notes, guys, ‘cause here comes the blessing. If you manage to make it through this movie as a guy, you will probably appreciate women more. This film (along with the aforementioned other chick flicks of 2008) is a window into how they operate. It may not explain how things tick in their pretty little heads, but these films can show typical reactions to relatively common situations.
Does saying this make me a sexist, misogynistic chauvinist. Perhaps. But keep this in mind the next time you have a spat with your girlfriend or wife, and you might be saved from a night on the couch.
I imagine if I were a woman, this movie would receive a very favorable review. However, I’m just a fat guy from Ohio, and from that perspective, the movie was tedious and whiney.
THE UPSIDE: A good film for the right audience.
THE DOWNSIDE: Needed some cheese to go with its whine.
ON THE SIDE: I heard through the grapevine that FSR writer Cole Abaius has said, “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is an F-ing Delight!” And he has threatened to quit if someone doesn’t agree with him.
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