Sex & the City 2: Anti-Muslim?

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While I'm waiting with baited breath for the release of Sex & the City 2, I've also been waiting for critics to make headlines with something like this. What do you think?

Los Angeles: Carrie Bradshaw is in trouble and it has got nothing to do with Mr Big. The much awaited sequel 'Sex And The City 2' has been accused of being "anti-Muslim" by critics who have also panned the film for lacking "script and soul."

The sequel to the 2008 hit sees the four New Yorker girlfriends travelling to the far-flung sand dunes of Abu Dhabi, but reviews say that the sojourn conjures up a "scathing portrayal of Muslim society", according to industry bible 'Hollywood Reporter'.



The Manolo-wearing, Chanel-loving fashionistas get caught up in some outrageous moments while in the Middle East, and the region's culture is depicted as "puritanical and misogynistic".

"The rather scathing portrayal of Muslim society no doubt will stir controversy, especially in a frothy summer entertainment," read the review by Hollywood Reporter.

One scene even features Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Scott) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia
Nixon), being rescued by Muslim women who strip off their burqas to reveal the stylish Western outfits they are concealing beneath their black robes.

While in another scene, the ladies perform a karaoke version of Helen Reddy's 'I Am Woman' in an Abu Dhabi nightclub, as man-eater Samantha shocks the locals with her sexual escapades.

Officials in the United Arab Emirates had already denied the production team permission to film within the city, as did Dubai and instead the Abu Dhabi scenes were recreated in Morocco.

Abu Dhabi is currently considering whether to ban the film.

In 2008 the UAE, where kissing, nudity and expletives are routinely weeded out, refused to show the first film.

So far, a decision has not been reached as to whether the movie will hit UAE screens.
The original TV series too was criticised for rarely featuring non-Caucasian characters.

The first film's response to this was to include a black character, but as Carrie's assistant, played by Jennifer Hudson, who is grateful for her designer cast-offs, and then returns in the end to the south.