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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired February 23, 2004 - 07:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I love this music this time of the morning. Final fling for "Sex and the City" girls, and Mel Gibson is stirring some passions. Will those burning issues be a little too hot for our "90-Second Pop" panel? Never. Lets find out, though, this morning.
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Never.
O'BRIEN: Toure is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine.
Nice to see you, Toure. Good morning.
TOURE: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: "New York Times" reporter Lola Ogunnaike joins us as well.
Nice to see you, Lola.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
B.J., good morning, as always.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right into "Sex."
TOURE: Oh!
O'BRIEN: Oh! So, you stayed up to watch it last night, didn't you? I'm in bed by 8:00.
TOURE: Of course. Of course.
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, you missed it.
O'BRIEN: So, did you...
OGUNNAIKE: You missed it.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's first give me a quick 101 -- Lola, why don't you take this -- on what happened.
OGUNNAIKE: Sure. O'BRIEN: What happened?
OGUNNAIKE: Carrie goes to Paris to be with Petrovsky, decides that this is not the man for her, is ready to bail. Big comes to the rescue. They end up together.
SIGESMUND: There you go.
O'BRIEN: That's it.
TOURE: That is too easy. As soon as he puts out his hand and says, I love you, she falls all over him...
SIGESMUND: Right.
TOURE: ... needing to be rescued, challenging him not at all.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm guessing you hated it.
SIGESMUND: Oh, exactly. It's sad.
TOURE: No, I didn't hate it, but I didn't want her to end up with him so easily.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: But she had to end up with him, because their chemistry cannot be denied.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: How many times has he pulled up in that big black limo over the years with all sorts of sweet things to say and then screwed up her life.
O'BRIEN: A lot.
SIGESMUND: Six months later she sits in the diner going, why, why, why?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: He will leave her again within six months.
OGUNNAIKE: No, he won't. No, he won't. No, he won't. This time it's different.
O'BRIEN: OK, but it will be different this time around. Didn't he say, you're the one?
OGUNNAIKE: He said you're the one.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Commitment.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Yes. And you know what else? They told us his name is John. Why John? John is so plain. After six years we get John?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Come on!
OGUNNAIKE: I thought that Elsworth (ph) or something gooey.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Something really strange and funny.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You wanted her to end up single. You think that...
SIGESMUND: I thought she should end up single. I thought that was the spirit of the show. I thought the resolutions of Miranda and Charlotte were much more real. You saw a lot more emotional growth over the six years.
OGUNNAIKE: They did.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk briefly about the other characters. Charlotte was renting -- was renting -- was adopting.
TOURE: Well, she finally gets a baby. She finally gets her baby.
OGUNNAIKE: She finally adopts a baby.
O'BRIEN: She got the baby. Well...
OGUNNAIKE: From China. She adopted a baby from China.
O'BRIEN: She lost a baby, but then got the baby.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Miranda, who has always had a hard time...
OGUNNAIKE: And her dog had kids as well.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's sweet. Miranda, who always had a hard time connecting emotionally...
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... really was able to...
SIGESMUND: Ends up inviting her mother-in-law to move in.
TOURE: I mean, in a lot of ways...
O'BRIEN: That's an emotional investment.
SIGESMUND: Very serious.
TOURE: I mean, in a lot of ways, it was a great episode, a great ending to perhaps the greatest halftime show ever.
O'BRIEN: Samantha...
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: Samantha decides that she's going to open herself up to Smith Jerrod, finally, and allows herself to really fall in love with him. It was a beautiful, beautiful moment.
SIGESMUND: It was very satisfying.
OGUNNAIKE: He stood by her through the cancer.
SIGESMUND: And if you look...
OGUNNAIKE: And he's always been there.
SIGESMUND: Yes. If you look at the HBO Web site, 95 percent of the postings are, like, yes, I'm so excited she's back with Big. This was the ending that most mainstream America wanted.
O'BRIEN: Everybody wanted.
SIGESMUND: But I still don't think it's true to the show.
O'BRIEN: Do you think it changed TV in any way?
TOURE: Well, it definitely opened the boundaries for television. I mean, as a New Yorker, it's amazing, because during these last few years when we needed to see a romantic, beautiful vision of New York, they gave us that, you know.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: They provided that.
TOURE: And it's a particular New York. There is not that many black people, there is not that much crime.
O'BRIEN: It's not that dirty.
TOURE: Yes, it's not that dirty.
OGUNNAIKE: It's very clean.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: But it's a particular New York, sort of a "Breakfast at Tiffany's," nowadays...
SIGESMUND: But I thought that the real groundbreaking stuff was about women and sexuality...
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
SIGESMUND: ... and being OK to embrace their sexual side and also be alone into their 30s, that they don't...
OGUNNAIKE: They made being single very sheik.
SIGESMUND: They erased the stigma.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: They made being single very sheik.
SIGESMUND: Less stigma for women who are...
O'BRIEN: Well...
TOURE: A total magic realism for her to be able to afford all of that wardrobe.
O'BRIEN: That was crazy.
OGUNNAIKE: Four hundred dollars Jamide (ph) shoes...
TOURE: Yes, it was totally ridiculous.
OGUNNAIKE: ... on a freelance journalist salary.
(CROSSTALK)
OGUNNAIKE: But that's what we want on that show. We want fantasy.
TOURE: When "Seinfeld" ended, you didn't feel like you lost four friends. With this, you feel like you've lost some friends.
SIGESMUND: Oh, yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, the "Seinfeld" ending was so bad.
O'BRIEN: We need to make segue here before we run out of time. And I don't know how to do it, so I'm just going to throw it out there. Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion."
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: B.J. has seen it.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And there is absolutely nothing that sort of relates it to "Sex and the City," so let's just talk about it.
SIGESMUND: No, no.
O'BRIEN: What did you think of the movie? Some, as you know, people have said anti-Semitic.
SIGESMUND: Yes. I have to say, Soledad, what I got from this film is so much violence. It is a very difficult film to watch. Many people will find it a religious experience, I know. But I think the average moviegoer is not going to be able to see past the gore. This is the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. He is whipped...
O'BRIEN: Would you recommend it to people?
SIGESMUND: I would not recommend it to people myself. He is whipped incessantly until his ribs show through his chest. He has -- he's forced to carry a cross across Jerusalem while covered in blood, and then, of course, he's crucified. The crucifixion is showed nail by nail. I was watching through my fingers a lot of this movie.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SIGESMUND: I found it very difficult.
O'BRIEN: You guys haven't seen it. Would you see it?
OGUNNAIKE: I haven't seen it yet. I'm actually going to go see it tomorrow. And now that you've said that, I'll make sure I don't eat beforehand.
TOURE: I mean, even with all of the hype and pressure, you can't not see it just...
O'BRIEN: I'm not going to see it.
TOURE: And they've just made it so much.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Well, they've had...
OGUNNAIKE: For conversations sake, it's going to be the most talked about movie.
SIGESMUND: And I felt that way, too. The last minutes before the screening I was like, I'm so excited I'm seeing this, and then it was just gruesome.
O'BRIEN: You know, gory movies, I have a hard time watching them.
OGUNNAIKE: Mel Gibson is going to make a killing, though. He really is.
O'BRIEN: Well, I think that that's probably fair to say.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And we'll, I'm sure, will be talking about that. You guys you can fill me in on the movie...
OGUNNAIKE: That's nice.
O'BRIEN: ... because I'm not going to get a chance to see it because I don't like gory movies. As always, thanks so much. We really appreciate it.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 23, 2004 - 07:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I love this music this time of the morning. Final fling for "Sex and the City" girls, and Mel Gibson is stirring some passions. Will those burning issues be a little too hot for our "90-Second Pop" panel? Never. Lets find out, though, this morning.
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Never.
O'BRIEN: Toure is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine.
Nice to see you, Toure. Good morning.
TOURE: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: "New York Times" reporter Lola Ogunnaike joins us as well.
Nice to see you, Lola.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
B.J., good morning, as always.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right into "Sex."
TOURE: Oh!
O'BRIEN: Oh! So, you stayed up to watch it last night, didn't you? I'm in bed by 8:00.
TOURE: Of course. Of course.
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, you missed it.
O'BRIEN: So, did you...
OGUNNAIKE: You missed it.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's first give me a quick 101 -- Lola, why don't you take this -- on what happened.
OGUNNAIKE: Sure. O'BRIEN: What happened?
OGUNNAIKE: Carrie goes to Paris to be with Petrovsky, decides that this is not the man for her, is ready to bail. Big comes to the rescue. They end up together.
SIGESMUND: There you go.
O'BRIEN: That's it.
TOURE: That is too easy. As soon as he puts out his hand and says, I love you, she falls all over him...
SIGESMUND: Right.
TOURE: ... needing to be rescued, challenging him not at all.
O'BRIEN: OK, I'm guessing you hated it.
SIGESMUND: Oh, exactly. It's sad.
TOURE: No, I didn't hate it, but I didn't want her to end up with him so easily.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: But she had to end up with him, because their chemistry cannot be denied.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: How many times has he pulled up in that big black limo over the years with all sorts of sweet things to say and then screwed up her life.
O'BRIEN: A lot.
SIGESMUND: Six months later she sits in the diner going, why, why, why?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: He will leave her again within six months.
OGUNNAIKE: No, he won't. No, he won't. No, he won't. This time it's different.
O'BRIEN: OK, but it will be different this time around. Didn't he say, you're the one?
OGUNNAIKE: He said you're the one.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Commitment.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Yes. And you know what else? They told us his name is John. Why John? John is so plain. After six years we get John?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Come on!
OGUNNAIKE: I thought that Elsworth (ph) or something gooey.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Something really strange and funny.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You wanted her to end up single. You think that...
SIGESMUND: I thought she should end up single. I thought that was the spirit of the show. I thought the resolutions of Miranda and Charlotte were much more real. You saw a lot more emotional growth over the six years.
OGUNNAIKE: They did.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk briefly about the other characters. Charlotte was renting -- was renting -- was adopting.
TOURE: Well, she finally gets a baby. She finally gets her baby.
OGUNNAIKE: She finally adopts a baby.
O'BRIEN: She got the baby. Well...
OGUNNAIKE: From China. She adopted a baby from China.
O'BRIEN: She lost a baby, but then got the baby.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Miranda, who has always had a hard time...
OGUNNAIKE: And her dog had kids as well.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's sweet. Miranda, who always had a hard time connecting emotionally...
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... really was able to...
SIGESMUND: Ends up inviting her mother-in-law to move in.
TOURE: I mean, in a lot of ways...
O'BRIEN: That's an emotional investment.
SIGESMUND: Very serious.
TOURE: I mean, in a lot of ways, it was a great episode, a great ending to perhaps the greatest halftime show ever.
O'BRIEN: Samantha...
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: Samantha decides that she's going to open herself up to Smith Jerrod, finally, and allows herself to really fall in love with him. It was a beautiful, beautiful moment.
SIGESMUND: It was very satisfying.
OGUNNAIKE: He stood by her through the cancer.
SIGESMUND: And if you look...
OGUNNAIKE: And he's always been there.
SIGESMUND: Yes. If you look at the HBO Web site, 95 percent of the postings are, like, yes, I'm so excited she's back with Big. This was the ending that most mainstream America wanted.
O'BRIEN: Everybody wanted.
SIGESMUND: But I still don't think it's true to the show.
O'BRIEN: Do you think it changed TV in any way?
TOURE: Well, it definitely opened the boundaries for television. I mean, as a New Yorker, it's amazing, because during these last few years when we needed to see a romantic, beautiful vision of New York, they gave us that, you know.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: They provided that.
TOURE: And it's a particular New York. There is not that many black people, there is not that much crime.
O'BRIEN: It's not that dirty.
TOURE: Yes, it's not that dirty.
OGUNNAIKE: It's very clean.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: But it's a particular New York, sort of a "Breakfast at Tiffany's," nowadays...
SIGESMUND: But I thought that the real groundbreaking stuff was about women and sexuality...
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
SIGESMUND: ... and being OK to embrace their sexual side and also be alone into their 30s, that they don't...
OGUNNAIKE: They made being single very sheik.
SIGESMUND: They erased the stigma.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE: They made being single very sheik.
SIGESMUND: Less stigma for women who are...
O'BRIEN: Well...
TOURE: A total magic realism for her to be able to afford all of that wardrobe.
O'BRIEN: That was crazy.
OGUNNAIKE: Four hundred dollars Jamide (ph) shoes...
TOURE: Yes, it was totally ridiculous.
OGUNNAIKE: ... on a freelance journalist salary.
(CROSSTALK)
OGUNNAIKE: But that's what we want on that show. We want fantasy.
TOURE: When "Seinfeld" ended, you didn't feel like you lost four friends. With this, you feel like you've lost some friends.
SIGESMUND: Oh, yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, the "Seinfeld" ending was so bad.
O'BRIEN: We need to make segue here before we run out of time. And I don't know how to do it, so I'm just going to throw it out there. Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion."
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: B.J. has seen it.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And there is absolutely nothing that sort of relates it to "Sex and the City," so let's just talk about it.
SIGESMUND: No, no.
O'BRIEN: What did you think of the movie? Some, as you know, people have said anti-Semitic.
SIGESMUND: Yes. I have to say, Soledad, what I got from this film is so much violence. It is a very difficult film to watch. Many people will find it a religious experience, I know. But I think the average moviegoer is not going to be able to see past the gore. This is the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. He is whipped...
O'BRIEN: Would you recommend it to people?
SIGESMUND: I would not recommend it to people myself. He is whipped incessantly until his ribs show through his chest. He has -- he's forced to carry a cross across Jerusalem while covered in blood, and then, of course, he's crucified. The crucifixion is showed nail by nail. I was watching through my fingers a lot of this movie.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SIGESMUND: I found it very difficult.
O'BRIEN: You guys haven't seen it. Would you see it?
OGUNNAIKE: I haven't seen it yet. I'm actually going to go see it tomorrow. And now that you've said that, I'll make sure I don't eat beforehand.
TOURE: I mean, even with all of the hype and pressure, you can't not see it just...
O'BRIEN: I'm not going to see it.
TOURE: And they've just made it so much.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Well, they've had...
OGUNNAIKE: For conversations sake, it's going to be the most talked about movie.
SIGESMUND: And I felt that way, too. The last minutes before the screening I was like, I'm so excited I'm seeing this, and then it was just gruesome.
O'BRIEN: You know, gory movies, I have a hard time watching them.
OGUNNAIKE: Mel Gibson is going to make a killing, though. He really is.
O'BRIEN: Well, I think that that's probably fair to say.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And we'll, I'm sure, will be talking about that. You guys you can fill me in on the movie...
OGUNNAIKE: That's nice.
O'BRIEN: ... because I'm not going to get a chance to see it because I don't like gory movies. As always, thanks so much. We really appreciate it.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
