High Heels Over Bullwhips

I have just read a report stating that Sex And The City didn't make as much money as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in its first three days at the UK box office. Is this a shock? Is this a revelation? Not really when you consider that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is a 12A and Sex In The City is a 15. The article was written to ignore this fact, the piece also fails to mention the over the last seven days Indiana Jones took £5.5 million pounds while SATC took £8.3 million making it clearly the number one film in the UK at the moment.
Its now commonplace that many films will opt for the safer 12A certificate as it will open the audience base to a much wider age range.
12A means that the BBFC have classified the film unsuitable for children under 12. However, they may still watch the film, as long as they are accompanied by someone over 18 at all times during the showing. Advice is given regarding the content of the film and the ADULT must decide if it is appropriate for the accompanying under 12.
15 is exactly what it says, you have to be 15 or above to see the film. On a 12A I have seen children as young as three or four being bought in to see films with their parents and in my opinion Indiana Jones was always going to carry this certificate while SATC would have been a disaster if it had gone for the same certificate. The television series ended four years ago but has continued to be seen on various television channels both terrestrial and non-terrestrial, has sold truck loads of dvd and the series still has a fantastically loyal fan base.
If the film makers had wanted to go for the biggest audience possible they would have gone for a 12A and piled people through the door, but this would have meant compromising on the end product, SATC has always been unashamedly adult in its theme and content and its one of the things that make it what it is, they would have lost the adult end of the market who would have felt cheated is they had gone for the lower certificate. Fans of the series know exactly what they like and expect, Carrie and the girls speak like real girls, act like real girls with the exception the fashion and income, they laugh, they love, they cry, they live a fantasy lifestyle that many women would aspire to, New York has become a regular destination for groups of women, who want to walk in the Manolo Blahnik's of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.
Has SATC been a hit at the box office, you better believe it, but from some of the articles in the media you wouldn't think it. Credit where credit is due both film have done well, but for this week at least four girls from NY have taken on one of the greatest adventurers the big screen has ever seen and put him firmly in his place.