satc-girls.jpgAs you may have heard if you are not among the Underrock Dwellers, this week marks the release of the “Sex and the City” movie. In Israel, we’ve already had controversies about the seemingly benign movie posters–they say “Sex V’Ha’ir Hagdolah”–Sex and the Big City–but the word “sex” on a sign is too much for some Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah residents who have demanded that the signs be taken down:

The billboard company’s desire to respect the sensibilities of the religious comes after a similar incident several years ago when advertisers replaced a poster for the “Sex and the City” TV show with lead actress Sarah Jessica Parker wearing an immodest dress with a poster of Parker in more modest clothing.

Such a compromise, according to Arye Barak, the Israeli spokesperson for Forum Films, is impossible this time.

“We told them, just as you don’t remove the word ‘Coca’ from ‘Coca-Cola’ and just leave ‘Cola,’ we can’t do it in this case,” Barak told The Associated Press. “It’s ludicrous.”

Apparently there is no sex in Jerusalem.

And in other SATC story tie-ins, I thought I’d conduct a poll of the JDA readers: who is your favorite SATC man? Maybe you’re a “Big” fan (I am decidedly not), or think Carrie should have ended up with her high school boyfriend who was in a sanitarium (David Duchovny) or that Berger, pre-Post-It-breakup, was the perfect man.

But allow me to suggest an alternate favorite, Harry Goldenblatt, played by the very funny Evan Handler (profiled by the Jewish Journal’s Naomi Pfefferman in this week’s J. — the San Francisco area Jewish paper). Charlotte’s loyal, flawed Jewish husband on-screen, Handler off-screen is grateful for what he has in his life and career, and reveals his pre-SATC battle with cancer (the reason for his permanent baldness, which never bothered most of us). Interesting stuff.

Who’s your favorite SATC man? Please report back to the group, especially those of us who are in Jerusalem. Because the missing signs are a sign that we’re missing something.