I might be a decade too late for this and a decade too young for this (at least), but I’ve finally set my mind to it: Sex And The City. It was kind of a surprise for me, how good it turned out to be. The series, that is. The movies are... not that memorable.
But seeing as I was about 8 when the first season came out, it’s safe to say that I completely missed out on the madness that lived amongst fans of the show. This wasn’t necessarily the case for ‘Friends’, that first aired when I was 3, but I guess Friends was... more kid friendly, to say the least.
I’m really quite dissapointed about that, though. I wanted to have been in New York when the women of the show were. And I wanted to have experienced life, relationships and, well, sex when they were. And I almost forgot - I wanted to drink Cosmo’s like they did. Alas, I was just a kid. Though, I’m really happy not to have to deal with answering machines anymore.
A lot of people have told me to watch the show, but I was never all that convinced. After watching the series, I have realized that I was thrown off by the movies. I had actually seen the movies (I’m not 100% sure if I had seen both, but I had definitely seen the second movie). I’m not the first person to say this but... the movies really don’t do the show justice.
But like a lot of other times, I finally found time in my schedule and I decided to check the show off my bucket list. I immediately liked it but at the same time, I have to admit, I wasn’t hooked on it. In the first season, SATC seemed a little too Rich White Women to me. Which is also the feeling I had with the movies. But perhaps for the movies, it was even more Spoiled Rich White Women. In the second movie, they were barely even in The City, go figure.
A lot had also to do with the character development that wasn’t yet, I guess, developped. But the stereotypes in the four main characters are never truly far gone, as they shouldn’t. They were written that way on purpose. That’s why after more than 20 years, girlfriends still like to discuss how their either Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda. Me? Well, at first I couldn’t relate to Miranda all that much. Then the character development came and I started to see past the cynical over-achiever. But something strange happened with Charlotte for me - the opposite happened for me. I liked Charlotte at first. I thought I WAS Charlotte. Yeah, I don’t like her, except for when Charlotte finally speaks the truth about something.
Much to my surprise, I do really like Samantha. Before the show, I thought I could never like her. I thought she was that character that made its appearance so that they could keep the “Sex” in their title. But Samantha is, as it turns out, not always all about sex. Okay, she is. But there are a couple of things that I really admire about her:
She’s always there for her girls. She knows that men will come (pun intended, of course) and go but her friends will always stay.
She’s brutally honest. She says it like it is. And you are NEVER going to get the feeling she’s f-ing with you.
She’s like some kind of magical predictor of the future: in season 2, Samantha explained this to Carrie: “It’s 2000! The new millennium won’t be about sexual labels, it’ll be about sexual expression. It won’t matter if you’re sleeping with men or with women, it’ll be about sleeping with individuals.” And she continued explaining: “Soon everybody will be pansexual, it won’t matter if you’re gay or straight”. Look it up, people.
She’s a fierce business woman. She’s got it all figured out, makes tons of money and is entirely and 100% independent and has always been.
Besides being honest, she also puts her money where her mouth is. When she fell for a woman, she went all in - sexually. When they were through, she was clear about the reason of the break-up: she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She’s always been open to all kinds of sex, but never to relationships (up until that point, I might add).
She has the most wonderful, amazing and funny af one-liners.
And then there’s Carrie. Carrie never really spoke to me, at all. I never really had actual feelings about her. Though I hated her and Big’s affair. I’m not sure why that happened in the first place. I’m not a Carrie/Big shipper or a Carrie/Aiden shipper, for a matter of fact. But affairs are horrible and Aiden didn’t deserve that. So I’m still a little angry with Carrie for that (and with Big as well). Besides that, I think Carrie overspends on shoes, as fabulous as they are.
That being said, the show is hilarious. It’s not a sitcom, it’s not non-stop, but the conversations these women are having are ones that are witty, smart and unpretentiously sharp.
However, the show also has various boring or cringe-worthy storylines. Such as... THE COMPLETE RUSSIAN GUY STORYLINE!!! OH MY GOD, that man is boring from start to finish. Much like Miranda, I was not supportive of her going to Paris with him. Also, why don’t you do the sensible thing and visit the city first before making snap judgements and moving across the world? Not to mention giving up your well earning writing job? (I assume it’s well earning considering her closet).
As Carrie would say: I couldn’t help but wonder... why the hell she started dating this guy in the first place...?
If that storyline was meant to be an anticlimax for what was going to happen with Big at the end... the writers deserve much, much praise. Then again, the writers are a-holes for putting that long storyline in, in the first place.
I would also like to give Carrie smoking an honorable mention as “cringe-worthy”. I’m sure it used to cool, but nowadays, it’s the reason why Sarah Jessica Parker has marionette lines in the second movie. (That was mean, I know, sorry SJP).
The MOST cringy-worthy is, without a doubt, the whole second movie.
Listen, here’s my take on the movies: (you thought you were almost done with this post, right? )
There were two storylines which felt a little unfinished to me. Of course, Carrie/Big. I understand the craving for that couple actually being a couple. Their ending in the series was very much a fairytale ending, but as we know, life is not and this show usually isn’t either. But the storyline of Charlotte felt a little unfinished either. Yes, she finally gets the good news that she’s going to be a mom, but I wanted to get more. I wanted to meet the girl and I wanted her and Harry to try and raise her.
Both storylines were completed in the first movie. And the audience - including me - was satisfied. But there’s a big catch: the other two ladies. Both Samantha and Miranda were in happy place at the end of the show.
In fact, I feel like they needed to create storylines out of thin air in the last few episodes for the both of them. Not including Samantha’s breast cancer storyline, that was amazing.
In the movie, however, friction had to be created for them so they forced this phony storyline on us where Miranda and Steve broke up because Steve cheated. Why would you do that to Steve, writers? He’s a really good guy and has always been a good guy. Why make him a cheater?
And I’m also a bit too much aware, yet again, that these ladies have too much time and money. While the show is typical HBO (real and honest), the movie is not. But that’s not entirely their fault. Movies are typically written for a different audience, therefore, are more glamourous and unrealistic.
After having seen the first movie, I watched the second one, reluctantly. I regret the descision. While the first movie barely had any storyline, the second one had none at all. It was all glamour, no actual feelings. I honestly thought I was watching a tourist commercial for Abu Dhabi, that is if you could look past the fact that Charlotte never had any reception with her phone (might be different by now, who knows, right?).
I would also like to add that it’s quite sad that Miranda and Charlotte only got to talk about their issues they have as mothers during cocktail hour at a foreign country. They’re supposed to be best friends and they both have small children. You’d think they would’ve discussed their struggles by now. In the world of SATC, they sure as hell discussed all other things.
I’m sure that Kim & SJP will ever work their issues out - but please, please, don’t make another movie, guys. There is nothing left to tell.
We laughed and we cried, but now we’re done and we’re moving on. At least I am. Cheers!
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