SATC, or for those of you that are not fans, Sex and the City. It’d had been a while since I’d spent time with my favourite ensemble cast of women, so it was high time that I revisited this groundbreaking show. “Groundbreaking?” I hear you ask. Yes, yes it was groundbreaking. Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha. All perfectly flawed characters that almost every woman could relate to. These well-loved characters played out their fictional lives with such honesty and truth that we fell head over our Manolo Blahnik’s for all of them. (ha ha! I wish I had a shoe collection like Carrie’s!). Of course there was a heavy dose of fantasy thrown in, what struggling sex columnist living in New York could seriously afford the apartment, wardrobe and lifestyle that our beloved Carrie Bradshaw enjoyed? That aside, the ups and downs and the complicated nature of the relationships uncovered by this show is where the truths lie. The relationships with the men that came in and out of their lives gave us a storyline each episode, but its the relationships between the four women and the relationship they had with themselves that were most interesting.
Sex and the City first came to our screens in 1998 and went on to be highly successful over its six season run. I use the term “groundbreaking” as this kind of show and the way it presented its subject matter had never been done before. We look back fondly now at the story lines, the crazy frankness of the one-liners and the stripped back reality of some of the characters most defining moments, but as they aired for the first time, they were actually really risqué. We, the audience, had never seen women talk or behave quite like this on TV before. Do women actually talk like this? Do they actually discuss all this “stuff” with each other? You bet we do! Here’s a link from HuffPost Live, where Kim Cattrall talks about what she loved most about playing the role of Samantha. She talks about how “out there” some of the subject matter was for the time.
In 1998 I was turning 18-years-old. The series ended when I turned 24. I had seen bits and pieces of the series as it aired, but it was as a 24-year-old that I sat down and had my first Sex and the City marathon on DVD. Although the characters in the show were in their 30’s and were living halfway across the world, I completely fell in love with the series as I could totally relate in some way to each of the women and their experiences. Most women have at least a little bit of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or Samantha in them. We all know of or have a close girlfriend that holds similar traits to at least one of these iconic characters. I can recall many times, while out and about with my girlfriends, quoting Sex and the City lines. That probably sounds a bit sad but sometimes it just perfectly summed up our situation at the time. And it was funny!
The series also had this crazy way of starting trends. Honestly, the concept of a $400 pair of shoes being a staple in any woman’s closet was probably foreign to most of us. While we probably still don’t own a collection anywhere close to what Miss Bradshaw had we all know exactly what a Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo or a Christian Louboutin is. The Cosmopolitan. Carrie’s signature cocktail and a regular on cocktail lists everywhere. It almost became embarrassing to order one of these, like maybe you were trying too hard, but they are definitely still one of my favourites. At the end of the first movie, Charlotte asks as to why they ever stopped drinking them. Carrie replies, “Because everyone else started.” After visiting a beautician in the “Sex and Another City” Carrie is surprised when she receives a full Brazilian wax. After Carrie exclaims, ” I got mugged. She took everything I got.” Samantha explains it’s just the done thing in LA. Apparently this episode sparked the trend of women across the western world embracing and requesting the Brazilian wax. Hmmmmmm. Big Flowers. Remember those? They were everywhere in the early 2000’s. Carrie, with her whimsical style, always pulled this look off, even if a huge flower pinned on her blouse seemed out of place. Unfortunately many of the rest of us just looked silly! Many other trends started from this show, but these in my opinion, were some of the most iconic.
The movies. I’m not going to lie, the movies could have been better. Actually, I quite enjoyed the first one, I am a Sex and the City tragic after all, but the second movie? There were parts in there that even made me cringe. “I am Woman” comes to mind! I guess it must be hard to recreate the kind of magic a show like that had and transfer it onto the big screen. There have been rumours of a third installment which really fired up after Sarah Jessica Parker posted some photos and cryptic descriptions on Instagram recently, but it turned out to be promotion for her new shoe collection. Whether this news makes me sad or breathe a sigh of relief? I’m not sure.
For now, I’m happy enough to revisit this awesome show by popping on a DVD from my box set.
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