Sex and the City came out in 1998 and like most older shows is now taking Gen Z by storm. This is the same effect we’ve seen with Friends, Gilmore Girls, and so many other shows. SATC was on HBO’s streaming service, Max and has now made its way over to Netflix to captivate more viewers. I don’t know about you, but my TikTok has been filled with SATC content ranging from outfit inspiration to Carrie Bradshaw slander (we’ll get into that). I want to frame this opinion piece so that you can see multiple sides of what the show is trying to express through characters, relationships, and situations, rather than showing you solely my opinion and what I think is right. So firstly I want to give a baseline background to the show, the show consists of four women, Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York. They all live in New York City and each episode shows an insight of each of their lives and the situations they run into with their friendships, careers, and men. Carrie Bradshaw, the main character, writes a column called “Sex and the City” which is present in every episode as she writes details and lessons from the respective episode. One of my favorite aspects of the show is that you never know what you’re going to get each episode, but there’s also this comfort of familiarity similar to Gilmore Girls. It’s a great show to watch in the background, but also amazing to binge with your girlfriends.
I love Sex and the City because of the priority of women relationships within the show, yes the episodes show them with so many men, but the friendships and their bond is at the center of the show. They all have their shortcomings as friends, but with all of them together they fill in each other’s gaps. It’s beautiful to see how they are each there for one another and their day to day lives as best friends. Now as far as Carrie slander, I’m with the majority that she definitely has selfish tendencies and immature habits. However, after some reflection I’m coming to realize that’s intentional. These characters are supposed to emulate real people, people with insecurities, jealousy, anger, and shortcomings. Carrie is the main character and the narrator so we see her actions under a magnifying glass. Yes, her situationship with Mr. Big, a man who is emotionally unavailable and she keeps in her life for decades was a poor choice on her part. Maybe some of us wouldn’t choose to be friends with her. Maybe some of us would be. Also, her being kind of a mess contributes to the plot line so that’s just within the nature of a show. The point is that they have this amazing, spontaneous, and free life in New York and the audience sees the good, bad, and ugly of their lives. The show is realistic, messy, raw, and candid. Similar to how life is. We see characters make choices where we cry, cringe, relate to, etc.
Moving onto another aspect of the show I love is the reflective nature of it. At least three times per episode she gives us a reflective question that makes us apply the show’s themes to our own lives. One of my favorite ones was “Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates, and guys are just people to have fun with.” Being a romantic and melancholic person by nature I cherish these phrases each episode. The show showed the women through many stages in their lives and each episode reflected on their choices and now I ask these same reflective tone questions when I’m making decisions in my life. I think this show makes you question aspects of your life if you let it, but it can also be a casual watch.
Upon reflecting on Sex and the City and the Upper East Side men and glamorous parties, I couldn’t help but wonder: is this show a must-watch because of the glitzy lifestyle or because of the journey of young women trying their best to navigate an unpredictable life?