Sex and the City is magical yet relatable in many ways. New York City is the home for love, laughs, friends and a fresh start. With every new friendship, hardship and romance between the four girls it forces the viewer to somehow connect it to their life. Although some people might just look at Sex and the City and think that it is just a romantic comedy, there are some pretty valuable lessons hidden within each scene.
In my opinion, the biggest lesson you can take away from Sex and the City is the value of friendship. Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte Goldenblatt, and Miranda Hobbes are such a powerful group of best friends. Although all very different people they somehow come together to build the perfect storm. In the movie we see good moments, like them all enjoying fashion week, and that shows how with just one simple interest anything can bring people closer together. We also see that with hardships, such as lies or secrets, can bring multiple days of not speaking or madness. However, even with the silent treatment or anger at the end of the day friends can forgive and look past it because having a valuable and trustworthy friend can sometimes be a hard thing to come by, and when you have that it is not wise to let it go.
A big topic we see through both movies is about relationships. Most of the main plot is centered around the girls and their relationship drama. Within the four of them we see many different stages of life, relationship wise. From happy marriages to more taboo of a topic, hookups, there is a lot of representation. We see Samantha expressing her sexuality very openly and showing that women who like to have multiple partners and not be settled down are not inappropriate, but in fact powerful and will not form to society standards. We also see Charlotte in a happy and healthy marriage and that shows that that is also okay. The women show no matter what your relationship status is, doing what is best for yourself is what is most important at the end of the day. As a viewer it is easy to relate ourselves to at least one of the characters at one point or another, and I feel like when watching a movie it is comforting to be able to see what someone is going through if it is a similar situation.
When it comes to style, or taste in men, or jobs, these women are a spitting image of what it means to just stay true to yourself and do whatever you like. We see some pretty interesting and trendy fashion statements. By wearing whatever they wanted to and not comparing themselves to others the girls made a statement and a confident one at that. They walk with their heads held high and let their creativity shine. I personally feel like when I watch that I am more inspired to go a little more out of my comfort zone and choose more pieces of clothing that I would consider a risk.
I personally also feel like a big theme for the movie and a good lesson to take away from it is that putting yourself first is not in any way selfish. Whether it is breaking up with someone because you are not happy with yourself being with them anymore or if it is quitting a job that causes so much more stress than it is worth, that’s exactly it, it isn’t worth your time. Something or someone that is going to consume all of your energy is not something that you should be keeping as a part of your life. Also being able to step away from someone or something that is comforting to you such as a boyfriend or girlfriend takes strength and doing that allows you to prove to yourself that you are strong enough on your own. I often feel like relationships can seem to be a crutch and when a person can realize that they do not need a person to depend or lean on it opens up a whole new world and allows them to realize how amazing they can be when they are focusing on themselves.
So, asides from the fact that Sex and the City is one of the greatest movies, we can actually learn so much from the characters. We see all different representations of career paths, love, and most importantly friendship. And remember like Carrie Bradshaw said, “Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with.”