From 1998 to 2004, four beautiful women made me laugh...cry...and laugh some more--
CARRIE BRADSHAW (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) is the reason for Sex and the City. She is the narrator of the show. Each episode is structured around her train of thought. Carrie is a columnist who lives in Manhattan.
SAMANTHA JONES (played by Kim Catrall) is a successful PR exec who knows what she wants, and most of the time, gets it. She takes lust over love on any given night. She embraces her uninhibited sexuality and is not ashamed of it. She is the oldest and most sexually confident of the foursome. She is confident, strong, outspoken, and calls herself a "try-sexual" (meaning she'll try anything once). One of Samantha's best qualities is her loyalty to her friends. She believes that she has had "hundreds" of soul mates and requires that her sexual partners leave "an hour after I climax." In Season 6, Samantha's character further develops when she is suddenly diagnosed with cancer when visiting a plastic surgeon for a breast implant consultation. An operation and chemotherapy challenge Samantha, but she beats cancer and it becomes clear the experience has renewed her with a new perspective on life and love.
MIRANDA HOBBES (played by Cynthia Nixon) is a successful corporate attorney who is smart, self-assured, and proud of her achievements (she made partner in her law firm during the show). She is a Harvard Law graduate who raises the bar for herself continually, personally and professionally. She doesn't open up easily and, at times, can be quite cynical. Her image softens over the years, particularly after she becomes pregnant by her on/off boyfriend, Steve, whom she eventually marries. The birth of her son, Brady Hobbes, brings up new issues for her Type A, workaholic personality, but she soon finds a way to balance career and motherhood.
CHARLOTTE YORK (played by Kristin Davis) is the character who I identify with the least. Although I admire her optimism and idealism, she is too traditional for me. At the beginning of the show, she was an art dealer, but then, she married...divorced...then married (2nd time was a charm). Getting married to a wealthy, handsome man who belonged to the social elite and having a family and the perfect house was her dream. In a nutshell, Charlotte is the more conventional woman. She is the most optimistic of the group, the one who places the most emphasis on emotional love as opposed to lust, and is a true romantic; always searching for her "knight in shining armor" and she eventually finds it. She scoffs at the lewder, more libertine antics of her friends (primarily Samantha), presenting a more traditional attitude about relationships, usually based on "the rules" of love and dating. Despite her traditional outlook, she has been known to make concessions (while married) that even surprise her more sexually liberated girlfriends.
NEW YORK CITY plays a character, too. Because the show centers on four sexy women, the city has to be sexy as well...and you can't get any sexier than New York City, baby...and Manhattan to boot!
The women discuss their sexual desires and fantasies, and their travels in life and love. I loved the show's frank dialogue about women and sex.
I (as well as any woman) identify with all four women, but here's my personal mixture: I am 40% Carrie, 30% Samantha, 25% Miranda, and 5% Charlotte.
Overall, the show was great and I miss it. No topic was off limits. It shocked you. It made you laugh. It was frank. It provoked conversations. It was real. It was about being yourself...up close and personal. Well, at least I have the DVD collections to all the seasons and the movie. Now, I'm looking forward to Sex and the City 2, which will premiere in theaters this Thursday, May 27th.
One of my favorite episodes (and I think I speak for every "Sex and the City" fan) is from Season 4 when Carrie is asked to be in a big fashion charity show featuring both models and real people. The main idea of the entire episode is how we can look at our friends perfectly, but we can't see ourselves in the same way. We tend to be self-critical. So after some convincing from her friends--and when she finds out she can keep the outfit (she's modeling Dolce & Gabana)--Carrie decides to be a "model." On the night of the fashion show, Carrie is informed there's been a wardrobe change and she has to wear a tiny pair of jeweled underwear. She freaks, but all done up and looking fabulous, Samantha assures her she is a model. Carrie starts her walk down the runway only to fall flat on her face. Even real-life supermodel Heidi Klum walks over her. After all, the show must go on. Faced with a choice, Carrie gets back up and finishes her catwalk to cheers and a congratulations "high-five" from Heidi Klum. The episode is inspiring. How many times have we "fallen" in life--at times not wanting to get back up--but when we do, it builds character and strength. And why did Carrie choose not to quit and run back to the dressing room? "...because when real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep on walking."
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