Sex and the City may very well be the television show of a generation.
Every girl and every woman know if they are a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or a Samantha. It is an instinctual answer you give without pause when someone asks, and it is a question one often ponders when single and alone on a Friday night or, before a new relationship is about to be entered in to.
There is a worry that if we are a Carrie, we should be constantly on the lookout for that ‘big love’, because, if you muck it up the first time around you could be gracing the pages of Vogue under the headline, ‘the last single girl.’ And trust me, no matter how much self-confidence you have, that has got to sting.
Consciously or unconsciously Sex and the City is with women every single day. The bold choices and statements the four friends made in every episode informs discussions, appearance, choices and smashes stereotypes.
That is why it is such a shame that on the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the show, there is an undeniable sense of awkwardness.
As super fans know, there has quite recently been a blow up between Kim Cattrall (Samantha) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie). Now, if you are to believe the vicious rumours and gossip that began circulating after the words were exchanged, there was allegedly a very ‘Mean Girls’ culture about Sex and the City (SATC). SJP was the Queen of the group and conducted herself accordingly, while Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) and Kristin Davis (Charlotte) hung off every word she said. Whereas Kim, being significantly older- as she herself has said so don’t @ me with criticism- could see right through this façade and wasn’t interested in playing into high school drama, kept to herself and focused her energy on putting in stellar performances episode after episode.
In light of these rumours many SATC co-stars have come out in defense of SJP, labelling her the consummate professional. However, being the cynic that I am, I don’t find this surprising. Who is going to stick up for Kim when SJP is in the mix? SJP is a staple of New York and the entertainment industry and as crappy as it is, she is the first person that comes to mind when someone says SATC. SJP has friends in high places, spread throughout the industry, whereas Kim has very much gone about her business and acting career without much fanfare. By staying in New York and quite literally living moments away from Carrie’s stoop, SJP has made herself interchangeable with her character. With this in mind, who can be mad at Carrie? Even when she cheats on Aidan and breaks my heart, I still cannot hate her!
In that respect I do feel sorry for Kim and can understand why she made the issue public, especially since SJP began the original grand standing. However, I don’t feel sorry for her quite enough to discount my own feelings and sense of disappointment. The beauty of SATC was four different women coming together, sharing good times and bad times but always coming out the other side because, above all else, they loved each other. While one of the premises of the show was finding a lasting, loving relationship in the big city- and boy did we have some epic love stories- at the end of the day, SATC showed that love for self and for friends was just as important.
By two of the main characters having a very public feud, the anniversary hasn’t been celebrated justly. Today as I read posts by the cast I can’t help but wonder, are these true feelings or public relations orientated posts to restore the magic of SATC.
While SJP quoting a famous Big line in her Instagram post gets my heart rate going I also don’t want to take joy from an experience that might have been horrible for Kim because people couldn’t grow up and learn how to share the spotlight evenly.
At the end of the day SATC is loved the world over not because of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha individually. We love, live and breathe the show to this day because all of them, together, made it what it is.
No one else can play out the complex desires of Miranda like Cynthia Nixon.
Charlotte letting go of the idea of marriage if that meant just being with Harry wouldn’t make you choke back the tears every damn time if Kristin Davis hadn’t of been behind the character and building to this moment for seasons.
The cancer diagnosis and subsequent way Samantha deals with her illness wouldn’t have been any where near as profound if Kim Cattrall, who exudes strength and self confidence, wasn’t cast.
And lastly, could you picture anyone else but Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie beating Big with the flower bouquet on their wedding day, so overcome with emotion that it makes you want to hit Big? No, you answered? Exactly.
The world we live in is not a perfect one, not everyone can like each other and build long lasting friendships. However, now especially, we women need the idea of SATC, the four girls and what they represent in its entirety.
The magic of a timeless show and a staple of the 90s cannot be outshone by a feud, but it can be distorted by one. SATC is such a powerhouse and thus the legacy of a game changer should not be bought down to having to shake the word 'feud' out of your head in order to relish in the program.
While it is hard, fans need to separate the women from their characters and simply bask in the fact that for the last twenty years we have had the distinct pleasure of not only hearing one of the greatest television theme songs of all time, but watching one of the greatest shows as well.
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