Don't Get Carried Away: The Evolution of 'Sex and the City'

By Jo Piazza Posted Apr 17th 2010 01:00PM

Carrie Bradshaw and the gang have come a loooong way since the first season of 'Sex and the City' premiered on HBO in 1998. That first episode -- with its interstitial voiceovers from minor characters, which thankfully didn't make it out of the first season, unfortunate hair, sometimes wacky outfits and Carrie chain-smoking in her studio apartment -- is what made America fall in love with Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. These were four single women living, working, loving and partying in the playground of New York City. We could have been like them. They were a version of us with cooler jobs and a seemingly endless capacity to wear four inch heels, but we could aspiringly relate to them. But now, things are different.

"'SATC' introduced women to style in a way no other show ever had. Style is their voice and that voice was fun! Four women, four distinct looks, each with their own personality -- everyone inevitably identified with one. They expressed their personalities through fashion. The overall picture has always been glamour, but beneath their super fabulous exterior were flaws, and we like those flaws!" says Samantha Yanks, Editor-in-Chief of Gotham and Hamptons magazines.

Fast forward twelve years (my god has it been that long!) and take a look at the movie poster for the second 'SATC' feature film. There's Sarah Jessica Parker, long flowing, sparkling gown, impossibly tall with tanned legs teetering on a pair of strappy heels -- in the dessert no less. And the cleavage ... Is it just me or was 1998 Carrie flat as a board? Are we to believe that Ms. Bradshaw is the one woman on earth whose boobs begin defying gravity in her forties rather than succumbing to it?

"'Sex and the City' was such a hit in the beginning because it was aspirational -- $40,000 on shoes, Carrie? -- but still felt real, and drew parallels that any girl could relate to. What with multi-million dollar apartments and Vogue spreads and now couture in the desert, Carrie is no longer one of us. It's a beautiful fantasy, to be sure, but no longer has even the slightest footing in reality... which, ultimately -- more than the shoes, more than the clothes-- was what made us love Carrie. She was us. Now she's them," says Styleite beauty and fashion columnist Nadine Jolie.

The point is that the original incarnations of these woman were glamorous, but they were also flawed and that's why we fell in love with them.

"Those girls were real women, like us, they dressed like us, made the stupid mistakes we did and we could totally relate. But now they are so glam they are more like their real selves [Hollywood stars] and less like their on screen selves, so they in some ways are no longer those characters," laments radio host Cooper Lawrence. "We recognize that, like us, they have to mature and evolve, but we didn't all become millionaires or marry them. Some of us, like Miranda, have kids and need to spend our money on them, not ourselves. Our shoes used to be our children; now our children are. Yet the 'SATC' girls seem to be spending every cent on wardrobe, bling, hair and make up. its not relatable at all, especially in this economy. It's like, we love to hate the 'Real Housewives' for their money, but the 'SATC' girls we just want to love."

Even though the evolution of the women and the show may seem jarring, it isn't surprising. 'SATC' has become an industry unto itself, setting trends and creating styles -- what you may have thought was a lampshade, is actually Alexander Wang couture.

"I think it's gotten more over the top and thus more inaccessible, but that's what we've come to expect. So Patricia Fields keeps upping the ante with the clothes and the shoes and the accessories, but I'm sure trends will still trickle down the way they always did from the show, then from the first movie and now they will from the second," explains New York Daily News fashion and features reporter Leah Chernikoff.

The cast and crew have been keeping mum about exactly where the plot of 'SATC 2' will take us, but from the trailer we know Charlotte is overwhelmed with double duty mommyhood, Carrie and Big are having a tough time making their own baby and the girls jet off for a sexy vacay to Abu Dhabi where Carrie runs into her old flame Aidan. That brings me to my next point of contention with 'SATC 2.' I can't go through the ups and downs of Carrie and Aidan and Big one more time. See the great thing about a romantic comedy is that no matter how long we suffer through the "will they" or "won't they" get together, it is all resolved in the end. This will be what -- the fourth iteration of Big, Aidan, Big, Aidan? It's almost too much.

And now it is time to quit my whining, because all of that said, I'll still be the first one in line to see the movie. I did fall in love with these ladies twelve years ago, through their warts and bad hair days and their glamour and glitz and seemingly unstoppable breasts.

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Tags: sarah jessica parker, sex and the city

Comments

(37)

Sunday 18 April

By Nancy

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just give it a bit more time, cami, and you'l BE one of those "hags" yoursef. You've already got the personality.

By Sandy

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cami - obviously you do, or you wouldn't have bothered posting in the first place.

Saturday 17 April

By beachrose04

Jo, for a woman who makes a living writing, how is it you don't know that "dessert" is what we eat after dinner and "desert" is the scenery depicted on the movie poster you speak of?

By Grey

desert - not dessert

By laura

CANT'T WAIT! I HAVE LOVED EVERY SEASON.....AND THE FIRST MOVIE WAS FANTASTIC! THANK YOU GIRLS FOR BRINGING SO MUCH FUN TO US OVER THE YEARS!

By FRANCES WILLIAMS

I'm from the(50's), when 'Rock & Roll' started?! And you weren't "allowed to even talk about 'SEX' let alone have some!
So that said, let me tell you something 'Ladies' Sex & The City has done more for 'Women's Lib' than anything! They take us away to a wonderful 'Fantasy World' where every 'Red Blooded American Woman' would 'Love to be!' I personally, can't get enough of them and have enjoyed every single episode over and over! And Sarah Jessica Parker has got the most 'Sexiest Figure' in the world!
I'm so "FASCINATED" TOO, everytime I see her in a scene where she's walking down a 'Dark Street' at night 'ALONE' in New York City! Especially all dressed up like she usually is because I'm
originally from back east and I wouldn't dream of doing that in a million years! It's a very 'Dangerous Place' at night!

By paul

it's just you
SJP HAS ALWAYS HAD LARGE BREASTS. and theyre REAL.
if u dont believe me, go back and watch season 1 and 2. they were there, and real. SHE HAS NOT HAD THEM DONE

By ellen

i loved the first satc movie..and for those of us who were devoted fans, it was like a long cool drink of water after a long drought. i stll watch the reruns on uverse, however if the premise is that carrie and big break up as ive heard, i wont be happy, ive heard he gets into financial trouble and they breakup and she takes the twins and leaves..that will really tick me off after all the years we stuck by them! by the way carrie doesnt have big boobs but shes always had a perfect body for a small woman..she cant be much taller than 5'2" or so.

By Lisa

Big is rich, she can wear expensive shoes and live in fabulous apartments. Don't hate, appreciate!

By Michelle

I have to admit that I loved the show ... but was dissapointed at the direction of the first movie. With the exception of Charlotte ... if you look at the first movie ... it was really about how the women reacted to the behaviors of the MEN! Honestly, on the show men were like accessories (GREAT (and cute) but basically there to make the women stand out more) ... so why did they take the center on the movie.

I am also a little bothered that the show has four women that worked together to make Sex and the City successful ... so why are all the posters and publicity shots just of Carrie?

Learn how to spell "desert" before publishing an article.

By Allison

Carrie is standing in the desert, not the dessert. Because of the internet, it seems anyone can write anything and call it professional. This review is a rant and doesn't reflect what fans feel about the series. I don't fully relate to any of the characters. For me, SATC wasn't enjoyable because it was so much like reality, but really the opposite--that it was a fantasy world and watching it provided me with an escape. I eagerly anticipate SATC 2 and am sorry I clicked on this diary entry. I mean article.

By annoyinglyspecific

get a better editor - she's in the desert, not the dessert.

By Yogi

I am actually looking forward to this movie. The first one depressed the hell out of me, and as for Aidan being in it... well that just makes the movie more interesting

Monday 19 April

By Imaginethat

I think this had better be the last SATC movie. After too many more years, the gals will be going through "The Change" and after that, they'll be ready for Social Security! That certainly wouldn't make the movie that this bit of total fantasy does! Four apparently life long friends who run off for a fling in the desert, even though three of them have husbands and two have children! Well, let the fantasy continue but only up to the point where it doesn't begin to look absolutely ridiculous. Too many more years and it will begin to. The gals will be talking hot flashes and college tuition. That would be boring!

By Bebe

I have to agree about the Aidan thing. I never bought into the Carrie and Aidan characters' romance on the show in the first place. It went on for way too long during the series and I don't see how they could write him back into the script at this point and make it interesting.

Wednesday 28 April

By m4mfantasydotnet

Yes, Jason Lewis is in this version of the SATC movie series. That man is just hot as Hell, & kudos to him for what I consider the scene of all scenes in this movie (featured fully erect & ROCK HARD in a scene that lasts a little over a minute but is worth sitting through ANY movie to see... you go boy!). Not sure who the cute guy is that Miranda (Kim Catrell) catches him having sex with, but it is some kind of wicked killer how he continues to not only star down Miranda when she walks in on them, but he continues to have sex with the guy (except it goes from blowjob scene to anal & we don't actually get to see any anal penetration ... guess that would have been too much). You've got to see this movie on May 27th if you've not already had the honor of seeing it pre-release.

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