Sarah Jessica Parker Is Right: We Need More 'Sex' in The Future, But Not The Past

By Rebecca Macatee Posted Feb 19th 2011 04:00PM

Pop-Ed: When I was 21 and first moved to New York City, I wanted to be just like Carrie Bradshaw. I headed to Macy's and bought the comforter she had on 'Sex and the City' -- it's Calvin Klein's "Bamboo Flowers," if you were wondering -- and hit the town with expectations of lavish parties and Mr. Bigs and Aidens on every corner.

But as any New Yorker can attest, the 'SATC' lifestyle isn't a reality for most. I quickly found that no self-made Manhattanite under 30 has a walk-in closet, and no freelancer anywhere can afford Manolo Blahniks. And as adorable and witty as she was, even Carrie wouldn't have endless suitors knocking down the door of her $750 a month brownstone on the Upper East Side.

Still, I loved Carrie. I loved that she was a free spirit, a proud New Yorker, a passionate writer, a true friend and always the ultimate single girl. And like me, and so many others, Carrie hit rough patches in her professional and personal life, but with her feisty resilience, she kept right on pushing through.

It really hit home for me when Carrie talked about her early days in the city, when she used to "buy Vogue instead of dinner" because she "felt it fed me more." The label-loving lady even used to "wear Candies and ride the subway," according to her BFF, Stanford. And in 'SATC 2,' Carrie revealed that she met Miranda while working in the dress department at Bloomingdales. Even my curly-haired, sharp-tongued idol wasn't always getting $4.50 a word to say her piece.

So as cliché as it might be, I project myself onto Carrie and see a lot of the shoe gal in myself. I've taken comfort in the fact that as fabulous as Carrie Bradshaw might be, I've only known her character in her 30s and beyond. So basically, that whole vague time period before she was quite so sure of herself and writing her own column and landing book deals, she very well may have lived a life not unlike my own. And I think a lot of people feel this way and see themselves in Carrie and her past, which is why her character is so universally appealing.

In an interview with the LA Times blog 24 Frames, Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress who has brought Carrie to life since 1998, says there's definitely "a third story to tell," but "maybe not now. Maybe in five years."

While the actress claims the desire to wait comes from her need to be challenged in her work, I have to wonder if a part of it comes from the not-so-fabulous reception of 'SATC 2' at the box office. The franchise has always been for the fans, not the critics, but many ardent 'SATC' lovers, myself included, were less than thrilled with the second film.

I've rejoiced in seeing Carrie's writing bring her success financially and personally, and I was ecstatic when things finally seemed to be working out with Big. As time goes on and Carrie continues to mature, so should her lifestyle. But with an Abu Dhabi backdrop and so much emphasis on the over-the-top posh setting, the sparkling personalities and dynamic of the four girls was somehow lost in the glitz. 'SATC' has always walked a fine line of believability, but the extravagant, $20,000 a night suites in the Middle East seemed to push 'SATC 2' far beyond anything resembling relatable.

Parker admits that when she first heard about a 'SATC' prequel -- with Blake Lively playing a 19-year-old Carrie -- she "was like, Wha-a-a-at?" The actress says she's not opposed to a "Sex and the City-type story" with 20-somethings, but she doesn't feel like it should feature specific 'SATC' characters whose backgrounds have already been explained to a degree in the TV series and the movies.

"There are a lot of important and interesting stories that 21-year-olds can tell," she says. "I don't begrudge any 21-year-old the opportunity to tell their stories ... But I don't think we can pretend to go back. It's creating two histories. It's like, 'Oh I didn't know that about Carrie Bradshaw.'"

She's right. I know Carrie Bradshaw, and her past is some combination of what Sarah Jessica Parker has relayed to me through her character up until now and what I project onto her struggling early days in the city. I love Carrie because she wasn't 25 and running her own business like so many other fictional New Yorkers. She had some nitty-gritty groundwork to do to establish herself in her love life and career, and however great Blake Lively might be, no one other than SJP can do justice to this iconic character.

And let's be honest, to make Carrie's early days in the city fit for the silver screen, the struggling writer and not-so-polished fashionista is going to have to be written way too glamorously. The real Carrie is right. There's room for 'Sex' in the future -- albeit, a little more down-to-earth -- but we can't go back in time with a different Carrie Bradshaw. After all, replacing Carrie with a 20-something, naive girl is the exact antithesis of everything 'SATC' stands for. Don't make me have to start referring to Blake Lively as "the idiot stick figure with no soul."

Comments

(52)

Sunday 20 February

By KS.

Vote down Vote up Report this

OMG...it is just entainterment! Nothing more......

By spr686

If, in the Future, all the women look like her, I don't think there will be too much Sex going on. How can someone as ghastly as her be in the entertainment business.

By Shnitzengarfer

I think we've already established the fact that she is hideous. What we need to know is, how does someone as hideous as her make it to where she is. Did Hollywood need a hideous person to fill the vacant spot?

By Bobby Dee

Well, she does have a slammin' body. That and a willingness to swallow is all it really takes for a woman in Hollywood to make it.

By Angiebaby

I think there's room for SATC in the future. But it's time the screenplay writers developed depth for the characters, transforming them into real women who happen to be sexy, smart, quirky funny and still fashionistas... that have grown up. And yes, I know the ages of the actresses who play the women, but growing up is not determined by an age. Growing up occurs over time and has to do with wisdom, personal inward growth and no longer living in our romanticized version of the world, but surviving successfully and gracefully in the real world. I also know it would take SOME team of writers to pull this off. but if they could, the SATC gals would be on the big screen again with another hit movie.

By sjpfan

Lots of haters on here. Move forward with the show or leave it alone. No need to go back to make it a show about 20 year olds. Hasn't that been done enough with enough lousy actresses?

Monday 21 February

By yayabeanes

Look, if you want to make it where ever you live, you shouldn't have to base it on some bimbo TV/movie character that does not exist. You make yourself. You do not live for and act like someone that does not even exist. It's your life and not someone's else's ideal of what a woman should be now that was simply created via a TV show/movie that you've bought into. Find yourself and be yourself.

By Yayabeanes

By ANGELO

HOW DID THIS WOMAN GET SO POPULAR , SO MANY NICER LOOKING FEMALES OUT THERE AND THEY ALSO PUT HER ON COVER GIRL ,

By ANG

SOME PEOPLE FIND HER ATTRACTIVE , THATS WHY PEARL VISION CENTERS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE

By Jan

The reason (and I hope they realized this by now) that SATC2 didn't work is because they forgot the CITY part! New York was always a huge part of the show; it was the 5th character (4 girls plus NY) and without NY, it just doesn't work. I'm not a New Yorker (although I did once live there for 2 years and loved it!), but whoever wrote the garbage that was SATC2 should be ashamed for forgetting what this show was about: friendship, love and life IN NEW YORK! of course it's not real; it's TV and the movies and fantasy. this was not a show about real. so...get real people! (smiles...) i hope they do do a SATC3, and that they remember what made the show such a big hit (and even the first movie, which really carried on the theme...).

By Ana

I so agree....NYC was the 5th element left out of SATC2. I did watch it, on a plane flying to Paris. It wasn't great, but I still enjoyed it. I hope the next one....and I hope there is a next one.....features NYC and all its fabulousness!!! Ana from the Bronx

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