Watched Sex and the City for the first time in a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte did marry a hot rich WASP. The man was impotent.

Clearly you missed some episodes.

Yes, at like age 35 to some gelded momma's boy Trey? That whore story arc was cringe, obviously motivated by writers set out to humiliate and settle scores WASP elites they were jealous of. How many episodes did that carry on for from beginning to end? Point is Charlotte wouldn't be on the dating market past mid 20s, she would have been long married to a boy she knew from prep school or college and had a few kids by the time the show began when the characters were in their early 30s (Sam was 40). The drop dead gorgeous blue blood can't find a husband until she's 35, then IVF issues, then WASP is a dud ... here's comes an ugly bald Jewish lawyer to save her.

This is 100% true. There was also a lot of score settling from the ugly girl nerd writers who had Charlotte, who would, everyone knows, have had her pick of the best/top men and ended up with the best guy, ending up with that ugly fat loser guy. And meanwhile Miranda, who no straight man would really want to date, ended up dating hot Blaire Underwood and slutty Samantha got Smith Jerrod. The whole thing was laughable "let's make a story where the prettiest girl gets humiliated story" and it was childish

No way! Charlotte’s second husband was the best. She got a keeper.

+1 Charlotte married up and by the end she knew it. Her character probably had the best growth.

Whoa PPs reaallllllly jumped the shark with all this odd Wasp revenge fan fic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, as a 20-something, I didn't understand how much the having kids things -- when, with home, how many -- would become, for better and for worse, a great strain and great sorter of my female relationships by 35-40, and this is not realistically demonstrated in the show at all. I think a lot of us who watched the show at 20, and didn't think much about the characters being 40, are now 40 ourselves, and realize the show is about 40 yr olds acting like they're 20. That's yikes for me.

The last sentence is 100% true. It seemed sort of fascinating when we were 23 - now that we're the age they are supposed to be (around 40?), they just seem pathetic.

This.

I remember the episode where Carrie goes to a woman’s home with a baby and she has to take off her beloved Manolos. They get taken and she makes the mom pay her $500 for them. The moral of the episode is, “some women have families, and some of us have shoes.”

See this is the part of the show I hated so much. It made women into caricatures because god forbid we show women who have babies and designer shoes. If someone stole some shit from a guest at my small home gathering (there were like 12 people there) it would be a shit hit the fan situation that I would 100% pay for and then go apeshit on the culprit, who would obviously be easy to figure out!

No some women don't have shoes and some have babies. Many many women have both, even more women in our world have neither. I'm all for fluffy escapism but then don't drop platitudes like this as wisdom at the end, because its a disservice. I don't think a single woman at 40 is trying to be 20. Every single woman I know at 40 does eat out at great restaurants and travels all the time to fabulous places because you are supposed to live your life and make yourself happy with what you have, no wait until a life that may not materialize comes along because that's what you are "supposed to do". I don't want to see a 40 year old (I am 40 BTW) sitting around lamenting their life because the kids/spouse thing hasn't worked for them yet. Yes you get to be sad about it if it makes you sad but you don't punish yourself- you go live and that's not trying to be 20, its being content where you are with what you have. Its a privilege to have the resources to do so even !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte did marry a hot rich WASP. The man was impotent.

Clearly you missed some episodes.

Yes, at like age 35 to some gelded momma's boy Trey? That whore story arc was cringe, obviously motivated by writers set out to humiliate and settle scores WASP elites they were jealous of. How many episodes did that carry on for from beginning to end? Point is Charlotte wouldn't be on the dating market past mid 20s, she would have been long married to a boy she knew from prep school or college and had a few kids by the time the show began when the characters were in their early 30s (Sam was 40). The drop dead gorgeous blue blood can't find a husband until she's 35, then IVF issues, then WASP is a dud ... here's comes an ugly bald Jewish lawyer to save her.

This is 100% true. There was also a lot of score settling from the ugly girl nerd writers who had Charlotte, who would, everyone knows, have had her pick of the best/top men and ended up with the best guy, ending up with that ugly fat loser guy. And meanwhile Miranda, who no straight man would really want to date, ended up dating hot Blaire Underwood and slutty Samantha got Smith Jerrod. The whole thing was laughable "let's make a story where the prettiest girl gets humiliated story" and it was childish

No way! Charlotte’s second husband was the best. She got a keeper.

+1 Charlotte married up and by the end she knew it. Her character probably had the best growth.

Whoa PPs reaallllllly jumped the shark with all this odd Wasp revenge fan fic.

Agreed its so creepy and cringey. Join us in 2020, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, as a 20-something, I didn't understand how much the having kids things -- when, with home, how many -- would become, for better and for worse, a great strain and great sorter of my female relationships by 35-40, and this is not realistically demonstrated in the show at all. I think a lot of us who watched the show at 20, and didn't think much about the characters being 40, are now 40 ourselves, and realize the show is about 40 yr olds acting like they're 20. That's yikes for me.

The last sentence is 100% true. It seemed sort of fascinating when we were 23 - now that we're the age they are supposed to be (around 40?), they just seem pathetic.

This.

I remember the episode where Carrie goes to a woman’s home with a baby and she has to take off her beloved Manolos. They get taken and she makes the mom pay her $500 for them. The moral of the episode is, “some women have families, and some of us have shoes.”

See this is the part of the show I hated so much. It made women into caricatures because god forbid we show women who have babies and designer shoes. If someone stole some shit from a guest at my small home gathering (there were like 12 people there) it would be a shit hit the fan situation that I would 100% pay for and then go apeshit on the culprit, who would obviously be easy to figure out!

No some women don't have shoes and some have babies. Many many women have both, even more women in our world have neither. I'm all for fluffy escapism but then don't drop platitudes like this as wisdom at the end, because its a disservice. I don't think a single woman at 40 is trying to be 20. Every single woman I know at 40 does eat out at great restaurants and travels all the time to fabulous places because you are supposed to live your life and make yourself happy with what you have, no wait until a life that may not materialize comes along because that's what you are "supposed to do". I don't want to see a 40 year old (I am 40 BTW) sitting around lamenting their life because the kids/spouse thing hasn't worked for them yet. Yes you get to be sad about it if it makes you sad but you don't punish yourself- you go live and that's not trying to be 20, its being content where you are with what you have. Its a privilege to have the resources to do so even !

This episode was horrifying. From having to take her shoes off to the flippant "maybe Jennifer took them by mistake she was wearing sandals" (yes I've watched too many times) to her making the stupid "I'm registered to get married to myself" phone call. I thought it made the women on both sides just look like assholes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4am insomniac - enjoying reading all of your thoughts. The movies were a disappointment. For me, SATC was my escape. It was easy. I still turn on the E channel marathons. It's familiar and calming. I don't overanalyze it. I live in NY and at the time, the show mirrored my life. I wasn't like one of them, but a little like all of them. Marriage wasn't appealing and I repelled the thought. Sex was incredible, albeit fewer partners (Samantha), 60+ hour work weeks plus travel (Miranda), link that connected our circle of friends (Carrie), a few values/expectations and style (Charlotte). There was that one simple dress in different colors that Carrie wore often. It's the one she's wearing on the bus ad in the intro. Loved it and had it tailor made. Ruined it playing basketball after a wedding. Dined and played at many of the same restaurants and bars. The show was relatable to me, my friends and lots of NYC women at the time. 

Here's the fun part. Remember the Richard/Samantha scene on the pool deck? They were wearing white hotel robes and Richard forced Sam to confront her fear of love and connection. It was filmed at Sky Studio near NYU on W. 4th. We had our wedding reception there, a few weeks after the scenes were filmed. In fact, the chef and event planner were there at the time. Kim C (Sam) was not happy and ordered everyone out, since it was a nude scene. Understandable.    

The not so fun part--The Twin Towers were the back drop for the pool deck scene. I have so many pictures on that deck with the towers in the background. Six weeks after our reception, the towers were gone. My friend (videographer) and many of us were grief stricken. I was in Boston on 9/11. My family and friends were frantic since I shuttled back and forth every week. My husband still lived in Boston and his family and friends were frantic. He was headed to SF, on Wednesday 9/13, same flight# Boston-SF.

Months later we received the video. The final frame was a long night shot of the towers and fade to black with a heart wrenching, but touching sentiment. We watch it with our son sometimes, but never on the anniversary of 9/11.

Thank you! Like you I was single in NYC at the time (late 20s) and my friends and me could relate a little to all of the women. They always said The City was the 5th character. We were at the restaurants, the Hamptons, clubs etc. It was great that they actually filmed at these locations. Watching I have my own memories of a lot of them. ( Sushi Samba, Denial, Bed, The Oak Room, even Down The Hatch)Unfortunately after 9/11 everything changed. Our mindsets were different and the show had to change. Single people really wanted to be partnered up. There was a desperation to all of them, but thats really what was happening.

I was not a NY-er but I got into a lot of those places too, thanks to a connected friend. It was fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, as a 20-something, I didn't understand how much the having kids things -- when, with home, how many -- would become, for better and for worse, a great strain and great sorter of my female relationships by 35-40, and this is not realistically demonstrated in the show at all. I think a lot of us who watched the show at 20, and didn't think much about the characters being 40, are now 40 ourselves, and realize the show is about 40 yr olds acting like they're 20. That's yikes for me.

The last sentence is 100% true. It seemed sort of fascinating when we were 23 - now that we're the age they are supposed to be (around 40?), they just seem pathetic.

This.

I remember the episode where Carrie goes to a woman’s home with a baby and she has to take off her beloved Manolos. They get taken and she makes the mom pay her $500 for them. The moral of the episode is, “some women have families, and some of us have shoes.”

See this is the part of the show I hated so much. It made women into caricatures because god forbid we show women who have babies and designer shoes. If someone stole some shit from a guest at my small home gathering (there were like 12 people there) it would be a shit hit the fan situation that I would 100% pay for and then go apeshit on the culprit, who would obviously be easy to figure out!

No some women don't have shoes and some have babies. Many many women have both, even more women in our world have neither. I'm all for fluffy escapism but then don't drop platitudes like this as wisdom at the end, because its a disservice. I don't think a single woman at 40 is trying to be 20. Every single woman I know at 40 does eat out at great restaurants and travels all the time to fabulous places because you are supposed to live your life and make yourself happy with what you have, no wait until a life that may not materialize comes along because that's what you are "supposed to do". I don't want to see a 40 year old (I am 40 BTW) sitting around lamenting their life because the kids/spouse thing hasn't worked for them yet. Yes you get to be sad about it if it makes you sad but you don't punish yourself- you go live and that's not trying to be 20, its being content where you are with what you have. Its a privilege to have the resources to do so even !

This episode was horrifying. From having to take her shoes off to the flippant "maybe Jennifer took them by mistake she was wearing sandals" (yes I've watched too many times) to her making the stupid "I'm registered to get married to myself" phone call. I thought it made the women on both sides just look like assholes.

I have this friend and believe me, it is not attractive. I know I don't want to hear it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte did marry a hot rich WASP. The man was impotent.

Clearly you missed some episodes.

Yes, at like age 35 to some gelded momma's boy Trey? That whore story arc was cringe, obviously motivated by writers set out to humiliate and settle scores WASP elites they were jealous of. How many episodes did that carry on for from beginning to end? Point is Charlotte wouldn't be on the dating market past mid 20s, she would have been long married to a boy she knew from prep school or college and had a few kids by the time the show began when the characters were in their early 30s (Sam was 40). The drop dead gorgeous blue blood can't find a husband until she's 35, then IVF issues, then WASP is a dud ... here's comes an ugly bald Jewish lawyer to save her.

This is 100% true. There was also a lot of score settling from the ugly girl nerd writers who had Charlotte, who would, everyone knows, have had her pick of the best/top men and ended up with the best guy, ending up with that ugly fat loser guy. And meanwhile Miranda, who no straight man would really want to date, ended up dating hot Blaire Underwood and slutty Samantha got Smith Jerrod. The whole thing was laughable "let's make a story where the prettiest girl gets humiliated story" and it was childish

No way! Charlotte’s second husband was the best. She got a keeper.

+1 Charlotte married up and by the end she knew it. Her character probably had the best growth.

Whoa PPs reaallllllly jumped the shark with all this odd Wasp revenge fan fic.

It's a red pill incel. Ignore.

[Anonymous]

It hooked into something that was needed at the time—that is no longer needed. I can’t watch it, and I loved it then.

[Anonymous]

I always thought they were way too old for the parts they were laying. Like verging on desperate. I like the Charlotte story line because it it somewhat realistic. Some of those perfect WASP men are so entangled in their families there is no room for you as a wife! I liked that part. Realistic.
Breaking ground: it’s hard to remember how straight TV was back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm now 48 and so was definitely the target demographic for this show in SITC was at its prime.

I didn't watch it in my 20's because I find it kind of depressing -- these women going from one failed relationship and hook-up to another. I had kind of tried that myself at one point, and just didn't like it. So watching the show was not entertaining for me.

I kind of agree -- they never seemed that liberated, in the sense that they had a lot of sex, but it never seemed to make them happy. Their relationships were usually a mess, they seemed to define themselves by their connection to a man, and they had a lot of "stuff" but never really seemed to enjoy it.

Yeah I think this is a lot of it. They act all fancy free about being independent but then all they do is obsess over men. Also agree that watching Samantha is so cringey - she doesn't come off as sexually free but actually super desperate and gross. Charlotte and Miranda are both just caricatures (innocent wannabe Ralph Lauren housewife; bitchy corporate lawyer with a soft side). I may be in the minority but I actually find Carrie less annoying than the others - at least I can relate to some of her sentiments.

Carrie was annoying, but she was also the most realistic and “three dimensional.” The others were pretty flat caricatures.

I also thought it was unrealistic how none of them except Charlotte wanted to get married and/or have kids. I know Miranda and Charlotte both ended up married with kids but, in my experience, when you get to your early 30s women’s desire to settle down is a huge aspect of dating. It seemed very unrealistic that only Charlotte was concerned about it - and even then it was like her whole character so that wasn’t realistic either.

I don't. And I say that as a late 40's woman that always wanted to get married and have kids. I think a lot of women are making this choice more and more. I am on Twitter and there is a whole SATC-like crew in NYC. Although some of them are partnered.

Miranda's reasons for being averse to settling down were totally apparent at her mother's funeral. And in the end she did marry and have a child, and even moved out of Manhattan. I don't think we ever really got Carrie's backstory so it's hard to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would absolutely agree it has aged horribly but I would love to hear from others WHY -- why did it age so horribly?

My thoughts include
- Gay male stereotypes, cringe
- Lack of BIPOC, wince
- Obsession with affluence in a very pre-2001 way
- The obsession with men, dating, sexual experiences, etc is just embarrassing.

I can’t put my finger on it but there are a lot of things that make the series really dated. I’m 35 so I watched some of the middle and later of the series on DVD in 2002-ish, and then watched the TBS edit when I was in college. Even in 2004 or 2005 or whenever that was, the early episodes from the late 90s were very dated.

+1
I can't put my finger on it either, but it is dated and, to me, I think it is b/c it use to relatable or at least something I could see myself/my friends doing the same thing or living vicariously through the some of the characters and their traits.

Maybe b/c now I'm older, established, have a family, no longer "looking", content, etc. the series just seems so meh. Almost foolish.

I think it's also showing the city as a playground for the rich that has not aged well. That was presented as desirable in the show, but now -- as people leave cities due to high costs -- it has become a negative. Cities are rich people places became gross and depressing.

I think there's been a backlash to high heels.

Also, as a 20-something, I didn't understand how much the having kids things -- when, with home, how many -- would become, for better and for worse, a great strain and great sorter of my female relationships by 35-40, and this is not realistically demonstrated in the show at all. I think a lot of us who watched the show at 20, and didn't think much about the characters being 40, are now 40 ourselves, and realize the show is about 40 yr olds acting like they're 20. That's yikes for me.

An element you’re not mentioning is that this is very much an NYC phenomenon. Tons of my friends in NYC are married to their career and are childless/single by choice. It happens with a lot more frequency in NYC than any other major metro area in the US. They are all now in their late 30s to late 40s, having spent 20 years in the City.

The show was written by snarky gay Jewish men who wanted to glamorize hedonism. It doesn't age well because we all know women still dating and having casual sex in their 30s isn't anything to aspire to, they're all disgusting and sad trainwrecks who viscerally repel high-status men. The only accurate storyline was the desperate lawyer getting knocked up by the loser bartender. That's the real outcome of careerism and whoring around into your 30s: Clock-ticking desperate women with a lot of mental baggage settling with losers. And in real life "Charlotte" would have had kids and been married to a hot rich WASP who played lacrosse at an Ivy League college long before the show began.

The red pill incel has arrived.

Seriously. With a dose of anti-semitism!

Do these people google certain topics or how do they find their way here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4am insomniac - enjoying reading all of your thoughts. The movies were a disappointment. For me, SATC was my escape. It was easy. I still turn on the E channel marathons. It's familiar and calming. I don't overanalyze it. I live in NY and at the time, the show mirrored my life. I wasn't like one of them, but a little like all of them. Marriage wasn't appealing and I repelled the thought. Sex was incredible, albeit fewer partners (Samantha), 60+ hour work weeks plus travel (Miranda), link that connected our circle of friends (Carrie), a few values/expectations and style (Charlotte). There was that one simple dress in different colors that Carrie wore often. It's the one she's wearing on the bus ad in the intro. Loved it and had it tailor made. Ruined it playing basketball after a wedding. Dined and played at many of the same restaurants and bars. The show was relatable to me, my friends and lots of NYC women at the time. 

Here's the fun part. Remember the Richard/Samantha scene on the pool deck? They were wearing white hotel robes and Richard forced Sam to confront her fear of love and connection. It was filmed at Sky Studio near NYU on W. 4th. We had our wedding reception there, a few weeks after the scenes were filmed. In fact, the chef and event planner were there at the time. Kim C (Sam) was not happy and ordered everyone out, since it was a nude scene. Understandable.    

The not so fun part--The Twin Towers were the back drop for the pool deck scene. I have so many pictures on that deck with the towers in the background. Six weeks after our reception, the towers were gone. My friend (videographer) and many of us were grief stricken. I was in Boston on 9/11. My family and friends were frantic since I shuttled back and forth every week. My husband still lived in Boston and his family and friends were frantic. He was headed to SF, on Wednesday 9/13, same flight# Boston-SF.

Months later we received the video. The final frame was a long night shot of the towers and fade to black with a heart wrenching, but touching sentiment. We watch it with our son sometimes, but never on the anniversary of 9/11.

Wow. Thanks for sharing. I am happy for you that your wedding was before the towers fell. My husband had a friend whose wedding was 9/15 in Boston and they had lost people. Our wedding was 9/22 in Texas (my husband is from NY - three siblings worked in NYC at the time). My SIL didn't want to fly, but my BIL convinced her one way or another. We did have DC friends that saw the Pentagon crash and they did not make it.

[Anonymous]

^^They didn't make it to the wedding. They were not 9/11 victims! Sorry, that sounded so bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This episode was horrifying. From having to take her shoes off to the flippant "maybe Jennifer took them by mistake she was wearing sandals" (yes I've watched too many times) to her making the stupid "I'm registered to get married to myself" phone call. I thought it made the women on both sides just look like assholes.

Horrifying? How could it be horrifying when the guest star was Tatum Freaking O'Neal?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This episode was horrifying. From having to take her shoes off to the flippant "maybe Jennifer took them by mistake she was wearing sandals" (yes I've watched too many times) to her making the stupid "I'm registered to get married to myself" phone call. I thought it made the women on both sides just look like assholes.

Horrifying? How could it be horrifying when the guest star was Tatum Freaking O'Neal?!

Because she played a smug, vapid idiot. The faces she makes about taking off the shoes and saying she bought expensive shoes "before she had a real life" were just awful!