Sex and the City

The serie is undoubtedly a classic series with a compelling storyline. When I first watched it around the age of 23, I was captivated by its charm and found it thoroughly enjoyable. The show offered a unique blend of humor, romance, and friendship that was hard to resist.

However, revisiting the series at 38 has given me a different perspective, particularly regarding the character of Carrie Bradshaw. What once seemed like quirky and endearing behavior now comes across as selfish and irritating. Carrie's self-centered actions and disregard for the feelings of others have become more glaring, diminishing some of the magic the show once held for me.

Despite this, "Sex and the City" remains a cultural touchstone, and its influence on television and fashion is undeniable. It's a testament to the series' quality that it can provoke such strong reactions and reflections over time.

I would never have imagined that Sex and the City would cause such a negative reaction. It is particularly surprising that anyone from London would dare be self-righteous enough as to spew a lengthy harangue of moral rights and wrongs. Since when is London high on morality? The show is something to be taken with a grain of salt. For those that think that it send the wrong message about sex, it's not an after school special and there is no reason to remind a thirty-something year old to practice safe sex. The show is on HBO late at night for a reason. I do not understand the point of watching the show if one does not like it. It's the TV show executives and cast that end up laughing all the way to the bank - while those sitting on their couches, complaining, are simultaneously boosting the shows ratings. Why bother contributing awareness and popularity to something that one so avidly disagrees with?

I am only a recent viewer of the show, now running on TBS - so I get the watered-down version, which is still quite enjoyable. I somewhat relate to both the women and the situations presented. I appreciate the fact that the show touches on some major issues of singles in the dating world while, at the same time, not having an overly dramatic or depressing tone. It's fun and light hearted - it celebrates the shallowness in each one of us while also recognizing the basic faults that make us human. In a sense it is hyperbole, but what good TV show isn't? Everything in the world does not have to be serious - in reality no one is politically correct all of the time. The show should not be viewed as representative of men, women, and New York - this is not the way the show is meant to be observed. Take as a spoof on dating life for singles in New York - and on men and women's idiosyncrasies - but by no means take it as reality. It's not - It's just a TV show. If you want reality then get your hiney off the couch and go live your life and stop complaining about how trivial and unrealistic TV shows are!!!!

I first caught SATC in the late nineties, and thought it was great. At the time the show really captured a certain nineties sensibility - it was cynical, tongue-in-cheek, adult. Though not your average SATC fan - heterosexual, thirty-something male working in IT - I became obsessed, and was sure to see each new episode the first time it aired. However, over time I became disillusioned with the series.

First, I eventually read the book. Despite the author's reluctance to say anything, the show never was much like the book, and has - over the years - strayed far far away. The book is, like most of Candace Bushnell's work, insightful and witty, with its humor derived from a certain urbane severity; it shares more with the works of Carrie Fischer and Tama Janowitz than any of the stuff now labeled Chick Lit.

Bushnell's characters may fall in love, even marry. They may have Manolos and Birkin bags, but this is all background noise of sorts. Bushnell is an under-rated pop-anthropologist, depicting the tribes that inhabit the big city. We may no longer be hunting our food, or struggling to keep the fire going, but it is still all about survival. Bushnell is great at depicting the primal hunger that, while it once made man fight to the death over territory or a fresh kill, now makes women deck themselves out in top gear and hunt down that Banker or Fortune 500 Executive, or fight tooth-and-nail to break through the glass ceiling.

Second, somewhere midlife, SATC, the show, got lost. All that incidental stuff - the shoes and bags, and places-to-be-seen - moved from the background to the foreground. The show became one long glossy luxury goods advertisement, the kind found in Vanity Fair. The movie underlines this - while there are great story lines, etc, the theatrical release is one obscene orgy of consumerism and decadence.

Too bad. The last years of SATC is an insult to both the book and the early years of the show. It is certainly an insult to the public, but - considering SATC was most popular in its later years - maybe the insult is much deserved.

Now, admittedly, this show may appeal to a slightly more female audience, but I think men may appreciate ..well, the sex...(uncensored versions can be a bit graphic with nudity) and the comedic aspect of the show. The writing is truly phenomenal, with some of the funniest lines I've ever heard.

For me, this show is so great because it hits just about every dating/relationship issue I've ever had right on the head. If I'm going through a difficult breakup, I watch an episode, and realize that I'm not alone.

The show is hilarious in its sometimes shockingly straightforward discussions on dating and sex. It also touchingly portrays the friendship between four loyal friends: Carrie- the main character, a writer for a dating column who can never seem to find the right guy; Miranda- the self-assured lawyer; sexually liberated Samantha, and the hopeless romantic, Charlotte. You will come to love these women like your own best friends. No one series has ever made me laugh and cry so much.

I am a 23 year old single woman living in Manhattan and I love and relate to this show. All though I am younger and poorer than these women, and I don't get nearly as many men as they do (not to mention the fact that I'm Black!), I think this show has alot of insightful and funny things to say about being a woman in New York.

And to address the sex issue...I am so tired of the Madonna/Whore complex everyone in the country seems to be up to their eyeballs in. Get over it! Women like sex, they have sex, and they have sex with men they don't like. So what? And so what if they continue to look for Mr. Right even when they're with Mr. Right Now. What person man or woman hasn't consistently done something, seemingly at cross-purposes with their intended goal in the name of love, lust, or companionship? Stop with the tired double standards (that includes HBO's ban on full frontal male nudity on the show!)

Let's address the real issue: We all wish we were getting it as much as Samantha--even it's from just ONE person!!!