Sex and the City 1998

It's an entertaining show.

I enjoyed watching this motley crew of lively, exciting, funny, witty, energetic women. Carrie is adorable (and very annoying, erratic and less-liekable as the show progresses) They present the nicest fashion. Even 20 years later most of the pieces are still nice to look at. Especially the shoes. This show is also about New York. It's like a Woody Allen movie. A homage to NYC. An iconic mix. Sometimes the show is romantic, sometimes it's funny. In its best moments, it's like eavesdropping on intimate talks between girlfriends. Especially men can learn a thing or two - if they are able to identify the realistic bits in the conversations and stories.

The passage of time and the possibility of binge-watching in the streaming era wasn't very kind to this show, though. Too many episodes are clearly tailored to weekly TV airings. They feel too inconsequential and isolated. The few over-arching story arcs, especially the Big & Carrie romance, are too weak to hold six seasons neatly together. The actual sex depicted is remarkably bad for a TV show that has "sex" in its title. It's an innocuous family prime time TV show from 25 years back after all. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to watch an adult movie but sometimes I was really angry about the degree of American prudery and the almost comedy-like ersatz sex depicted. It's not real and it's not romantic. Most of these "sexcapades" are not even interesting or educational (or hot). Some sexual topics discussed may have been a revolution in 1998's TV but a lot of time has passed. Another complaint is that these women don't feel real. They live in a white bubble in all-white New Amsterdam. They are detached from regular problems of regular women. No families, no financial problems, no contact to parts of the society with other issues (let alone contact to minority groups - there's perhaps five black people in the show and they - both black men and women - are stereotypes for the most part). I'm still not sure whether the show earned some kudos by incorporating a few gay and lesbian characters (perhaps they were too often overlooked in 1998's mainstream media) or whether they perpetuated stereotypes about gay men. Apart from their romantic lives these women are too often defined by the luxury items they buy. They are a fashion brand's dream. Their excessive consumption feels pretty strange - especially to Europeans. Owning dresses, shoes and bags isn't a goal you should pursue in life. Too easily you're tricked into believing that's a feminist show. Despite the female main protagonists and the female narrator, it really isn't. As I already said, these women don't have real problems most of the time. They also don't talk about their career, their education, their hopes and dreams if not linked to their male partners. You might think that the story is told from a woman's angle but, honestly, some of the plot elements seem like copied from men's sex fantasies and cheap telenovelas (written by men). Ultimately, they are little girls who dream about being chosen by a prince riding a white horse. They think and talk a lot about pleasing men. Most men depicted are rich, older than their partners and as successful business owners. Every man seems to have a career and all the power. I know, Samantha and Miranda both have successful careers but this doesn't matter most of the time. Despite the open sex-talk, it's a very conservative show: all of them want a (preferably loaded) man who treat them as little princesses (yes, even Miranda is looking for this behind her thin veneer of sarcasm). Even Samantha seems to like the idea of longer relationships as the show progresses. And the show makes it pretty clear what's the path to happiness: be attractive to men and don't talk about your needs and hopes and try to marry a rich or decent man otherwise your life will be chaotic (and the show will depict you as a nympho or a spoiled self-centered bxxxx who is to blame when a relationship falls apart. This happens to Carrie in later seasons). Most of the episodes won't pass the Bechdel test. The last (perhaps the two last season) strike a more serious tone. They dial back the silliness. This mitigates some of the problems I described earlier, but still .... I said it before, I'll say it again: if you want to watch a show portraying a city plus a lot of sexcapades, better watch Californication. They even share some actors. Californication is told from a men's angle but I think under its rough veneer it's more romantic and you learn more about relationships than in SATC.