It’s not Shakespeare, but that’s not the show I watched. The show I watched was about loneliness in the middle of 9 million people and the confusing, conflicting search for love and the place for friendship as your stabilizing relationship.
It’s not the deepest thing I ever saw, but it’s not that shallow (overall) either.
But they didn’t actually live. They just sort of… existed.
I mean, could you imagine them going to a concert because they like the band? Going to a restaurant because they like the food? Going to a gallery because they like art? Of course not. They’d go to those places, sure, but only because of the “scene”. Even their love of fashion is merely love of fashion* on them*, meaning fashion that makes them more attractive. That’s because the only thing they’re interested in is themselves.
I’m not saying that this isn’t a realistic portrayal of a certain sort of mindset. It is. These people exist. And we hate them.
True, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t moments when you didn’t identify with specific things that happened to them. We’ve all loved someone we shouldn’t have, treated someone badly who didn’t deserve it, follow a trend just because it was trendy, felt too young to feel so old, etc.
Again, it was voyeuristic fluff, (especially fun when you could feel better then them), but it wasn’t so far removed from aspects of life to be science fiction. Especially for a science geeky girl whose life was nothing like that on the surface, it was fun to sometimes see yourself.
I agree. The first couple of seasons the show was about characters. Sometimes you rooted for them, sometimes you rooted against them. And sometimes I rooted for them while my wife rooted against them (and vice versa), and that’s what made the show good.
Eventually it turned into what all shows turn into, which is, “Let’s make up some shit that involves these characters and drag them through it.” The show stopped being motivated by the characters and instead became focused on a happy ending that they never quite got to until the first movie, which was an awful example of underestimating your audience and giving them crap that you think they want (Everyone is happy, see? Yay! Sequel!) Samantha is the best example of this, since the show wasn’t content to let her live her life. She had to settle down, but the woman who settled down in the last season isn’t the same character as Samantha from season 1. They had to kill that character and replace her with generic female sitcom lead #7.
The series was fun, and Miranda was very attractive. Well I think so.
The first movie was just OK.
The second movie sucked wookie.
That’s what I think. Except that Charlotte was the one I liked.
To be clear, of course the women led ridiculous lives, unlike any real people. The fun (and remember, it was a comedy) was seeing what happened when they got into those ridiculous situations.
The Straight Dope: fighting the idea that smart people aren’t misogynistic since 1973.
Amen.
While I didn’t watch the show when it originally aired, I did watch it a few years ago from start to finish, then watched the two movies. I agree fully that the movies don’t hold up to the TV show, by the way.
Anyway, one thing I think a lot of casual observers miss is: you aren’t supposed to like Carrie. Carrie is selfish, materialistic, impulsive, shallow, and just every bad female stereotype there is out there. Every body has that one crazy ass friend-- you know the one who doesn’t listen to anybody’s advise, makes bad decisions, then gets drunk and sobs that she’ll be forever alone. That’s Carrie. Sure, there’s this initial fabulousness about her, but once you get to know her, you know she’s a very empty person-- no amount of fancy shoes can cover up that fact.
Throughout the series, the other three girls acknowledge their issues and then evolve from them. Every single one of the “side players” was completely different in a realistic, mature way than when the show started. Not Carrie. She stayed exactly the same (including her hissy fit in Movie 1, when she beat the hell out of Big in the street with her wedding flowers because he dared to have second thoughts for a split second. She’s crazy pants).
If there’s one time that sticks out to me for exemplifying how much you aren’t supposed to like Carrie, it’s when it came time for her to buy her own apartment. Aiden bought it-- and the apartment next door-- so they could live there together. When they broke things off (because she was obsessed with her ex and would vomit when she realized she was engaged to Aiden. . .not unlike crazy people do), she was left with either having to move or buy her apartment from Aiden. Carrie’s credit was awful because she’s irresponsible as fuck (unlike her 3 friends, she learns). So, what does she do? She gets the money from Mr. Big, but then refuses to use it. Instead, she guilts and bullies Charlotte into giving Carrie her wedding ring from her recently ended marriage. The down payment on the mortgage was something like $40,000 and she threw a tizzy fit until her friend gave it to her because Carrie felt she was entitled to that ring.
THAT’S the kind of person Carrie is. You aren’t supposed to like her- you’re supposed to be horrified by how awful she is compared to her seemingly shallow friends (who end up not being shallow at all).
Am I misremembering? I thought right at the end, or in the first movie, Miranda was living with Smith Jared, but finally said to him “I love you, but I love me more.” That seemed very consistent to me, and actually kind of gutsy to deliver to an audience that is used to happily-ever-after romances.
I have to confess that I’ve often quoted Miranda on her philosophy of breakups (which matches mine): “Gee, I’m sorry it didn’t work out - now you need to cease to exist.”
Samantha was living with Smith Jared, not Miranda. And I agree with you completely that it was a totally unique spin on the traditional happily ever after story we’re used to.
The movie had Miranda being cheated on by Steve, which I actually found somewhat hard to believe. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t buy that Steve was that kind of dude. That said, their scene meeting each other in the middle of the bridge had a fantastic build up and was incredibly touching. I cried, not going to lie.
It’s escapist “time porn” like Friends. People who don’t have the time and resources to continually meet three friends for lunch, clubbing, etc. It’s hard to find the time for a 1:1 thing, and these types of shows offer up a facsimile in convenient 30 minute packages - soaked in the decadence of cocktails and garish fashions.
:smack: This is what happens when you post after drinking! Of course I meant Samantha.
Were you drinking a cosmo? 
I’ve been saying this for years. Each of the other characters found happiness when they went against type and found someone they could have a real relationship with:
Charlotte stopped being the immature waspy princess (after marrying that limped-dicked loser) and ended up with the homely bald Jewish lawyer.
Miranda stopped being a type-A corporate Harvard Law bitch and went for Steve the working class bartender.
Samantha allowed herself to fall for Smith Jared.
Carrie is the only one who never changed. For her, it was always about getting with Mr Big, the rich, perpetually divorced, emotionally unavailable douche, regardless of who she hurt (ie Aiden, Berger, Natasha, etc).
I do feel like the characters were a bit more sympathetic, or at least believeable in the first couple of seasons (when they are like 29 or 30ish). Then they felt more like typical struggling NYC professional women. But, like Entourage, each season the had to jack up the fabulous factor until it became totally over the top.
Having lived in NYC from 2001, I pretty much love any sitcom or film about people living there. There’s just something about living in tiny expensive appartments, not having a car and constantly hanging out in bars and coffee shops at all hours of the day and night that people who live in the suburbs just can’t understand.
I haven’t gotten into that Girls show on HBO yet.
In other words, they went against their own type and did a 180 for the exact opposite type. My, what sophisticated storytelling.
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I don’t think anyone was expecting Shakespeare.
While I’m sure your television choices involve only the most robust and complex story lines with incredibly advanced character development, some of us enjoy things that you don’t. Heck, some people even enjoy shows that are less than cerebral just because television in itself can be a relaxing, escapist sort of thing. I know, it’s crazy, but it’s true.
OK, enjoy TV where every Jew is male and bald as a cueball and every stay-at-home dad has a cartoon voice like his nuts haven’t dropped. Because that is what it takes.