Fur coats, young Trump and Our Lady in a drawer. “Sex and the city” a quarter of a century later

I didn’t catch the “Sex and the City” on TV. The first time I watched it was on the Internet, in high school, about twelve or fifteen years ago. I’ve seen all the old seasons several times since then. I still like this series, it still works, the trials and tribulations of the characters still give me warm feelings. But let’s face it, there are threads that today – contrary to the intentions of the creators – make you want to burst out laughing.

Screen monetization

Okay, let’s get straight to the point. What does Carrie Bradshaw live off of? Carrie Bradshaw, as we remember, lives by writing one column a week. That’s enough for her to live in Manhattan, get new cool clothes, and countless nights out. Holy God, if turn-of-the-century capitalism allowed me to live in New York with so much work, please enroll me in this world. (Of course, he did not allow it. My editorial colleague showed the calculations.)

Carrie’s friends aren’t too bad either. Charlotte runs an art gallery, so every now and then there is a scene at the opening in the series. Samantha is the owner of a PR agency. The main advantage of this business? She can take her friends to the best parties in town, and she also meets a snitch named Richard at work. None of them have a job that takes up too much time or causes stress, and the earnings are enough for everything and more. One Miranda, a lawyer, seems to devote a large part of her life to work. But not sixteen hours a day, for this profession, she has the dolce vita anyway.

I know, no one would want to watch four chicks sitting buried in a job and just calling each other saying “I can’t make it today, let’s postpone it”. But at some point, the adult viewer gets annoyed where they get those Blahniks as soon as they’re out drinking. If you know the realities of New York, such a detachment from reality must be even more irritating. More than 10 years ago, Lena Dunham made “Girls”, a series in which aspiring writer Hannah – Carrie’s equivalent – has an empty wallet, moonlights in a coffee shop and lives with roommates.

Sex in a pretty small town

Dating, romance, relationships, and love in general are, of course, central to the show. Thousands of women sighed in understanding as Carrie chased after the unavailable Big. Like Aidan, like such a nice, sensitive carpenter, he quietly tries to make his partner up in his fashion (quit smoking, don’t party so much, stay with me in the pit and eat KFC). Or how Berger, a struggling writer, is so jealous of Carrie’s success that he finally breaks up with her – in style, with a note that says “I’m sorry, I can’t anymore.” There were good guys (Steve) and bad individuals (Aleksander Petrovsky) in Sex and the City. A separate issue is which rich friends hang out with. Samantha is dating a hotel magnate (the infamous Richard). By chance, Charlotte meets Trey, an American heir who leaves her an apartment on Park Avenue after the divorce. And when in the first episode, Carrie sees Mr. Biga, Samantha describes him like this: “This guy is the new Donald Trump. Only younger and better looking.”

Well, we’re done with this quote from the series that has aged the absolute worst. Now let’s leave this Manhattan high society for a moment and dwell on one of the many gentlemen to whom only a single episode is devoted. Here’s the spooky story: Carrie is dating a bisexual.

The boyfriend (named Sean) naturally casually tells her that he has been in relationships with both men and women. And what about our heroine, a liberated woman from the big city, professionally writing about sex? Well. It’s in a pinch. “I don’t even know if bisexuality really exists. I think it’s just a change on the way to Gejów” (in the original: layover on the way to Gaytown) – these are the thoughts of Carrie in a column inspired by this unusual meeting. He also puts forward an enlightened theory that people should choose once and for all whether they are gay or straight and stick to it. The relationship continues nonetheless, and Sean shows great patience as Carrie pesters him with questions if she kisses better than men. The romance is put to an end, however, by a party at Sean’s friends, where they play spin the bottle. It seems that Carrie is about to kiss a girl, so – in order not to “look like an old aunt” – she does (or rather allows to kiss). And then she quickly runs away because it’s all too modern for her.

Traditionalists

If you look through the lens of 2023, the heroines in general have a fairly traditional approach to life and relationships. The most conservative in the group, Charlotte, has actually been hunting her husband since the beginning of the series. Before her wedding to Trey, already in a white dress, at the church gate, she confesses to Carrie that she did not have time to go to bed with her fiancé at all. On the occasion of marriage, he also immediately quits his job (this surprised me fifteen years ago). In relationships before Trey’s time, he follows the rule of the third date. Only then does she allow sex. And although her friends laugh at it, in turn, Samantha – the most erotically liberated of them all – can and still judge. It’s hard to forget the shock on Carrie’s face when she catches her friend having sex with the package delivery man.

Among Sam’s many love conquests there is also a woman (it’s Pride Month, let’s explore those LGBT themes for a moment). Maria Diego Reyes, an artist probably modeled on Frida Kahlo, discovers whole worlds of new sensations for Samantha. The erotic idyll, however, is short-lived. Maria turns out to be a madwoman who throws plates at Sam in a jealous rage and yells. I’ve seen criticism in the American media that it’s a terribly stereotypical depiction of a Latina.

In general, “Sex and the City” was often returned to remind how different races or nationalities were treated in the script. There are few non-white characters in the series (which, for obvious reasons, draws the attention of American viewers more than Polish viewers), and when there are, their roles can be quite debatable. For example, in the third season, Samantha dates a black music producer. The episode – and romance – ends with a short-circuit with his sister. She first tells Samantha to leave her brother alone, then grabs her by the hair and wants to fight. And here we are: we have a character who fits perfectly into the racist stereotype of an angry black woman. Samantha’s other lover has a Southeast Asian housekeeper who worships her employer like a demigod and treats Sam like a nasty whore. And to make it easier for everyone to understand the accusations of stereotyping characters who are not white Americans, let’s recall Magda. do you remember? She is Miranda’s hostess, Ukrainian according to Wikipedia, although the nationality is probably not mentioned in the series (I was convinced that she was from Poland). Magda – a lover of tradition – throws Miranda’s vibrators out of the nightstand, and instead puts a statue of the Virgin Mary there. And what, we want Slavic women to be shown everywhere?

Blahniki in the stable

Okay, let’s end on a lighter note. Clothes! Costume designer Patricia Field’s designs for the characters have been – and still are – more exciting than romance. Carrie’s “naked dress” for her date with Big in Paris and the “newspaper dress” are obvious examples.

There were also Charlotte armbands, Miranda’s tie, Samantha’s padded shoulders. But also – and these are the most pleasant to look at – very little orthodox creations. Remember when Miranda put a hat on her hood?

“Sex and the city” is primarily associated with shoes from Manolo Blahnik. Carrie – whose orgiastic approach to shopping in today’s viewer raises concerns about whether the planet will survive this level of consumption – loves pins. He wears them on dates, for shopping, for walks, to the club, to the park, to the stable (where he gets in horse poop with his heel). When I was fifteen, it didn’t impress me. Today, however, I myself am an experienced woman who has taped her blisters more than once, and I have completely different thoughts on this subject. Carrie, have mercy, do your feet hurt? And a side question: how do you go around with a small clutch bag that is so loose, as if you could fit the whole world in it?

And so we come slowly to the final. The one theme in Sex and the City that I couldn’t fathom as a teenage viewer, and that remains a mystery to me to this day. And I am sure that it was an unsolved puzzle also for those of us who watched the first broadcasts on TVP2.

What’s the weather like in New York that these chicks walk around in fur coats and bare feet in sandals.

Sex and the city photo. HBO