'Sex and The City' turns 20 years old this week, can you believe? It seems like yesterday that this show about some thirty-something women first aired and changed TV forever. Yeah, that might sound dramatic but it did, as there was no other show that talked that openly about sex, and coming from a female perspective no less! So, they need to be appreciated more because even though the first seasons look a bit outdated now because of the fashion and those monologues from random people straight to the camera, the rest feels fresh and the feelings, doubts and humour remains relatable.
So, in honor of one of the best shows ever and one of my personal favorites, here are 20 reasons why this show remains flawless, in no specific order. Check them all out after the cut!
The girls
Each of the four main characters are simply amazing. From Miranda's neurotic ways, to Charlotte's prude mentality, Samantha's festive way of life or Carrie's dramas, there isn't one that could be missing. I'm a Miranda and I know some say she's the worst one but they certainly don't know a thing as she's the most down to earth character. And while Carrie was at first everyone's favorite, i liked that as seasons went on, people preferred the other girls. But as a whole they made the best combo of women you could ever have.
The City
If there's a big love story in the show, is the one that the characters have with New York City and they made you fall in love with it too. From restaurants to the Manhattan Bridge, to cool spots in the Soho or fancy boutiques, the show was full of locations that made you wonder how amazing it must be to live right there. I don't think there has been another show that showed the City as great as they did, even though '
Gossip Girl' did really nice as well.
Female friendship
One of the most important things of the show is not the sex or their relationships they had with other men, but the friendship between four ladies. It's beautifully shown and you could see their ups and downs but in the end they had each other's back no matter what and that was the biggest bond the series had. And they made me tear up a little whenever they got emotional between them, they argued or they simply showed their true love for each other.
The humour
One of the strongest features of the series was definitely its sense of humour. This is one of the shows i've laughed louder while watching and no matter the re-watchs, it never gets old. And Samantha was the queen of everything funny as her wit and cheekiness were absolutely hilarious.
The men
Another thing that was great from the show was the many men involved in the series. Between the four of them had a zillion dates with multiple and different men and the situations were always funny or you could relate to many of them. There were so many dates that at some point you were like 'That happened to me,' more than twice. And that was something really refreshing.
The sex
And with men came the sex, one of the main topics of the series, obvs. The openness that it was shown and talked about was something new on TV (i might be wrong but at least it was for me), and while now everything anywhere is about sex, back then it wasn't like that at all. And definitely not showing women in their 30s or so having sex on primetime. But it made things more natural, it was easier to talk about stuff because it was something that happened to Charlotte in that episode or Samantha did that with that guy on Season 4. And as sex never gets old, the conversations or the encounters they had are pretty much still relevant today.
Gay visibility
The series had no problem not only having some few gay characters that served as sidekicks to the girls but also presented Samantha with the pros and cons of having a relationship with another woman or the bond of Charlotte with a group of snobbish lesbian women. Obviously, nowadays that's not a big thing at all but let's remember this was the 90s and only '
My So-Called Life' had and openly gay character in the show, with Ricky Vasquez being the first one on any show. Of course the show could have gone deeper but it was way more than many other shows did at the time and Stanford was absolutely fantastic.
Female empowerment
Some say that this show had no feminist characters because all they did was to chase men but that couldn't be any more wrong. Of course they dated men and talked about them but don't we all? And that wasn't the biggest thing on the show, it was the main attraction as it was the sex but the relationships and the feelings shown, those were universal. And it had all range of women, from the dreamy Charlotte who believed in finding her fairy tale romance, to the cerebral but emotional Miranda, the no strings-attached Samantha or Carrie, who was all of them at once, it showed different types of feminists because above all, they were strong, independent women who stand out for themselves.
Mr. Big?
The eternal question, Aidan or Mr. Big? I'm really conflicted about it. Back then, when i watched the show during my 20s my favorite was Aidan all the way but looking back i'm not so sure (and i will point that out later on). But Big has always been a love-hate character for me, because sometimes he was a complete asshole and a total life ruiner to Carrie while other times he was exactly what she needed and scenes like the one above (when he left for Napa) really melted my heart. So i don't know who to choose between those two.
Realistic motherhood expectations
The show had four women, but not all of them wanted to have children as it's expected from females. Only Charlotte expressed her desire to become a mom and to Miranda it sort of happened. But neither her, Carrie or Samantha ever talked about having kids. That's one thing i loved about the show, that it wasn't all about getting married and play house with a bunch of children running around. Each one of them had a different view about motherhood and i liked what they did to Miranda, because she really didn't think about it and when it happened, she struggled with it but eventually loved being a mom. While Carrie and Samantha didn't have the need to become mothers and that was perfectly fine.
The fashion
It's undeniable that the show had an impact on the fashion world or maybe was the other way around? But either way, you just loved seeing all the looks the ladies had, especially from Carrie and Samantha.Carrie for me was the best one in the looks' department because some of her outfits are total faves from mine (the Gucci fannypack, omg). The tutus also were something to die for and Sarah Jessica Parker simply looked fabulous on anything she had on, no matter how ridiculous the outfit was. Whereas Samantha's style was way more sexy as it went with her character, Charlotte had a more preppy and classy look and Miranda went from office attire to casual look in the same episode. But the four ladies, styled by Miss Patricia Fields, were absolutely a joy to watch.
The Manolos
The Manolos were the absolute scene stealer of the show and i bet Manolo Blahnik will forever be thankful to the show, because it gave his gorgeous stilettos more press than he could ever imagine (not that his shoes needed publicity but the show helped the brand to become more desirable to women like me all over the world). The shoe even served as a diamond ring at the end of the first movie, and that was simply perfect.
Carrie's apartment
Another thing that i absolutely envied from Carrie was her New York apartment. It was simply perfect, not too big, not too small, and exquisitely decorated without being too much, it's a place that i would have loved to live in. It also looked nice when they re-decorated it on the movies, with that blue painting on the wall, but as it was before it was simply perfection to me.
The first movie's ending
If there's one thing that did not suck from the movies was the ending of the first one. Yeah, this was not part of the series but it couldn't be missed because it served as the perfect brooch to say farewell to these ladies. The moment were John, formerly known as Mr. Big, proposes to her with the Manolo shoe was something that would have fitted perfectly on the show and therefore that's why made it on the list. They should have ended things there but well, we all know how things with franchises go.
The Cosmos
Another thing that became popular after the show were Cosmopolitans. Who didn't taste their first Cosmo right after watching the show? I did and they're absolutely delicious and gave you lots of '
Sex and the City' vibes. But they weren't wrong and the cocktail is one of my favorites because of them.
Aidan?
So now we get to Aidan, my then favorite guy for Carrie. I'm a bit conflicted because looking at it now, the guy was a bit controlling and had some issues. Of course he was insecure after she cheated on him with Big but he also was really stubborn about the smoking thing (which is understandable but well). But, despite all they had some very great moments and i loved that after dumping her, he appeared again and he could be able to forgive her. I also loved when they met years later on the show and he had a family of his own and the meeting wasn't an awkward thing but more like a closure. But they ruined that with the encounter they had on the second film, but that second film should never ever had been done, we all agree.
Paris
Paris was something bittersweet for Carrie and one of the character's darkest times when it comes to her popularity with the audience. I think we all got sick of Carrie when she started dating Berger (her worst boyfriend ever) and it only got worse when she moved to Paris to be with someone as pretentious as Aleksandr Petrovsky. He's the second worst boyfriend for me, as he was really awful to her, but she deserved it in a way, because she allowed him do that. But i guess, we've all been there and being with someone who didn't treat us as we deserved but at least she got to live in Paris and that way we got a really nice tour through to the city of love and how beautiful it is, and also, it's where Mr. Big sort of "rescued" her so it's one of the good things of the show.
Carrie's column
Carrie's thoughts on her small column were really good reflections about life and love and it made you wonder about yourself or situations you've been in. It always served as a guide to the plot of the episode and while sometimes they might be somehow silly, others were totally on point and became one of the show's trademarks. I guess there might be a book out there with all her writing because if not, they should make it. I totally would read that.
Star's cameos
The show had a lot of thespians appearing on the show, and while some were already famous at the time, like Bon Jovi or Sarah Michelle Gellar, others like Kat Dennings, Justin Theroux or Bradley Cooper were pretty much unknown when they had roles on the series. We had big star Kyle MacLachan as Charlotte's alrighty first husband, Vince Vaughn and Carrie Fisher both appeared on the same episode, while Clark Gregg had a few dates with Miranda. And many, many more. It's funny to watch it now and discover so many actors we didn't know then but are big stars now.
Love
And what about love, the main subject of the show above anything else? With this series i've cried, laughed and felt nearly everything a show could give you and that's why i keep it so close to my heart. Because it made me feel a lot of things and it still does to this day. When they struggled or when they loved passionately, that transferred from the screen and made you feel what they were feeling and that's the greatness of the show for me, because otherwise it wouldn't have had this impact. And no matter how many years go by, i don't think the show will lose its touch, not even a bit, so this is my love letter to it.
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