Many people try to argue that Sex and the City is completely unrealistic. No woman with that great of hair, who spends most of her time shopping, could really maintain an odd group of friends, several incredibly sexy lovers, and an apartment whose rent would be debilitating in the real world. My response to anyone who doubts this? Move to the city and watch us do it.
1. In a big city, your friendship group IS slap-together.
Everyone always comments on how there's no way that the 4 girls on Sex and the City would have ever been friends. Are you kidding me? Anyone who thinks this obviously wasn't at my friend Jenna's birthday get-together last week. An eclectic group of friends is what city living is all about- mostly because you start combining people from different areas of your life to create a support group. Friendship groups are NOT instantaneous. On Sex and the City, they all met seperately. They started meeting each other randomly, and one at a time each girl was added to the bunch. The bonds were formed within the group despite their personality quirks, and this is exactly like real life. Some of my friends are from high school, some are from college, some are from work, and some are just random people I met at the bar. Nonetheless, when it comes time to gather to help a friend with a break up or celebrate something special, we are all there... for better or for worse.
2. Sex is weird.
It is one of the central focuses of Sex and the City, and while it could be argued that "real people" don't have that much sex (though I disagree), I would like to point out the way they depict sex is very realistic. When you meet a new partner in the city, you never know what to expect. Totally normal guys may be into swinging, politicians may want to pee on you, and guys who love you (and even some who don't) will cheat on their wives to be with you. Unlike a fairytale chick flick movie where all sex happens after coming in from being caught in the rain, Sex and the City is absolutely real about the absurdities that you can encounter when dating in the big city. Condoms break. Lovers move away. Lets face it, people: being dumped on a post-it note, "funky tasting spunk," erectile dysfunction--- it's all just another night in New York City! (or Minneapolis, or Phoenix, or...)
3. Real estate is everything.
How could Carrie, who people think "barely works" and "spends all her money on fashion," afford an apartment like that in the city? She moved there in the 80's and it was rent controlled! While people always comment on her apartment being grand in size, its important to note that it wasn't necessarily grand in stature: she had done nothing to her place in 25 years but paint it a new coat of egg shell white (before redecorating in the 1st movie.) She found a cheap place that was perfect, and that's as much effort as she put into it. In the city, if you can find an incredible bargain, or location, or apartment: you hunker down and stay there! Carrie even held on to her apartment after moving into an incredible place with Big! And, Charlotte, having rallied so hard during the divorce for Trey's perfect Park Ave. apartment ended up staying there and raising her new family in it (even though her husband was a wealthy lawyer that could have easily bought another place.) Sex and the City got it right: if you're lucky in big-city-real-estate-love once, you marry for life.
4. The majority of a city girl's money is spent!
The girls spent a lot of money on clothes, we get it! Was it realistic? I say maybe. Every Sex and the City girl did stay true to her fashion sense. Charlotte spent her money on shoes that were lady like yet perfect for working at an art gallery. Yes, Carrie shelled out big bucks for funky pieces, but she had plenty of incredible vintage mixed in. Miranda was hardly shown shopping, and though she had her stylish moments, she could often be found in a Harvard t-shirt and sweat pants. Samantha always looked fabulous, but was rarely seen buying anything unless it was a major attention grabbing must-have (suiting her personality.) What would have made the show even more unbelievable is if every character showed up in every scene wearing the "hot new trend of the moment" like it was some teen sitcom on the WB. Carrie was the only one of her friends who sold her soul for new (shoe) soles... and that, I believe, is very realistic. Some girls in the city go broke due to keeping up with the nightlife, and some of us go broke keeping up with what's going on during the day, but the sad (yet fashionable!) truth is: most city girls do in fact have their money "hanging in their closet."
5. It always works out, but not always how you planned.
It was a long journey through 6 seasons and 2 movies, but in the end all the girls were happy. What makes this story "believable" though is that they were all happy in situations they never expected to find themselves in. Charlotte is the best example of this, and to me, a very realistic big city storyline: If Sex and the City was a faux-fairytale, things would have worked out with her marriage to Trey. He was a WASP doctor with a beautiful home, so of course in la-la-land his flaws would have been sugar coated. However, Charlotte (who could not handle Trey's sexual short comings and cold demeanor) leaves him and instead finds herself happily married to a Jewish husband and has two beautiful daughters, one of which is Asian. Now there's a real big-city-fairytale-ending! Between Samantha ending up happy on her own, to Miranda ending up happy in Brooklyn, big city living is all about searching for a winning hand in the cards you've been dealt. Carrie eventually does marry Mr. Big in very "Hollywood-ending," but even they have issues in the 2nd movie when he won't keep his smelly feet off the new furniture (how suburban of them...?) When it comes down to it, life in the city is has a very odd way of ending up wonderful more often than not... and come on... even you can't deny having your 3 close friends there with you makes the ride a little bit easier.
Comments? Questions? You know what to do. I'd love to hear from you below!
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