Urban Political View

"SATC".....Just A Few Things I Really Love About The "OTHER" Carrie Bradshaw!

"Sex And The Pretty"-----Me all dolled-up to see the movie with my chicas!

So let's start with the obvious shall we: I AM  CLEARLY A SERIOUS FAN OF "SEX AND THE CITY"! ( * insert your own "DUH!" comment as you read that*) When coming up with a name for ~La Blog~ I knew that as a good marketing strategy it should be a twist on an already popular brand or celebrity ; not unlike uber-successful pro-bloggers "Perez Hilton" and "Nicole Bitchie" did when they came up with their own familiar celebrity-spin-off pseudonyms.
So who better else to "spin-a-name-off-of " than the ultimate: 'fashion-relationship-pop-culture-SEX' guru herself,------>Carrie Bradshaw!( *Hats & brassieres off to author &creator of 'SATC', Candace Bushnell and the dazzling actress Sara Jessica  Parker(Broderick) for playing her so fab-u-lously-dead-on that she seems real..almost)

Now onto WHY I love this series even now several years after the show wrapped ( I will actually watch both my DVD collection AND catch the abridged  version of the show on TV---although censoring the profanity and the sex scenes is a little like watching Dr. Oz without Oprah ---entertaining sure, but something is missing)
I'm fond of making lists so here's my personal 'top-ten' why 'SATC" is one of the BEST shows of ALL time! (*WARNING* I had a LOT to write so this is NOT a short list )
1. THE WOMEN:  Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes, Charlotte York and Samantha Jones have gotta' be the next-best "Fab-Four" since "The Beatles"...well, to me and millions of  fans around the country anyway. At one point women( and probably a few guys) were proudly sporting T-shirts with the message: "I'm a Carrie": Artsy with bohemian-chic style dominant in her personal fashion sense,care-free,spontaneous and occasionally over-emotional. Sara Jessica Parker's iconic leading-lady was every bit the writer/columnist who lived the 'Mi Vida Loca-Fabulosa' that many of us wish we could be! You would also find "I'm a Miranda"versions ...sharply intelligent with an equally sharp an often acerbic wit, sarcastically funny,pragmatic and cynical. Dynamic actress Cynthia Nixon actually came "out-of-the-closet" during her stint on "SATC" as Miranda. To my knowledge, most fans of the show never skipped a beat; her scenes with her batender-lover-tuned-'Baby's-Daddy'-turned-husband, Steve Brady were no less believable. Then there were the "I'm a Charlotte" t-shirts letting everyone in-the-know, know that you were a : sweet-as-apple-pie, traditional, over-achiever kinda' gal. The very pretty Kristen Davis played Charlotte, the art gallery-curator turned permanent wife & mother of two, as an endearing but sometimes annoyingly cute, sexually bland AND the polar opposite to the final 'character-definition' shirts----->"I'm a Samantha!"...If you even remotely followed the series, you know any chick rockin' THAT  t-shirt is claiming she's a :uber-sexy,confident,charming go-getter with a never-ending libido and a 'caution-to-the-wind' attitude about life & sex that rivals Donald Trump or Hugh Heffner. In real life, alot of women either fear the "Samantha Jones" types OR secretly wish to be like them; for me I accept Samanthas for who they are. I identified with all of the main characters and their on-screen chemistry seemed so effortless that I assumed they were still kickin' it like BFFs even once the director yelled "CUT!" (...and if you know the "E!-True Hollywood Behind-The-Scenes-Story" ---you know that was ALL acting.....)

2. THE DIALOGUE : Who can forget the potty-mouths on these broads?!! Even 'eternal priss-miss' Charlotte has made the occasional off-color gesture or comment! ( remember her putting two fingers in a 'V-shape' to her mouth to symbolize 'cunnilingus'?) I gotta' give props to the main writer Michael Patrick King and his crew, I laughed out loud during many an episode and even 'borrowed' a few of my favorites to use!
3. THE FASHION: Mind if I say "WOW"! I can't think of a show that's not directly about fashion where fashion was featured so prominently in almost every scene. When a character's wardrobe changes becomes water-cooler talk OR literally changes the world's fashion trends ( consider "the Carrie name-plate necklace", the "Giant flower-bow" accessory and of of course Carrie's beloved "Manolo-Blahniks") then 'fashion' is not JUST an important ingredient to the show but an actual 'fifth' character! Scarfs & hats off to costume-designer/stylist Patricia Fields for making us all a lil' more style-savvy and less "fashion road kill"!

4. THE NIGHT-LIFE SCENES: Ahhhh, from the unassuming little breakfast & lunch cafes to the "only-in-NYC" trendy,hot-spots; both New-Yorkers and out-of-towners alike loved living vicariously through all the Manhattan-misadventures of Carrie & crew and where they wined-dined and did their bump &grind <----(couldn't resist)
5. THE MEN:   Okay, can we just have a moment of silent admiration for the 'SATC-MEN'?...*PAUSE and SIGH--Ahhhhh!*...okay, moving on to what I like about the characters beyond their good looks.
There were series regulars like 'bartender -turned-bar owner Steve Brady' (Miranda's baby-daddy--turned hubby) the erection-challenged Dr. Trey MacDougal (Charlotte's 1st hubby  who she divorces and consequently meets her 2nd hubby, divorce attorney Harry GoldenBlatt ) gorgeous starving actor-turned movie star, Smith Jerrod ( one of Samantha's many--her main guy other than habitual-cheater, 'Richard') and if you know only a tad bit about the series you know Carrie's love-of-her-life-heart-breaker--turned hubby &wealthy mogul is "Mr. Big"--a.k.a John James Preston   (played sooo smoothly by handsome actor Christopher Noth). Although there are many,many memorable men who make their way into the lives,hearts and beds of Carrie & Co. ; it's these SATC guys( along with one other, Aiden Shaw, Carrie's sweet-to-good-to-be-true boyfriend after her 'BIG-break-up'...) who truly stand-out...an eye-candy cornucopia with something for everyone to drool over at some point! 

6. THE SEX SCENES
In a word: "WOW!".......even for a night-time,original show for HBO, 'SATC' was pretty steamy stuff-----especially in the 90's when it debuted! The sex scenes were not the ONLY reason I or most fans watched  the show but it is one reason fans stayed glued to it every week! Somehow the writers & producers combined comedy with sex and found a formula that was altogether verrrry erotic( never pornographic) familiar to it's adult audience and often hilarious even during the hottest of scenarios----not easy to do I'm guessing but it worked!

7. THE CITY:  Manhattan if not all of NYC has been called the 'fifth character' (not counting the SATC fashion which has it's own presence as well) If you didn't LOVE  the city of New York before, you were at least in deep 'like' by the end of the series. The cinematography that featured the city in all it's metropolitan glory made natives proud or homesick and the rest wanna' hop on the next thing smokin' to get there!

8.THE STORY-LINES:  Props are due to all involved on writing, including series creator/producer Darren Starr but the lion-share goes to head-writer &producer Michael Patrick King; a proud & openly liberated Gay MAN with an obvious gift for writing for and about sexually-open, liberated, straight women--go figure! His writing was the meat & potatoes of the series; sex-scenes, fashion, big name cameos and eye-candy aside--without the dialogue and the exciting-funny-sexy-heart-wrenching scenarios to connect with, there would be no show!

9.THE LIFE-LESSONS: 
As much as fans loved the show for showcasing  intelligent, savvy,confident women on top ( in the bedroom and outside of it) it was also necessary to show them fall flat on their ass from time to time. Just like in real life, nuthin' makes you root more for a champion than to see them rise, fall spectacularly to the bottom and finally pick themselves up and rise again. Who can't relate to that lesson? All four leading characters  have had their successes and failures  and I think it was beneficial for their  viewership to see how they rebounded and that  rebounded well!
10. SARA JESSICA PARKER :     SHE is the spirit, the look, the heart ,soul ...and 'sole' of Carrie Bradshaw...of the show itself;  I can't imagine 'Sex And The City' with anyone but 'SJP' playing the lead role!  The character of  *Carrie* is based mostly on the REAL life of author-columnist-uptown socialite Candace Bushnell ( *note the same monogram initials as well) who even bears some resemblance to Sarah, both being :blond,thin and attractive. It wouldn't matter if the author were a zaftig, brown-skinned brunette herself ; in the petite yet talented hands of Sarah Jessica (*also an executive producer to the series*) 'Carrie' is as sincere and endearing to the fans as her beloved Manolo Blahniks are to her!
So there's my list ..(*whew*) on why I lurrrrve 'SATC'; sure there's more I could  have added even still but if you're a fan you already have some idea...and if you're not, now would be the perfect time to find out for yourself!
Sincerely Yours.
   The 'other' Carrie...


3 comments:

  1. Just came across your blog! :)

    colormenana.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heyyy! I've been MIA thanks for stopping by--I'll be posting again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW! WELL, THIS BLOG MADE ME FEEL LIKE I'M SO OUT OF TOUCH, BY NOT EVER WATCHING AN EPISODE OF THIS SHOW! LOL I DID SEE THE MOVIE AND ENJOYED IT, ESPECIALLY THE CLOTHES AND SHOES! THAT'S WHAT REALLY EXCITES ME!

    SIGNED,
    SAMANTHA ;)

    ReplyDelete

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