Sex and the City

Now bear in mind that these particular words of wisdom would have made slightly more sense ooooh about 4 years ago. But they didn’t occur to me then. So if you could imagine it’s 2004 then that may well aid your enjoyment. It was all triggered by a pretty crap weekend. Thought I’d cheer myself up by watching a bit of Sex and the City on Sunday evening, instead it set me thinking. Indeed, in the words of the horse faced Carrie Bradshaw: I couldn’t help but wonder….

If New York is the city that never sleeps, and these are all meant to be such fabulous women who loved themselves each other and their lives; why the hell did they all have such a crap ending? Carrie gave up a career which enabled her to live in Manhattan and wear Manolo Blanhiks in return for 20 minutes of work a week, to move to France with a craggy faced dwarf and be ignored. Luckily, Schnozzy bear who’d treated her like crap for the last 6 years went over and got her and then she returned to her apartment that the dwarf was paying for and wait for Schnozzy to move from Nappa. Girl Power! Meanwhile Charlotte, who gave up work after she made a million out of her first 4 month marriage (aka the ho route) changed herself and her religion to enjoy her second marriage, she then spent her days redecorating and cooking nice meals. Samantha finally admitted that she was better off in a couple and Miranda got to soap down her naked mother in law in a bath. Bet she was thrilled her law degree was finally put to good use.

It seemed a rather bizarre end to a show based on the concept of four single women living in New York who enjoyed their lives. It’s almost as though they wished they could have ended on a giant sign that just read “GROW UP” and in order to grow up you have to get married and have children. Until then you are just being silly. Now I know this wasn’t the most realistic of shows and I’m not really that upset about it but it seemed very strange that not one of them ended up on their own and was fine about it. Is that not considered an ending? Is marriage an ending? Now they’re paired off their story is over? If so I find that equally as sad, surely it would be far nicer to see it as a beginning. I know, I know, they’re not real.

Many tv shows do that. I was ridiculously pleased when Joey and Phoebe didn’t get together at the end of Friends. I was delighted when This Life ended with Millie smacking Rachel and we never knew what happened until This Life + 10. I was equally annoyed when Will and Grace ended with them all grinning at each other in an overwhelming burst of smugness and cheesiness which went completely against the rest of the show.

I couldn’t help but wonder… should I get a life of my own?

Still I suppose SATC (as no one calls it) had to end some how. Samantha was getting on a bit and had exhausted all the men in New York, literally. Miranda had an astonishingly ugly child so had her own problems. And I suppose pairing off is slightly more up beat ending than watching Samantha die of syphilis. That said I am really looking forward to the film.