UC Davis students discuss the show’s resurgence and reintroduction of a new generation to female friendships, aging and sex (obviously)
By AALIYAH ESPAÑOL-RIVAS — arts@theaggie.org
“Sex and the City” follows the life of Carrie Bradshaw, a 30-something-year-old sex columnist living in New York City. Amidst spilling her sexual relationships every week, trying the hottest restaurants and clubs in NYC and attempting to find a place in the ever-changing dating landscape, the show goes beyond just showing the glamorized NYC lifestyle. Accompanied by her three friends, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, each episode navigates Carrie’s life, intertwined with subplots of her friends as they all try to find what they want most in life: love.
Initially airing in 1998, the show was based on the real-life newspaper column of the same name, written by Candace Bushnell. Produced by HBO, the show went on to have six seasons, two movies, a prequel series and now a revival series that began airing in 2021. Covering topics such as smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, marriage and impotence, the show is a mosaic of everything womanhood.
While the show originally concluded in 2004, both its revival series and addition to Netflix have repopularized the show for the new generation. As it regained its footing in pop culture, the question to ask was, “Why?” After all, its title alone may drive people away.
Although its title may trick you into thinking it’s all about sex — it delves deeper into each woman’s motivations behind sex, their deep desire for love and the fear of being vulnerable. Each character has a unique and different personality that shapes their relationships and friendships: Carrie is obnoxiously self-absorbed, Miranda, the most judgmental, Charlotte, more conservative, and Samantha, unapologetically promiscuous. Though their personalities may seem contradictory, these dissimilarities make the show better, as every viewer can resonate with a bit of each woman.
Isabel Resto, a second-year animal science major, watched the show for the first time last year and found it made her reflect on her own relationships.
“The show made me realize that I should not be putting up with stuff like that, and at the end of the day, a guy is just a guy, and sex is just sex, and one day you’ll find someone you love, and they will rarely be perfect,” Resto said. “I love how much it highlighted how heavily the girls leaned on each other, and it made me reflect on how much I lean on my friends but that it is okay because that’s what friends are for, and I am always here for them to lean on.”
Remali De Silva, a fourth-year English major, has watched the show five times and goes back to learn something new every time.
“At this point, I’ve watched the show all the way through more than five times, and I find that I learn something different about it each time,” De Silva said. “Mostly it’s about how different my opinions are from them, and how, even if I feel like I align with their beliefs, I’m not in the stage of my life where I want to engage with sex and dating in the way that they do.”
While some episodes have aged poorly in this day and age, the show’s boldness in covering taboo topics remains an incentive to watch.
“This show definitely took a risk at the time it was created,” De Silva said. “Shows nowadays portray sex in more explicit ways, which was something this show never had to do even to make a strong impact. I think we rely too heavily on the shock factor of sex nowadays, and we should try to make shows more nuanced like ‘Sex and the City.’”
Though it was released nearly three decades ago, “Sex and the City” remains an important piece of media for all women, having broken the “forbidden” world of sex in media through empowering strong female lead perspectives.
“The early 2000s was the perfect time to start shaping the idea that sex doesn’t have to be a scandalous secret,” Resto said. “Even though sex is more normalized in the media now, the center and allure of this show is the emotional bonds between the women, not the sex.”
If either of these students’ experiences sound interesting, or maybe you just want to see why Big is moving to Paris (if you know, you know), you can watch “Sex and the City” on Netflix and HBO Max.
Written by: Aaliyah Español-Rivas — arts@theaggie.org
