Sex And The City - General Discussion

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

Technically, Carrie and Big met on the street after a daytime booty call she had (she was doing an article about sex with no emotional attachment). Either he bumped into her and caused her to drop and spill the contents of her purse, or someone else bumped into her and he stopped to help her pick up her stuff. They then meet again but more formally later at Chaos after Sam tries to get with Big.

Wow, talk about a "meet cute".

[RealHousewife]

I’ve read theories about SJP’s issues/jealousy toward Kim leading to storylines that embarrassed her. I don’t know if there’s truth there, but most of the characters had some embarrassing scenes. What’s worse than Charlotte crapping herself? lol 

[Mu Shu]

I’m starting to think SJP is more Carrie that she admits. I mean, she named her poor kid James Wilkie and insists on calling him Janes Wilkie instead of Jimmy or whatever. Not sure if that’s a Carrie thing, but it’s an annoying thing. She’s super annoying and superficial in her interviews, like Carrie. But what do I know. She’s successful, and been in the same marriage forever. She’s probably a saint. 

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

I’m starting to think SJP is more Carrie that she admits. I mean, she named her poor kid James Wilkie and insists on calling him Janes Wilkie instead of Jimmy or whatever. Not sure if that’s a Carrie thing, but it’s an annoying thing. She’s super annoying and superficial in her interviews, like Carrie. But what do I know. She’s successful, and been in the same marriage forever. She’s probably a saint. 

That's probably true to a point. Carrie started out different when the show started. She was more open minded, fun and didn't really seem to judge people that much. She started to change becoming more judgmental, closeminded and didn't really fit with a sex column writer. She either took on SJP's views and characteristics or SJP chose to change her character into that. So that's either who she is or who she really wanted to play. And make sure that Carrie was never called out for her crappy, horrible behavior. Everything she did was "cute", "funny" and "the best". I don't know if all of its what SJP is like. But I do think the judgmental and closeminded are. 

[pinkandsparkly13]

On 8/21/2020 at 11:26 PM, BlueMoon81 said:

As for the first wife, there was never any proof that he “screwed her over”—they were still friends (he told her about his relationship with Carrie), and they had threesomes together because they were both looking for something else. That breakup seemed mutual, from the dialogue of the show 

Well actually the first wife told Carrie he had a wandering eye and it wandered over to her best friend. I took that to mean he cheated on her. 

A couple instances I didn't like with Carrie is when she wouldn't let people talk about certain things. Like in Belles of the Balls, Samantha is starting to talk about a certain guy and Carrie tells her to stop. But Aidan says he wants to hear it. Sam tries to start talking again, and Carrie says "she's done!" Well Aidan wanted to hear it and if you don't want to, you can go somewhere else bitch! Lol that's what I would have told her. Another one is when they go to the opening of Scout, and Sam is talking about Maria and the strap on. Carrie says "can we not have the strap on talk here?" Miranda and Sam talk a little more about it and she's still annoyed "Hey what did I just say?!" Like I said, go somewhere else if you don't wanna hear about it. Others can talk about whatever they want. 

I also didn't like her reactions to Aleks' grand romantic gestures. I didn't think they were that bad or over the top, well maybe the dancing where she fainted (which was stupid). But reading her a poem and playing a song weren't that bad. I don't know why she was so appalled. "I don't think it's an act." "Are we romance intolerant?" No just you

[BlueMoon81]

5 minutes ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

Well actually the first wife told Carrie he had a wandering eye and it wandered over to her best friend. I took that to mean he cheated on her. 

That’s right she did say that, during that meeting Carrie set up just to meet her. Big also said they were both looking to find something in someone else that they didn’t see in each other. Big even told Carrie that his ex wife told him about their meeting—so it’s not like they’re enemies or Big “toyed with her emotions”. Being that the show never touched on that relationship again after that S1 episode, I’m not going to just assume that Big used and abused (emotionally speaking) wife #1.  And with Carrie, Big never cheated on her, never gave a clue that he would cheat on her, and never broke up with her (she broke up with him both times, and in childish fashion). I just never bought into the show’s mythology of Big being some manipulative, puppeteering, cad who toyed with the emotions of innocent, naive Carrie Bradshaw. That’s not what I personally saw play out on-screen. We all have different interpretations though 

[BlueMoon81]

On 8/24/2020 at 3:55 PM, Hiyo said:

I always thought Samantha becoming more of a cartoon as the show went on might have been SJP and the producers punishing Samantha and KC for Samantha rivaling Carrie in terms of popularity, but thats just my own silly fan theory more than anything.

Granted, like on many other shows, as they go on, some characters tend to have certain characteristics exaggerated. I mean, the Charlotte we see in season 1, the one who had the occasional random booty call or who let a famous artist paint her crotch? Definitely not things we would have seen the Charlotte of later seasons do.

Oh I DEFINITELY AGREE. Especially around 2000-2001, when KC was winning Golden Globes and was clearly the most popular character on the show among viewers, I don’t think SJP (and by extension MPK) took too kindly to it. Samantha seemed to get the storylines that mocked her appearance or behavior from about Season 3 onwards (the chemical peel fiasco, “Bozo the Bush”, her neighbors in her building calling her a whore and blaming her for letting a robber in the building, etc)...And the majority of the time, it was Carrie making the chiding/snarky remarks, that she would attempt to play off as meaningless jokes *eye roll*
 

The second movie is where SJP and MPK really hit their high (or low) with the writing for Sam. It was cringey seeing how they wrote Samantha to act in Abu Dabi—like a hormone-crazed teenager, who’d been locked away in a convent for 40 years. Samantha was far too shrewd of a businesswoman to blow a huge international deal by breaking local laws. And that’s not even counting the “I have seeeeeeexxxx!!” scene in the marketplace. Kudos to KC for even doing that second film, because I certainly would not have 

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, BlueMoon81 said:

That’s right she did say that, during that meeting Carrie set up just to meet her. Big also said they were both looking to find something in someone else that they didn’t see in each other. Big even told Carrie that his ex wife told him about their meeting—so it’s not like they’re enemies or Big “toyed with her emotions”. Being that the show never touched on that relationship again after that S1 episode, I’m not going to just assume that Big used and abused (emotionally speaking) wife #1.  And with Carrie, Big never cheated on her, never gave a clue that he would cheat on her, and never broke up with her (she broke up with him both times, and in childish fashion). I just never bought into the show’s mythology of Big being some manipulative, puppeteering, cad who toyed with the emotions of innocent, naive Carrie Bradshaw. That’s not what I personally saw play out on-screen. We all have different interpretations though 

I don't really see it that way either. Carrie was the one who kept pushing the relationship faster and acting crazy when he wasn't going as fast as she wanted it to go or do or say what she wanted him to do or say. She pushes him to tell her she's the one and when he can't she breaks up with him. What was the rush? They hadn't even been dating that long and they were about to leave on a vacation together. Who knows maybe they would have come back closer. But that wasn't good enough for Carrie. She'd also do crazy things like stalk his mother and ex-wife. 

[blondiec0332]

I think Big's biggest flaw was he wasn't what Carrie wanted him to be.  I have rewatched the entire series numerous times and each time I think I'm going to change my opinion and I don't. Was he the best boyfriend? No. Was he withholding? Depends on your point of view.  Carrie wanted it to be more defined and he wanted things to keep going the way they were going. I'm not convinced she fell in love with Big the person or what she wanted Big to be. She wanted a certain lifestyle and he was part of that.  I think she genuinely loved Aiden but he wasn't going to fit into the lifestyle she wanted.  I've said before Carrie wanted to be a socialite. She wanted to be one of those women who was considered a "get" when she came to your party/fundraiser/whatever.  She wanted to wear nice clothes and shoes and not really have to work all that hard for it. Writing was a means to an end for her.   Many of us here could write her column and it would be better than what she wrote.

6 hours ago, BlueMoon81 said:

Big even told Carrie that his ex wife told him about their meeting—so it’s not like they’re enemies

I don't think Carrie could understand ex's being friends. Since she was unable to do it.   

6 hours ago, BlueMoon81 said:

Oh I DEFINITELY AGREE. Especially around 2000-2001, when KC was winning Golden Globes and was clearly the most popular character on the show among viewers, I don’t think SJP (and by extension MPK) took too kindly to it. Samantha seemed to get the storylines that mocked her appearance or behavior from about Season 3 onwards (the chemical peel fiasco, “Bozo the Bush”, her neighbors in her building calling her a whore and blaming her for letting a robber in the building, etc)...And the majority of the time, it was Carrie making the chiding/snarky remarks, that she would attempt to play off as meaningless jokes *eye roll*

There was definitely a shift in how Samantha was written. Wasn't this also the time period where she thought she was going through menopause and slept with the older sleazy neighbor and her period started?

 

6 hours ago, BlueMoon81 said:

The second movie is where SJP and MPK really hit their high (or low) with the writing for Sam. It was cringey seeing how they wrote Samantha to act in Abu Dabi—like a hormone-crazed teenager, who’d been locked away in a convent for 40 years. Samantha was far too shrewd of a businesswoman to blow a huge international deal by breaking local laws. And that’s not even counting the “I have seeeeeeexxxx!!” scene in the marketplace. Kudos to KC for even doing that second film, because I certainly would not have 

I'm someone who likes to start what I finish so when I do a rewatch I will watch the second movie but I skip then entire section of when they are in Abu Dabi. I just can't watch it.

[qtpye]

8 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

Well actually the first wife told Carrie he had a wandering eye and it wandered over to her best friend. I took that to mean he cheated on her. 

A couple instances I didn't like with Carrie is when she wouldn't let people talk about certain things. Like in Belles of the Balls, Samantha is starting to talk about a certain guy and Carrie tells her to stop. But Aidan says he wants to hear it. Sam tries to start talking again, and Carrie says "she's done!" Well Aidan wanted to hear it and if you don't want to, you can go somewhere else bitch! Lol that's what I would have told her. Another one is when they go to the opening of Scout, and Sam is talking about Maria and the strap on. Carrie says "can we not have the strap on talk here?" Miranda and Sam talk a little more about it and she's still annoyed "Hey what did I just say?!" Like I said, go somewhere else if you don't wanna hear about it. Others can talk about whatever they want. 

I also didn't like her reactions to Aleks' grand romantic gestures. I didn't think they were that bad or over the top, well maybe the dancing where she fainted (which was stupid). But reading her a poem and playing a song weren't that bad. I don't know why she was so appalled. "I don't think it's an act." "Are we romance intolerant?" No just you

It was rich because before she told us about how she was a romantic and would not settle for less. Also, when has she been an eat at McDonalds kind of gal?

 

1 hour ago, blondiec0332 said:

I think Big's biggest flaw was he wasn't what Carrie wanted him to be.  I have rewatched the entire series numerous times and each time I think I'm going to change my opinion and I don't. Was he the best boyfriend? No. Was he withholding? Depends on your point of view.  Carrie wanted it to be more defined and he wanted things to keep going the way they were going. I'm not convinced she fell in love with Big the person or what she wanted Big to be. She wanted a certain lifestyle and he was part of that.  I think she genuinely loved Aiden but he wasn't going to fit into the lifestyle she wanted.  I've said before Carrie wanted to be a socialite. She wanted to be one of those women who was considered a "get" when she came to your party/fundraiser/whatever.  She wanted to wear nice clothes and shoes and not really have to work all that hard for it. Writing was a means to an end for her.   Many of us here could write her column and it would be better than what she wrote.

I don't think Carrie could understand ex's being friends. Since she was unable to do it.   

There was definitely a shift in how Samantha was written. Wasn't this also the time period where she thought she was going through menopause and slept with the older sleazy neighbor and her period started?

 

I'm someone who likes to start what I finish so when I do a rewatch I will watch the second movie but I skip then entire section of when they are in Abu Dabi. I just can't watch it.

I think part of why the Russian was so over the top was so it would not seem like she was into Big for the lifestyle but it was very much what she wanted.

I cringe when the Russian’s friends are mocking Carrie for her job and he then reads the line “No one has enjoyed the 69 position since 1969” or something to that effect to prove what a brilliant writer she is.  We must not wonder why all these super successful guys are interested in a shrieking annoying sex writer.

Even Aiden was wealthy enough to buy her apartment, which she I guess she thought he would just let her keep after they broke up. Why would we sympathize with some who blew all her savings on shoes?

I know this show was a long time ago and the series was pure fantasy by the end but it seems unlikely Carrie could just buy her apartment with just Charlotte’s ring. 
 

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by qtpye

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 8/25/2020 at 11:07 AM, blondiec0332 said:

Yes Samantha noticed him first and knew he who he was.

It wasn't just Big and it wasn't just Sam.

Samantha knows all about Big and hits on Big.  Big rejects Sam and wants Carrie.
Charlotte knows all about Petrovsky and is absolutely flustered when she meets him.  AND IS IN THE ART WORLD.  I'll grant you that she was married, but Petrovsky ignores her completely and hits on Carrie.  Carrie mocks art and shows ignorance of it to Aleks who is so "Charmed" by her attitude.  LOL.
Miranda knows all about baseball and the "new Yankee".  Carrie mocks baseball to the Yankee's face who of course is so "Charmed" by her attitude.  Of course, Carrie suddenly is all courageous and asks him out and goes on a date with him.

It is a pattern on the show to humiliate the other women and prop up Carrie, but I agree, with Sam it was the worst.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

16 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

A couple instances I didn't like with Carrie is when she wouldn't let people talk about certain things. Like in Belles of the Balls, Samantha is starting to talk about a certain guy and Carrie tells her to stop. But Aidan says he wants to hear it. Sam tries to start talking again, and Carrie says "she's done!" Well Aidan wanted to hear it and if you don't want to, you can go somewhere else bitch! Lol that's what I would have told her. Another one is when they go to the opening of Scout, and Sam is talking about Maria and the strap on. Carrie says "can we not have the strap on talk here?" Miranda and Sam talk a little more about it and she's still annoyed "Hey what did I just say?!" Like I said, go somewhere else if you don't wanna hear about it. Others can talk about whatever they want. 

Carrie was obsessed with centering the conversation around her at all times, even when her problems were miniscule in comparison to her friends'.

[christie]

3 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Carrie was obsessed with centering the conversation around her at all times, even when her problems were miniscule in comparison to her friends'.

One thing that really irritated me in the first movie was how the friends coddled Carrie when Big left her at the alter; at the same time Miranda was going through a divorce and the attitude from her friends was that it was no big deal and that she was to blame 😡 Everybody, including Miranda, was comforting Carrie; nobody was comforting Miranda. Sure, getting dumped at the alter is painful but so is getting a divorce! 

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, christie said:

One thing that really irritated me in the first movie was how the friends coddled Carrie when Big left her at the alter; at the same time Miranda was going through a divorce and the attitude from her friends was that it was no big deal and that she was to blame 😡 Everybody, including Miranda, was comforting Carrie; nobody was comforting Miranda. Sure, getting dumped at the alter is painful but so is getting a divorce! 

I hated that. Both women had their guy do something really bad. But only Carrie was the one who got all the sympathy, coddled, and was even spoon fed soup. Miranda got no sympathy, no coddling and her friends all blamed Miranda for it. Carrie got told by Charlotte that she was practicing on telling Big she wished he was never born. But told Miranda that she liked Steve, she always liked Steve. On top of that Miranda spent most of the episode thinking it was her fault that Big bailed on Carrie because of a remark she made at the rehearsal dinner. Which of course Carrie flips out when Miranda tells her instead of realizing her friend had been upset at the time because her husband cheated on her and it was still on Big for bailing. Then tells Miranda that she thought it was a big mistake for her to leave Steve. You know the husband who cheated on her. Miranda never said anything like that at Carrie. She had been completely sympathetic but got none of it in returned. How do you think Carrie would have reacted if Miranda had said the same thing to Carrie? Carrie would have flipped out even more and everyone would have acted like Miranda was horrible for suggesting that Carrie leaving Big was a big mistake. Nor would have treated Carrie the same way had Big cheated on Carrie. But because it was Miranda, it was okay. It was crappy. Miranda didn't deserve to get treated the way she did by her friends. Way to point out if anything bad happens to Carrie its the worse thing ever but if it happens to one of her friends or worse its not and its probably the friend's fault anyways.

[txhorns79]

20 hours ago, BlueMoon81 said:

Oh I DEFINITELY AGREE. Especially around 2000-2001, when KC was winning Golden Globes and was clearly the most popular character on the show among viewers, I don’t think SJP (and by extension MPK) took too kindly to it.

In fairness, Sarah Jessica Parker won at the Golden Globes four times, KC won once.  SJP won both before and after Kim.  I have to doubt the storylines were changed for the worse for KC because of that.  I do think Sam's storylines were sometimes cartoonish.   I also never liked that episode with the AIDS test because I don't believe any character who had sex as much as Samantha would never have been tested. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

37 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I hated that. Both women had their guy do something really bad. But only Carrie was the one who got all the sympathy, coddled, and was even spoon fed soup. Miranda got no sympathy, no coddling and her friends all blamed Miranda for it. Carrie got told by Charlotte that she was practicing on telling Big she wished he was never born. But told Miranda that she liked Steve, she always liked Steve. On top of that Miranda spent most of the episode thinking it was her fault that Big bailed on Carrie because of a remark she made at the rehearsal dinner. Which of course Carrie flips out when Miranda tells her instead of realizing her friend had been upset at the time because her husband cheated on her and it was still on Big for bailing. Then tells Miranda that she thought it was a big mistake for her to leave Steve. You know the husband who cheated on her. Miranda never said anything like that at Carrie. She had been completely sympathetic but got none of it in returned. How do you think Carrie would have reacted if Miranda had said the same thing to Carrie? Carrie would have flipped out even more and everyone would have acted like Miranda was horrible for suggesting that Carrie leaving Big was a big mistake. Nor would have treated Carrie the same way had Big cheated on Carrie. But because it was Miranda, it was okay. It was crappy. Miranda didn't deserve to get treated the way she did by her friends. Way to point out if anything bad happens to Carrie its the worse thing ever but if it happens to one of her friends or worse its not and its probably the friend's fault anyways.

The only thing that's important to me is whether my friends' partners treat them well.  What do I care if I like them or not.  I hated Charlotte's reaction.  She acted like Carrie and Big were her parents.  You're wayyyyyyy too invested, girl.  Your water broke because you were upset about something that Big did.  Good lord.  LOL.

Charlotte and Carrie (I will exclude my idol Samantha who I don't recall being an asshole to Miranda) basically acted like because Steve is likeable and Miranda is "not" in their eyes, all the blame can be put on Miranda and Carrie believed that MIRANDA. MUST. FORGIVE HIM. ON. HER TIME CLOCK.

Ughhhhhhhhh the whole thing was so bad.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

36 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

 Which of course Carrie flips out when Miranda tells her instead of realizing her friend had been upset at the time because her husband cheated on her and it was still on Big for bailing. Then tells Miranda that she thought it was a big mistake for her to leave Steve. You know the husband who cheated on her. Miranda never said anything like that at Carrie. She had been completely sympathetic but got none of it in returned. How do you think Carrie would have reacted if Miranda had said the same thing to Carrie?

Well Miranda kind of did by saying Carrie is making a huge mistake moving to Paris, and you're 100% right Carrie did get angry and said stay out of it.  But in both of those situations I am on the person's side who says "Stay out of it", but I've argued that 100 times here and I don't want to do it again 😄

Carrie and Charlotte were way too invested in Steve to the point of creepiness.  I understand if he was treating Miranda well, (like Smith was to Sam) BUT HE WASN'T.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[andromeda331]

26 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

In fairness, Sarah Jessica Parker won at the Golden Globes four times, KC won once.  SJP won both before and after Kim.  I have to doubt the storylines were changed for the worse for KC because of that.  I do think Sam's storylines were sometimes cartoonish.   I also never liked that episode with the AIDS test because I don't believe any character who had sex as much as Samantha would never have been tested. 

I hate that AIDS test. It never felt in character for Samantha to have never taken the test given how much sex she had. She never gave any sign she didn't give a crap about her own health. The show had a chance to show someone like Samantha being responsible. Instead of being shocked about being asked think of how much better it would have been if Samantha said she goes every year to get tested. That it happened to be time for her to go and show her going through the process of being tested, waiting and getting her results back. It would have been cool. We see sex crazed characters all the time on TV but never shown going into be tested unless its some "oh no" they might have AIDs or another STD. The show brought it up and had a great opportunity to do that. Instead decided to show Samantha being stupid. She grew up in the AIDS era. There's no way she wouldn't be making sure she was being tested.

[andromeda331]

32 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

The only thing that's important to me is whether my friends' partners treat them well.  What do I care if I like them or not.  I hated Charlotte's reaction.  She acted like Carrie and Big were her parents.  You're wayyyyyyy too invested, girl.  Your water broke because you were upset about something that Big did.  Good lord.  LOL.

Charlotte and Carrie (I will exclude my idol Samantha who I don't recall being an asshole to Miranda) basically acted like because Steve is likeable and Miranda is "not" in their eyes, all the blame can be put on Miranda and Carrie believed that MIRANDA. MUST. FORGIVE HIM. ON. HER TIME CLOCK.

Ughhhhhhhhh the whole thing was so bad.

Same here. Sure I'd like to like friends and families boyfriends/girlfriends/spouses. But all I really care about is how they treat my friend or family member. 

27 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Well Miranda kind of did by saying Carrie is making a huge mistake moving to Paris, and you're 100% right Carrie did get angry and said stay out of it.  But in both of those situations I am on the person's side who says "Stay out of it", but I've argued that 100 times here and I don't want to do it again 😄

 

While I do agree with Miranda, Carrie was making making a huge mistake. But it was still Carrie's choice to make. 

Quote

Carrie and Charlotte were way too invested in Steve to the point of creepiness.  I understand if he was treating Miranda well, (like Smith was to Sam) BUT HE WASN'T.

Yeah, they were acting like Miranda was over reacting to something Steve did and not something major like cheating on her. They should have given her their support but didn't. I can't imagine having that reaction to learning my friend was cheated on. I'd be pissed on her behalf and giving her whatever support and help she needed. Not acting like she needed to get back together with him and its all her fault.

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

I hate that AIDS test. It never felt in character for Samantha to have never taken the test given how much sex she had. She never gave any sign she didn't give a crap about her own health. The show had a chance to show someone like Samantha being responsible. Instead of being shocked about being asked think of how much better it would have been if Samantha said she goes every year to get tested. That it happened to be time for her to go and show her going through the process of being tested, waiting and getting her results back. It would have been cool. We see sex crazed characters all the time on TV but never shown going into be tested unless its some "oh no" they might have AIDs or another STD. The show brought it up and had a great opportunity to do that. Instead decided to show Samantha being stupid. She grew up in the AIDS era. There's no way she wouldn't be making sure she was being tested.

Yeah, the episode was extremely outdated even when it aired.

52 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Yeah, they were acting like Miranda was over reacting to something Steve did and not something major like cheating on her. They should have given her their support but didn't. I can't imagine having that reaction to learning my friend was cheated on. I'd be pissed on her behalf and giving her whatever support and help she needed. Not acting like she needed to get back together with him and its all her fault.

Yes.... Who spends Valentine's Day with her friend who is alone on Val. Day because she was CHEATED ON BY HER SPOUSE and then yells at her telling her she's making a mistake?!  Psycho.....

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Hiyo]

If anything, the AIDS episode might have worked a bit better had it been Carrie or Charlotte who had never taken an AIDS test before.

I like to think the other women coddled Carrie and not Miranda was because they knew Carrie was a needy whiny narcissist, and best to indulge her neediness then and there and nip it in the bud so to speak instead of hearing about it repeatedly for the next year or so.

At least, that’s my headcannon and I’m sticking to it.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Hiyo

[Ms Blue Jay]

Here's another way Carrie gets propped up.  In "Sex and the City 2" the movie she cheats on Big (kisses Aidan) and how does she get punished for it?  He buys her a black diamond ring.  Uhhhhh wait that sounds like a reward!!!!!!  

So when Miranda is cheated on, she gets yelled at by her friend, but when Carrie cheats on Big, she gets a diamond!  Got it!

Edited August 27, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Hiyo]

Can you imagine the gift Big would have given her if she had fucked Aiden?

[blondiec0332]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I like to think the other women coddled Carrie and not Miranda was because they knew Carrie was a needy whiny narcissist, and best to indulge her neediness then and there and nip it in the bud so to speak instead of hearing about it repeatedly for the next year or so.

There is truth to that.  There were many instances throughout the series where the others had to walk on eggshells around Carrie for fear of upsetting her.

8 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Charlotte and Carrie (I will exclude my idol Samantha who I don't recall being an asshole to Miranda) basically acted like because Steve is likeable and Miranda is "not" in their eyes, all the blame can be put on Miranda and Carrie believed that MIRANDA. MUST. FORGIVE HIM. ON. HER TIME CLOCK.

 

8 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Yeah, they were acting like Miranda was over reacting to something Steve did and not something major like cheating on her. They should have given her their support but didn't.

That was always a head scratcher for me.  The women had always been very supportive of each other and when Miranda really needed them to be there for her they were not.  Carrie and Charlotte were Team Steve which I just found bizarre.   Carrie had cheated on Aiden and knew the hurt it caused him. Charlotte had been disappointed when Carrie cheated on Aiden. But Carrie and Charlotte just gloss over Steve cheating on Miranda and basically tell her to get over it.  And let's not forget why Steve cheated on her. He felt like he wasn't getting enough attention. Which is just such a shitty excuse.  Were we the audience supposed to think Miranda was at fault?  As a woman I find that so insulting. Steve chose to cheat. Miranda did not drive him to it.

[qtpye]

57 minutes ago, blondiec0332 said:

There is truth to that.  There were many instances throughout the series where the others had to walk on eggshells around Carrie for fear of upsetting her.

 

That was always a head scratcher for me.  The women had always been very supportive of each other and when Miranda really needed them to be there for her they were not.  Carrie and Charlotte were Team Steve which I just found bizarre.   Carrie had cheated on Aiden and knew the hurt it caused him. Charlotte had been disappointed when Carrie cheated on Aiden. But Carrie and Charlotte just gloss over Steve cheating on Miranda and basically tell her to get over it.  And let's not forget why Steve cheated on her. He felt like he wasn't getting enough attention. Which is just such a shitty excuse.  Were we the audience supposed to think Miranda was at fault?  As a woman I find that so insulting. Steve chose to cheat. Miranda did not drive him to it.

Wouldn’t it be funny if Miranda left Steve and got a man more handsome and successful than the guys they were with?

It would have driven Charlotte and Carrie a little crazy. I thought Miranda was attractive but it was clear in the group that she was not considered the pretty or the hot one. She was supposed to be the smart and tough one.

I agree with you about how awful it was that Miranda’s best friends stuck up for Steve’s shitty behavior.

[christie]

I also found Miranda to be attractive, especially in the second movie where they really upped her fashion game but, yeah, she was supposed to be the smart, tough one. MPK said that they brought Steve in in order to soften Miranda 'cause she was too tough. Though I never had a problem with Steve, I would have preferred if she had ended up with Blair Underwood's character - that was one smoking couple. And this is where the conservative part that I mentioned before comes in; she married her son's father; they couldn't have her with Robert and co-parenting with Steve? Especially since at the time when Miranda got pregnant she and Steve weren't even dating, they were friends and it was a sympathy lay because Miranda felt bad for Steve 'cause he lost a testicle to cancer. Both seemed to be getting on with their lives and it always felt a bit out of left field that Miranda wanted to be with Steve.

[chitowngirl]

I liked the Steve that was introduced: Well-read Bartender who caught Miranda’s interest, not the doofus they turned him into.

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I liked the Steve that was introduced: Well-read Bartender who caught Miranda’s interest, not the doofus they turned him into.

Same here. I liked Steve when he was introduced. He was really interesting. I hated that they changed him.

[RealHousewife]

10 hours ago, qtpye said:

Wouldn’t it be funny if Miranda left Steve and got a man more handsome and successful than the guys they were with?

It would have driven Charlotte and Carrie a little crazy. I thought Miranda was attractive but it was clear in the group that she was not considered the pretty or the hot one. She was supposed to be the smart and tough one.

I agree with you about how awful it was that Miranda’s best friends stuck up for Steve’s shitty behavior.

Sometimes I forget how pretty Cynthia Nixon truly is because they didn’t do Miranda justice with styling like they did the other characters. 

Do you think Charlotte was a jealous person in general? She definitely seemed less superficial toward the end. I think she was so happy with Harry even if he didn’t look like a model.

The Steve situation is tough because while what he did was wrong, he was usually a sweet guy. To be clear, I definitely think Miranda needed support for being hurt by him. I would have been extremely hurt in her shoes by his betrayal. 

Edited August 28, 2020 by RealHousewife

[Ms Blue Jay]

I won't agree that Steve was a sweet guy. 😄 I really hate Steve for a lot of reasons and his treatment of Miranda was often really bad but for sure I know that the show and the movies were always portraying him as Sainted Steve.  I've said this before but Steve gets the same treatment Carrie does.  They both can be immature brats that scream whenever they don't get whatever they want and the show paints it as adorable.  Big and Miranda are painted as villainous.  Sometimes I do agree that Big is villainous, like in the early seasons, but Miranda treated Steve way better than he treated her.

[txhorns79]

3 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

 

The Steve situation is tough because while what he did was wrong, he was usually a sweet guy. To be clear, I definitely think Miranda needed support for being hurt by him. I would have been extremely hurt in her shoes by his betrayal. 

I thought the movie did a relatively decent job of showing that they were having real marital problems before Steve cheated.  I mean, Miranda basically demanding that sex not be prolonged (with the idea being she has better things to do) suggests a pretty dysfunctional couple.   

[Ms Blue Jay]

She had to go to sleep because she's a lawyer that works like 60 hours a week.   So....... if Steve isn't in good enough bed, that Miranda would rather get 5 hours of sleep before an important day of work, I'm not going to blame Miranda for that. 🙄. Miranda is the breadwinner that houses Steve's mother for free.  If not for Miranda what dump would Steve live in and where would Steve's mother live.  

Edited August 28, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[RealHousewife]

I don’t blame Miranda one bit for wanting her sleep, and what Steve did was wrong. But I agree the relationship wasn’t healthy. Didn’t they go several months without sex? You don’t have to be Samantha to believe something was wrong prior to the cheating. 

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

She had to go to sleep because she's a lawyer that works like 60 hours a week.   So....... if Steve isn't in good enough bed, that Miranda would rather get 5 hours of sleep before an important day of work, I'm not going to blame Miranda for that. 🙄. Miranda is the breadwinner that houses Steve's mother for free.  If not for Miranda what dump would Steve live in and where would Steve's mother live.  

 

1 hour ago, RealHousewife said:

I don’t blame Miranda one bit for wanting her sleep, and what Steve did was wrong. But I agree the relationship wasn’t healthy. Didn’t they go several months without sex? You don’t have to be Samantha to believe something was wrong prior to the cheating. 

Neither will I. If Steve was unhappy then he should have said something. Not have an affair. 

[Hiyo]

I think Pat Fields dropped the ball when it came to styling Miranda overall, especially in the earlier seasons. She had a clear idea about the other women and how to dress them. Carrie was the edgy fashionista. Sam was the bold vamp. Charlotte was the Park Avenue princess. But with Miranda, she really seemed to struggle with the upscale white collar type. 
 

Steve was a decent guy but yeah he could really be a brat. And whatever was going on between him and Miranda, cheating on her was not cool.

And Charlotte being sympathetic to Steve was a bit out of character. When she caught Carrie cheating with Big, she asked Carrie how she would feel if Trey was cheating on Charlotte. So yeah, a bit weird for Charlotte to be sympathetic to Steve.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Hiyo

[blondiec0332]

5 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Neither will I. If Steve was unhappy then he should have said something. Not have an affair. 

This a thousand times.  The movie really did it set it up as Steve while not justified for cheating but it's understandable.  Which I find gross..  It's one thing for Steve to feel that way. Even though he apologized he still IMO thought what he did was excusable.  And then to have Carrie and Charlotte more or less feel the same way. While it's completely believable Steve would do what he did it's disappointing the writers handled it the way they did.  If they had wanted to split them up for most of the movies there were other ways they could have done it. People separate all the time for reasons other than infidelity.  

3 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I think Pat Fields dropped the ball when it came to styling Miranda overall, especially in the earlier seasons. She had a clear idea about the other women and how to dress them. Carrie was the edgy fashionista. Sam was the bold vamp. Charlotte was the Park Avenue princess. But with Miranda, she really seemed to struggle with the upscale white collar type. 

This is just my opinion but it seemed like Pat Fields wasn't interested in the character of Miranda or maybe it was Cynthia Nixon she wasn't interested in dressing.  As mentioned above Miranda's wardrobe improved greatly in the movies but during the show it was either business suits or sweatshirts.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, blondiec0332 said:

This is just my opinion but it seemed like Pat Fields wasn't interested in the character of Miranda or maybe it was Cynthia Nixon she wasn't interested in dressing.  As mentioned above Miranda's wardrobe improved greatly in the movies but during the show it was either business suits or sweatshirts.  

It was pretty narrow minded of Patricia Field to be like, oh because Miranda is this sharp businesswoman, there's no way she could possibly be stylish too.  Pat was very locked in with the archetypes of these 4 women and Miranda got left in the dust, style wise.  I mean it's New York.  Miranda would simply be stylish because she had buckets of money and she would gain style ideas through osmosis.  

Edited August 28, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[qtpye]

13 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Sometimes I forget how pretty Cynthia Nixon truly is because they didn’t do Miranda justice with styling like they did the other characters. 

Do you think Charlotte was a jealous person in general? She definitely seemed less superficial toward the end. I think she was so happy with Harry even if he didn’t look like a model.

The Steve situation is tough because while what he did was wrong, he was usually a sweet guy. To be clear, I definitely think Miranda needed support for being hurt by him. I would have been extremely hurt in her shoes by his betrayal. 

I don't think Charlotte was jealous but I do think she thought life worked in a certain way and she could be rigid. Probably the worst Charlotte moment was when she rejected a guy who was eager to marry because they had different taste in china patterns or something stupid like that.  She did loosen up as the series progressed

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I won't agree that Steve was a sweet guy. 😄 I really hate Steve for a lot of reasons and his treatment of Miranda was often really bad but for sure I know that the show and the movies were always portraying him as Sainted Steve.  I've said this before but Steve gets the same treatment Carrie does.  They both can be immature brats that scream whenever they don't get whatever they want and the show paints it as adorable.  Big and Miranda are painted as villainous.  Sometimes I do agree that Big is villainous, like in the early seasons, but Miranda treated Steve way better than he treated her.

 

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

She had to go to sleep because she's a lawyer that works like 60 hours a week.   So....... if Steve isn't in good enough bed, that Miranda would rather get 5 hours of sleep before an important day of work, I'm not going to blame Miranda for that. 🙄. Miranda is the breadwinner that houses Steve's mother for free.  If not for Miranda what dump would Steve live in and where would Steve's mother live.  

Can you imagine if a woman had complained and cheated because her husband with a high end/ high stress job was not having enough sex with her? No, she would be crucified for being such an entitled bitch. People would be screaming about how grateful she should be for having a high earning man.

4 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I think Pat Fields dropped the ball when it came to styling Miranda overall, especially in the earlier seasons. She had a clear idea about the other women and how to dress them. Carrie was the edgy fashionista. Sam was the bold vamp. Charlotte was the Park Avenue princess. But with Miranda, she really seemed to struggle with the upscale white collar type. 
 

Steve was a decent guy but yeah he could really be a brat. And whatever was going on between him and Miranda, cheating on her was not cool.

And Charlotte being sympathetic to Steve was a bit out of character. When she caught Carrie cheating with Big, she asked Carrie how she would feel if Trey was cheating on Charlotte. So yeah, a bit weird for Charlotte to be sympathetic to Steve.

 

11 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

It was pretty narrow minded of Patricia Field to be like, oh because Miranda is this sharp businesswoman, there's no way she could possibly be stylish too.  Pat was very locked in with the archetypes of these 4 women and Miranda got left in the dust, style wise.  I mean it's New York.  Miranda would simply be stylish because she had buckets of money and she would gain style ideas through osmosis.  

There is a stupid trope, that was much stronger when the show first aired, that smart women did not care about how they looked and tried their best to look unattractive to be taken seriously in male dominated fields. They did the same thing on a much more recent show called Modern Family. They all acted like a perfectly attractive girl was hideous because she was smart and of course she had the requisite off putting personality.

The problem was that the actress made Miranda very likable and not the ball buster everyone was expecting. Carrie was the one who was a 12 year old girl trapped in the body of a 40 year old.

[blondiec0332]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

It was pretty narrow minded of Patricia Field to be like, oh because Miranda is this sharp businesswoman, there's no way she could possibly be stylish too.  Pat was very locked in with the archetypes of these 4 women and Miranda got left in the dust, style wise.  I mean it's New York.  Miranda would simply be stylish because she had buckets of money and she would gain style ideas through osmosis.  

I've seen and read interviews with Pat Field and I have to say I didn't care for her.  I know some people considered  her a genius but I was not one of those people.  She would dress Carrie is such ridiculous outfits.  Now to be fair she also dressed her in some to die for clothes but when she was dressed in the Heidi outfit or the belt over her bare stomach it didn't match the character.  I know we were supposed to think Carrie was a free spirit and marched to the beat of her own drummer but that simply was not true.  I read a review somewhere and it said Pat Field dressed Carrie to get attention for herself and I would agree with that. She also was the costume designer on that awful Kelly Ripa sitcom Hope and Faith and she would dress Kelly's character in the most outrageous outfits.  Kelly's character was written to be over the top so the clothes were a little more understandable.  But for Carrie I can not think of one good reason she would dress as Heidi. Unless she was going to be yodeling in the Alps.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, blondiec0332 said:

I've seen and read interviews with Pat Field and I have to say I didn't care for her.  I know some people considered  her a genius but I was not one of those people.  She would dress Carrie is such ridiculous outfits.  Now to be fair she also dressed her in some to die for clothes but when she was dressed in the Heidi outfit or the belt over her bare stomach it didn't match the character.  I know we were supposed to think Carrie was a free spirit and marched to the beat of her own drummer but that simply was not true.  I read a review somewhere and it said Pat Field dressed Carrie to get attention for herself and I would agree with that. She also was the costume designer on that awful Kelly Ripa sitcom Hope and Faith and she would dress Kelly's character in the most outrageous outfits.  Kelly's character was written to be over the top so the clothes were a little more understandable.  But for Carrie I can not think of one good reason she would dress as Heidi. Unless she was going to be yodeling in the Alps.

While I have to say that some of Carrie's outfits from S1/S2 still inspire me to this day, it was because they were more minimalist and Pat incorporated minimalism and vintage and "cheaper" items.  Once Pat hit Season 3 and Carrie started wearing those enormous flowers, it was like a woman who totally bought into her own hype. Also, the "ghetto gold" that Carrie wore, which is Carrie's term, an offensive term in itself.  By that point, outlandish costume gold was already outdated.  I NEVER saw those trends have any impact on any real women, ever.  Did anyone else?  By Seasons 4-6 Carrie was wearing high end designers and normal women can't afford that stuff anyway.

It's all about real world impact.  The way Pat dressed Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada with a million hats, scarves, accessories, off the shoulder sweaters over button down shirts, etc. once again I saw that have no real world impact on real women.  So, yeah I think Pat is pretty out there and not dialed in.  She wasn't creating trends that people followed.  

Edited August 28, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

Can you imagine if a woman had complained and cheated because her husband with a high end/ high stress job was not having enough sex with her? No, she would be crucified for being such an entitled bitch. People would be screaming about how grateful she should be for having a high earning man.

Yes, I feel like the writers were very, very, very hard on Miranda.  Miranda didn't fit into the feminine woman archetype of being a damsel in distress, and for that, she continually got punished for it.  She was stoic, professional, she put her career first -- BUT SO WHAT?????  And Steve was always there trying to ruin her shit and be a big baby and shit everywhere and whine and throw basketballs when he didn't get his way.  I.  HATE.  STEVE.  LOL.  

[blondiec0332]

6 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

it was like a woman who totally bought into her own hype

I agree with  you.  Her fashion sense wasn't sense at all.  It was all about look at me.

I do think she dressed Charlotte beautifully throughout the series and movies.

There is one style I did steal from Carrie that I still wear to this day.  I think it was when she met Aidan and his kid. She had on jeans with a some sort of summer top and a cardigan over it.  It was the few looks of Carrie's that translated to real life.

[blondiec0332]

7 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Miranda didn't fit into the feminine woman archetype of being a damsel in distress, and for that, she continually got punished for it.

Well some people would say Samantha also got punished for not being a damsel in distress.  Whether it was intentional or not it does seem like the writers wrote Charlotte and Carrie a certain way and Miranda and Samantha a different way.  Charlotte and Carrie both wanted romance and Miranda and Samantha did not. . When the show first started Miranda and Samantha both seemed like they didn't need to define themselves by having a man in their life.  When Samantha broke up with  Smith I totally understood. She felt like she had lost her identity.  I wish they had done that with Miranda as well. Instead of making her too busy and uninterested in having sex with Steve they could have had her rethink her move to Brooklyn and taking a step back from being a partner in a law firm. That would have caused conflict in her marriage that felt organic and not plot driven to get her back with the girls for the rest of the movie.

I had a friend (a female friend no less) tell me that I needed to stop being so independent when it came to men. That I needed to let men feel like I needed them. Needless to say I am no longer friends with that person

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, blondiec0332 said:

Well some people would say Samantha also got punished for not being a damsel in distress. 

Of course I agree with that too!  They gave Samantha CANCER for goodness's sakes.  Of course, it's great to show a woman going through cancer as it is such a real problem for so many women, but of course Samantha would get it, and the doctor had to shame her for her childless lifestyle during her diagnosis.  And she got (arrested?) in the Middle East?  Okay I admit I don't remember the details exactly, but Samantha was punished constantly.

7 hours ago, blondiec0332 said:

  When Samantha broke up with  Smith I totally understood. She felt like she had lost her identity. 

Smith is a nice guy, and I have zero complaints about him, but I have to admit, when Samantha said "I love you, but I love me more" and my entire theatre screamed and applauded in 2008 it was a hilarious moment.

7 hours ago, blondiec0332 said:

 When Samantha broke up with  Smith I totally understood. She felt like she had lost her identity.  I wish they had done that with Miranda as well. Instead of making her too busy and uninterested in having sex with Steve they could have had her rethink her move to Brooklyn and taking a step back from being a partner in a law firm. That would have caused conflict in her marriage that felt organic and not plot driven to get her back with the girls for the rest of the movie.

YES, either have Miranda alone, or with Blair Underwood, or having him as a friend with benefits, or nothing.  HAHAHAHAH.  

Edited August 29, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[blondiec0332]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Okay I admit I don't remember the details exactly, but Samantha was punished constantly.

Didn't it  have something to do with her hormone supplements?  Like I said in an earlier post i skip that part of the movie.

Out of all the women I think Samantha was the most genuine. You knew who she was and more importantly she knew who she was. She was afraid to fall for Richard and rightly so because he broke her heart. Whenever I watch that scene my heart breaks for her.  She was afraid to fall for Smith and did a lot to self sabotage but she took a chance and I really enjoyed their relationship. Until she was relegated to staying home while he worked.  The show might have tried to portray Samantha as a woman you don't want to be but I found myself thinking I wish I could be more like her.  There is nothing wrong with a woman enjoying sex and not wanting to settle down with one partner.  And as someone mentioned earlier there is no fucking way Samantha hadn't been tested for HIV. I also don't believe she would have been lax about practicing safe sex. She mentioned she had had two abortions. I doubt she would have taken chances after that. Actually I'm surprised she was in a situation that required a second abortion. I'm going to choose to believe the condom broke.

[RealHousewife]

Regarding style, I also agree Pat did a fantastic job with Charlotte. Charlotte must be one of the best dressed characters of all time. 

[BlueMoon81]

On 8/26/2020 at 11:15 PM, txhorns79 said:

In fairness, Sarah Jessica Parker won at the Golden Globes four times, KC won once.  SJP won both before and after Kim.  I have to doubt the storylines were changed for the worse for KC because of that.  I do think Sam's storylines were sometimes cartoonish.   I also never liked that episode with the AIDS test because I don't believe any character who had sex as much as Samantha would never have been tested. 

I never said that KC won more GG than SJP, I said that KC was the most popular character on the show around that time, and she was. As for who won more Awards, a lot of that is politics—KC (and CN for that matter) can act circles around SJP in my opinion. KC is a classically trained actress who’s starred on Broadway and the West End in London...If the awards were given on actual merit/acting skill, KC would have won for every year of the show, as her character had far more depth and pathos than Carrie Bradshaw did...in my opinion. 
 

i vividly remember Ted Casablanca saying in 2003—“the show is supposed to be about Carrie...but Samantha is the one that people remember, Samantha is the one that people tune in to see”. I think SJP and MPK were acutely aware of that fact...and gave Samantha storylines that mocked her appearance and age as a result 

[RealHousewife]

Wasn’t there an episode where Carrie mocks Samantha for thinking she was as pretty as a model? She was pretty as a model as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately even IRL, confident women are often mocked. People are so used to women calling themselves ugly and fat and old that God forbid an attractive woman knows she’s attractive. I definitely think people who act superior are off-putting, but I only ever remember Samantha being confident. I don’t recall her putting down her friends or acting like she was the hot one. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I mean, Kim Cattrall's most famous role before SATC was playing a literal Mannequin!  Of course she's as beautiful as a model.  She and Kristin are a lot more conventionally good looking than SJP and I guess SJP and her BFF MPK absolutely hated that.  LOL.  

[Mu Shu]

On 8/26/2020 at 8:30 AM, blondiec0332 said:

I think Big's biggest flaw was he wasn't what Carrie wanted him to be.  I have rewatched the entire series numerous times and each time I think I'm going to change my opinion and I don't. Was he the best boyfriend? No. Was he withholding? Depends on your point of view.  Carrie wanted it to be more defined and he wanted things to keep going the way they were going. I'm not convinced she fell in love with Big the person or what she wanted Big to be. She wanted a certain lifestyle and he was part of that.  I think she genuinely loved Aiden but he wasn't going to fit into the lifestyle she wanted.  I've said before Carrie wanted to be a socialite. She wanted to be one of those women who was considered a "get" when she came to your party/fundraiser/whatever.  She wanted to wear nice clothes and shoes and not really have to work all that hard for it. Writing was a means to an end for her.   Many of us here could write her column and it would be better than what she wrote.

I don't think Carrie could understand ex's being friends. Since she was unable to do it.   

There was definitely a shift in how Samantha was written. Wasn't this also the time period where she thought she was going through menopause and slept with the older sleazy neighbor and her period started?

 

I'm someone who likes to start what I finish so when I do a rewatch I will watch the second movie but I skip then entire section of when they are in Abu Dabi. I just can't watch it.

Just watch it for the Miranda/Charlotte scene and that amazing olive green silk dress Miranda is wearing.