Carrie

[Mozelle]

If that's the case then we can take it back to no one forcing Charlotte to give Carrie the money either. Carrie was upset and expressed her feelings over Charlotte's dramatic exit from the loan conversation, but in the end, Charlotte made the decision to loan money to Carrie--just as Miranda expressed her feelings over Carrie taking Big's check and Carrie ripping up the check.

 

Charlotte wasn't forced to loan the money any more than Carrie was forced to rip up the check then.

[Maherjunkie]

No, but I think Charlotte was certainly pressured from Carrie to give it. if nothing else.

[Inquisitionist]

Miranda had decided that it was a check with strings attached.

 

Which is really pretty ridiculous.  Carrie could have had the same payment terms with Big that she did with Charlotte, and as others pointed out, Big could better afford the financial hit if Carrie failed to repay the loan.

 

I don't think anyone was forced to act as he or she did, but subtle pressure was applied, starting with Miranda and Samantha inappropriately (IMO) offering Carrie money in front of Charlotte.  This put Charlotte in an awkward position.  Yes, she could have handled it much better than looking away and pretending not to even hear, but she wouldn't have been in that situation at all if Miranda had more tact.  What bugs me is that the writers' solution was for Charlotte to "grow" by giving up the engagement ring she loved so she could loan the money to Carrie against her own better judgment.  And we're supposed to (I guess) applaud Carrie for her forthright honesty, that didn't result in her technically demanding or even asking for a loan from Charlotte, but that had the end result of getting the money out of her anyway.  It just didn't sit right with me that Carrie's absurd (again IMO) sense of entitlement about that apartment (which she had enjoyed at below market rental rates for many years) should be resolved so neatly for her. 

 

(One last peeve:  Why Miranda, who had to point out to Carrie that 100 pairs of shoes at $400 a pop equals $40,000 -- not $4,000 -- and who had a baby on the way with all the expenses that entails would even think to offer Carrie a loan of $15,000 boggles my mind.  She should have offered Carrie no more than one free session with a financial advisor!)

[Maherjunkie]

Does anyone know what the rate for a used designer shoe would be on Ebay or consignment?  So with you, BTW..

[Bella]

Does anyone know what the rate for a used designer shoe would be on Ebay or consignment?  So with you, BTW..

 

Here are the Manolos on eBay. And here are the used Manolos. 

 

So she'd get some money back. She might do better in a consignment shop, however.

[andromeda331]

What bugs me is that the writers' solution was for Charlotte to "grow" by giving up the engagement ring she loved so she could loan the money to Carrie against her own better judgment.  And we're supposed to (I guess) applaud Carrie for her forthright honesty, that didn't result in her technically demanding or even asking for a loan from Charlotte, but that had the end result of getting the money out of her anyway.  It just didn't sit right with me that Carrie's absurd (again IMO) sense of entitlement about that apartment (which she had enjoyed at below market rental rates for many years) should be resolved so neatly for her.

 

 

Me too. It gets resolved with Carrie having to make absolutely no changes or have any effect on her life.She was the one who blew all of her money on shoes and using someone else's engagement ring to keep her apartment. Then gets to carry on with her life same as always. Why can't Carrie have a little growth too and learn to be more responsible with her money? It really could have opened up more interesting stories for Carrie as she tried to get out of her financial problems. Selling her shoes, getting a second job or moving in with one of her friends. Yes, I know she got the job with Vogue but that could have opened up more avenues into Carrie's career.  

 

 

 

 

Sure, it's easy for us to sit here and question why they don't address it but the idea is that if it doesn't fit in with any given episode it simply isn't mentioned again.

 

 

I blame the writers they could have easily had fit it into the episode where Carrie received big money for her book being published and spent big money on Berger. They could easily have had a scene where Carrie's giving some money to Charlotte or making a remark to having paid some of the money back to Charlotte. 

[andromeda331]

I feel like the entire fiasco with Big in the first ×movie is Carrie's fault for being a terrible, selfish fiancee who never bothered listening to her fiance when he told her repeatedly that he didn't want a big, gaudy, highly public wedding, because damn if Carrie was going to consider anyone else's needs, wants, or feelings when she could think about her (not that great, IMO) dress.

 

 

I'm  going to defend Carrie here a little which is weird for me, but Carrie is over the top and that's the type of wedding she would want. Charlotte and Miranda both got the weddings they truly wanted and perfectly suited to their characters. Why couldn't Carrie have that too? I hated the wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses but that seemed like Carrie's style. But my favorite moment in the movie was when she decided to have her wedding in the library, under the roof that housed all the great works of history, all the great poetry and etc. I thought it was a great idea and perfect for her character. 

[Inquisitionist]

Carrie is over the top and that's the type of wedding she would want.

 

It's been a while since I saw the movie, but didn't it present Carrie as being a little ambivalent about the wedding herself at first?  She started out being fine with a small affair at City Hall.  Then Vivienne Westwood gave her that horror (IMO) of a wedding dress and having a wedding that "lived up to" that dress (gag me) became more important, apparently, than considering her fiancé's feelings.  While he's busy building her the closet of her dreams in a gorgeous penthouse apartment, she's hiding from him the fact that the wedding is becoming something he doesn't want.  Blerg.

[Bella]

Why can't Carrie have a little growth too and learn to be more responsible with her money? It really could have opened up more interesting stories for Carrie as she tried to get out of her financial problems. Selling her shoes, getting a second job or moving in with one of her friends. Yes, I know she got the job with Vogue but that could have opened up more avenues into Carrie's career. 

 

This really would have added a sorely needed dimension to the series. I think I said the other day that the focus on Carrie's career diminished over time, and that struck me as a negative.

 

With Carrie's financial difficulties, the writers had all the ingredients to re-energize that side of her. They could have had her meeting new and different people, they could have had her fumbling through job struggles in a way that took advantage of SJP's charm, they could have given her existential crises, etc., etc., etc.

 

They could have done so much with and for this character, and they didn't. Instead, they took the easy way out.

 

But I felt they took the obvious route in other situations, too. It was if they became fatigued or burnt out. It's understandable that a team of writers couldn't be creative every week - I think that's a huge mental demand. That doesn't change the fact that I think they blew some opportunities, however.

[wovenloaf]

That wedding gown Carrie wore was the opposite of stylish, IMO. It was butt UGLY. And what was with the feather or whatever it was sticking out of the veil? Yuck. 

 

That thing was a nightmare. 

Edited August 7, 2014 by wovenloaf

[andromeda331]

It's been a while since I saw the ×movie, but didn't it present Carrie as being a little ambivalent about the wedding herself at first? She started out being fine with a small affair at City Hall.

 

 

I remember Carrie planning a wedding of seventy-five and Samantha being her maid of honor and showing Charlotte and Anthony the first dress but I don't know if that was for City Hall or not. Maybe someone else who remembers better can say if that was for City Hall? Do people normally have a wedding of seventy-five and a maid of honor for a City Hall wedding?  I've never been to a City Hall wedding before so would that be normal?  I never thought Carrie would want to get married at City Hall it seemed out of character to me and the fact her friends weren't there. I know they were outside but both felt un-Carrie like. 

[ChlcGirl]

If I remember correctly, and if I am wrong please someone correct me, the original wedding was going to be a small affair with 75 people and that was what the suit was purchased for. There was no mention of where it would be. Then came the Westwood and the over the top wedding. They only seemed to decide on a courthouse wedding with only the two of them after they reconciled.

[Inquisitionist]

Slightly OT, but the best City Hall wedding I've seen on TV/film was Liz Lemon's wedding with Criss Chross on 30 Rock.  Liz dressed as Princess Leia.  Video clip here.

[Maherjunkie]

 

Why couldn't Carrie have that too? 

Because her fiance didn't want it.  I think the garden wedding and the Jewish wedding were natural for the men as well as the women.

[andromeda331]

the Jewish wedding were natural for the men as well as the women.

 

 

Charlotte's second wedding was first going to be really small too but she changed her mind because she really wanted the big wedding again. I think Harry went along with it because it made Charlotte happy. Just like he did that picture for the society page not because he wanted too but because it made Charlotte happy. 

[Maherjunkie]

I saw some mutuality in those weddings though.  You saw Harry's spirit as well as Charlotte's, if that doesn't sound too hokey.

[andromeda331]

You saw Harry's spirit as well as Charlotte's, if that doesn't sound too hokey.

 

 

No that doesn't sound too hokey at all. In fact I like what you said about Harry's spirit. I thought it sounded really nice.

[Maherjunkie]

Thank you!

[tobia]

 

Charlotte's second wedding was first going to be really small too but she changed her mind because she really wanted the big wedding again. I think Harry went along with it because it made Charlotte happy. Just like he did that picture for the society page not because he wanted too but because it made Charlotte happy.

As with all other aspects of a relationship, wedding planning involves some give and take. The problem with Carrie in the movie was that after she got the dress, it was all take and no give from Carrie. Big flat-out told her that he didn't feel comfortable with a big wedding, and she just ignored him and kept adding more guests,

[Mozelle]

(One last peeve:  Why Miranda, who had to point out to Carrie that 100 pairs of shoes at $400 a pop equals $40,000 -- not $4,000 -- and who had a baby on the way with all the expenses that entails would even think to offer Carrie a loan of $15,000 boggles my mind.  She should have offered Carrie no more than one free session with a financial advisor!)

 

I think it was because it was Big who offered up the money. Miranda really didn't like Big, so the idea of Carrie taking money from him seemed to be an affront to Miranda's sensibilities or something.

[27bored]

Plus, Miranda had a big ol girl crush on Carrie.

 

I was gonna remark on something maybe only I noticed. Did anybody notice how in S2-3 Carrie would make these random "knowing" comments about Mayor Giuliani? "Hurry up and go before Giuliani closes it down" and the like? It was weird because, as we found out in S3, Carrie wasn't even registered to vote. It was just weird that the writers made her make these comments when she was kind of an airhead when it came to politics.

[Inquisitionist]

SJP apparently shares Carrie's sense of entitlement.

Sarah Jessica Parker Busted For Shoe Shoot at Carrie Bradshaw's House
 

Sarah Jessica Parker recently shamelessly promoted her eponymous shoe line using Carrie Bradshaw’s famed Sex and the City stoop. Cute, right?

Only one problem. That staircase is not a fake set — people actually live there and they are over SATC tributes.

Those famous stairs from the hit tv show now come with a sign directed at tourists who visit 66 Perry St. to pay tribute to the iconic TV character. In order to detour the visitors from climbing the residents’ front steps, a chain has been installed along with a sign that reads, "Do NOT go on staircase please."

The President of the Perry Street Association, Gerald Banu, told Page Six, "The situation with 'SATC' visitors is still very intense. People who live here get upset that the sidewalks are constantly jammed."

But the 49-year-old actress did not pay attention to the signage as she put her fabulous shoes with her name on them on those steps.

This snap shows how the SJP collection fits on one stair perfectly in a row.

 

The shoes also lined the street with Parker strolling along them.

Drawing further attention to the building, SJP reportedly did not get permission to do this photo shoot.

A source tells Page Six that the owners are "up in arms as they deal with relentless tourists, and SJP has ignored their requests for an explanation on how she could endorse the shoot, even though 'no trespassing' signs are posted. SJP used their house during the years of filming, and now won’t acknowledge that she and her company used the steps and facade, this time without permission…."

 

 

On the one hand, I hope they sue her for a share of the profits, but OTOH, I hope the shoe line tanks.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Inquisitionist

[Maherjunkie]

SJP seems ok, (normally) it's the character that blows.

[pricklypear]

Hi, all. Just wanted to share some of my least favorite Carrie moments, in no particular order. Anything related to Natasha during the affair -- hanging out in their apartment after doing the deed, ruining Natasha's lunch, etc. I get that Natasha wasn't "real" to Carrie, but the show went kind of beyond that, IMO. Also hated any time she told Aidan to give her space, and then he'd comply, and then she'd get pouty because he wasn't paying attention to her. I'm thinking about the time that she kept trying to call him after she told him he was "too available." He did what she asked him to do, and then she got upset. And the time already discussed when she told him she wanted to be left alone at the end of the day. So, now there she is sitting by herself in a chair, her boyfriend leaving her alone like she asked him to do, and she couldn't even stand it for two minutes before she was up in his lap. I would've gotten whiplash dating her. I also hated any time she squealed or batted her eyes a million times (that happened a lot towards the end of the series). It made her look and sound so immature. And speaking of immature, there is a scene when the girls are having picnic lunch and catching up, talking about what's going on in their lives. Miranda says something like, "Let's see: work, work, sleep, work." Or something like that. And Carrie says, "Let's see: Aidan, Aidan, Aidan...and Aidan." It just bugs me that a thirty-something woman with a pretty fabulous career finds that the ONLY thing she has going on in her life is her boyfriend. Weird. Possibly my LEAST favorite Carrie moment, though, is when Big comes out to the country house with Aidan. I know it was Big who did the driving out there, but every time I watch the scene of Big sitting there dumping his problems all over the place, and then he gets too drunk to drive and stays the night, I get really annoyed (I mean, good on them for not letting him drive, but, seriously). And Aidan has to just sit there and be okay with all of this. Maybe that's more of a least favorite BIG moment, but Carrie had a hand in getting him out there. Ugh, I always felt bad for poor Aidan.

 

 

[Maherjunkie]

Yeah, sometimes I feel like Roy Scheider trying to tell Big and Aidan to stay out of the water.

[DkNNy79]

I have a love/hate relationship with Carrie.  Sometimes I think she's funny and cool, especially when she's with the girls, but I hated her during her affairs with Big.  I mean she had no respect for herself or for the people she was hurting.  Yes, Big has to take a lot of the blame when it goes to Natasha because they were married, but still Carrie knowingly slept with a married man.

  

I love Aidan, to me he is the ideal guy.  Cute, successful, laid back and just an all around good guy.  I hated when she cheated on him the first time and I only think she got back together with him was because he looked really hot.  Then she was dumbfounded on why Aidan's exes who came after her would give her a weird look? 

[psychoticstate]

I also had a love/hate relationship with Carrie.  At certain times I liked her but at others, I wanted to throat punch her.\

 

I personally never considered her the "everywoman" she was projected to be.  She was my least favorite character for many of the episodes and most of the time I thought she was a horrible friend.  At one time during the run of the show, Samantha, Miranda AND Charlotte all claimed that Carrie was their best friend and I was always scratching my head, wondering "how?" and "why?"  Because Carrie was a big old selfish asshole a lot of the time.  So many things had to be about her, her, her and for that reason alone, I could never be friends with that Carrie. 

 

I always hated how Carrie cheated on Aidan, got him back and then dumped on him again.  With hindsight I realize that while Aidan was a pretty great guy, he wasn't the right guy for Carrie.  He didn't bring out the best in her, although through no fault of his own.  He was laid back, he had a cabin in the country, he was perfectly happy staying in with a bucket of KFC.  None of these traits or qualities fit Carrie at all (unless the bucket of chicken came with a joint).  They were wholly ill-suited for one another.

 

Interestingly, I don't think Big brought out the best in her either.  Before they broke up the first time, Carrie was paranoid that she wasn't "perfect" enough for him (the infamous fart episode).  On the surface, Big appeared to not want the drama and Carrie seemed to do nothing but bring the drama and the whining and the attitude.  Plus, as others have mentioned, the freaky and crazy stalking.  Remember, she was a woman of over 30 when this happened.  Big should have run fast and far at that point.

 

Regardless, I had a turnaround with Carrie after seeing the first movie.  I liked her there.  I felt sorry for her being stood up.  The wedding did get out of control but I could understand that better than many of Carrie's other actions.  As did everyone else, I HATED that wedding dress.  It wasn't flattering and the worst part of it was that it just didn't fit.  I thought any of the other dresses she was modeling for that Vogue shoot would have been better choices.  But I digress . . . I think Carrie was finally humbled during the first movie and grew up.  And she seemed to move somewhat past the "me me me" phase.

 

And boy did I ever want that closet in Heaven on Fifth!

 

Second SATC movie Carrie can suck it.  She reverted right back to her selfish and immature persona.

[Woopah]

I also had a love/hate relationship with Carrie. At certain times I liked her but at others, I wanted to throat punch her.\

I personally never considered her the "everywoman" she was projected to be. She was my least favorite character for many of the episodes and most of the time I thought she was a horrible friend. At one time during the run of the show, Samantha, Miranda AND Charlotte all claimed that Carrie was their best friend and I was always scratching my head, wondering "how?" and "why?" Because Carrie was a big old selfish asshole a lot of the time. So many things had to be about her, her, her and for that reason alone, I could never be friends with that Carrie.

Regardless, I had a turnaround with Carrie after seeing the first movie. I liked her there. I felt sorry for her being stood up. The wedding did get out of control but I could understand that better than many of Carrie's other actions. As did everyone else, I HATED that wedding dress. It wasn't flattering and the worst part of it was that it just didn't fit. I thought any of the other dresses she was modeling for that Vogue shoot would have been better choices. But I digress . . . I think Carrie was finally humbled during the first movie and grew up. And she seemed to move somewhat past the "me me me" phase.

And boy did I ever want that closet in Heaven on Fifth!

Second SATC movie Carrie can suck it. She reverted right back to her selfish and immature persona.

I agree with these points. My least fave carrie moment was how she confronted Charlotte for the money and had the nerve to accuse her of not caring because she didn't offer the money. But then there were times where she was good like calling Samantha for being insensitive to Mirandra after she had Brady but this was after Mirandra called carrie on being self involved on the review thing. I love that episode carried gets called out like 3 times lol.

I think Miranda was the only one who called her out a lot of the time

In the movie I loved how much she cared for lily.

[Maherjunkie]

I didn't like her badgering Sam to come out to her book party and then telling her to get lost when she saw her face when she told her what happened to her to begin with.  Selfish bitch.  Doesn't deserve a hot dog from that nice driver.

[Woopah]

Oh yeah that was horrible poor Samantha that chemical peel was funny

I also liked when Stanford called her out about being self involved about the aiden Nina Katz face

[Maherjunkie]

I felt sorry for Nina.  She was like "WTF?" and you know she is gonna make that face again.

[Woopah]

Totally you can see Nina doing the face when describing Carrie too

I did like Carrie when she had a go at the man for calling Miranda fat in Alantic City

[Kat From Jersey]

I've been watching a few shows on Bravo each morning as I get ready for work (they edit the heck out of it, but do a fairly good job), and I've decided that I like Carrie a lot when she's not the focus of the main storyline, and is just there as support for the other ladies' storylines.  When she's the main focus, I tend to get the urge to slap someone (mostly her).

 

I just watched the ep when Samantha decides to shave her head in preparation for her chemo.  Sam was trying on wigs, and during the course of their conversation (Sam was angsting because Smith was rumored to be gay in the tabloids), Carrie kept popping up in the doorway with a different wig on each time.  It was a fun visual.  Another example would be when Miranda brought Brady over to Carrie's, and confessed that she was in love with Steve.  Carrie took the baby, and was looking around for something for him to munch on (old box of crackers!), and the way she was holding him and talking to him was so sweet and charming.  All the while, she was letting Miranda vent, and actually listening and giving good advice.  I was shocked!

 

It's these Carrie moments that I love.  She can be fun, charming, caring, mature yet kooky, but when a man's involved, we rarely get to see that side of her.  The Alexsandrrrrr/move to Paris eps are coming up, so I'm getting my slapping gloves ready.

[Woopah]

It's these Carrie moments that I love. She can be fun, charming, caring, mature yet kooky, but when a man's involved, we rarely get to see that side of her. The Alexsandrrrrr/move to Paris eps are coming up, so I'm getting my slapping gloves ready.

I'm on these episodes now and how horrible she is to Miranda is unbelievable! Alex was horrible and not at all right for Carrie the others saw it too but she wouldn't listen

[CleoCaesar]

Alex was horrible and not at all right for Carrie the others saw it too but she wouldn't listen

 

Has anyone broken up with their significant other just because their friends said to? I don't think Alex was horrible to Carrie at all, before Paris or during it. He had different goals and priorities in his life, true. But he never mistreated her, led her on, deceived her, or was an asshole to her. Carrie wanted to be pampered like a princess, and Alex was not the type to do that.

[AndySmith]

My disdain became hate during the Big affair. It would have been nice if she could have come out of that mess with some humility, instead, she created some warped reality where she was the victim and Natasha was the bad guy, and everyone went along with it.

 

This was around the time when Carrie became my least favorite of the four. She was lucky Natasha just bitched her out during that scene at the restaurant, instead of slapping her upside the head and/or throwing that cup of water in her face.

[andromeda331]

Carrie wanted to be pampered like a princess

 

That's it in a nutshell. That's exactly what Carrie wants. And expects. From her friends and her boyfriends.

[stcroix]

I just watched all 6 seasons over on Amazon Prime and quickly searched for a forum that was still discussing the show!  Glad I found this one even though it's mainly from last year...   I agree about Carrie feeling like she's a 'little princess', maybe I should add an entitled little princess even.  She reminded me of a very beloved only child whose parents doted on her. I did like her in the series, even though I had many dislike moments,too, most that have already been discussed on this forum.  One of you mentioned she acted so young and immature and I think that's the main thing that kept bugging me.  She acted so much like the character SJP was in L.A. Story.  I wouldn't have been surprised to find her skating through the streets of New York, chewing bubble gum and wise cracking while expecting everyone to just ADORE her.  Oh, and a big irritation for me that I haven't seen mentioned here was when she went to kiss whatever man she was into at the moment, she gave him that intense look, mouth still open and both sets of teeth gleaming, and when the guy goes in for the kiss she DOESN'T CLOSE HER LIPS OR OPEN HER TEETH!!  arrgggh!  The poor guy kisses those teeth while she stars at him in the eyes like,'' Are you the ONE?"  Then she finally opens her teeth and mouth wider and goes for a real kiss.  Just a small irritation, but I cringed every time she did it.  

 

I agree with Kat from Jersey though in that when she was being 'normal goofy' she seemed like she'd have been fun to be around :)

[BookWoman56]

On 8/5/2014 at 10:08 AM, Mozelle said:

 

Oh, this simply is not true. Carrie did take the check that Big offered to her. When she later met with the girls, they talked about it, and Miranda (I think because it was an offer from Big, who Miranda didn't like) guilted Carrie. Miranda put it out there that Carrie shouldn't take Big's money because Miranda had decided that it was a check with strings attached. 

 

It was Miranda's big mouth that then got the ball rolling with Samantha and Miranda offering to give Carrie the money. 

Obviously it's been a while since I made the original comment, but when I said that Carrie should have accepted Big's offer, I meant that she should have actually cashed the check. Yes, she accepted the check in the sense of taking the physical piece of paper. But ultimately she did not cash the check, which to me means she did not actually accept it. Now, as to why Miranda felt compelled to argue that Carrie shouldn't accept Big's money, I have mixed feelings about that. At first I thought Miranda was going to point out that accepting a loan from anyone for a down payment was a bad idea, but she tied it instead to where the money was coming from. I know Miranda was trying to be supportive of Carrie, but in retrospect, it's like Miranda somehow failed to recognize that Carrie had any culpability whatsoever in the Carrie/Big relationship debacle and it was all Big's fault.  Yes, Big certainly had his share of faults, but I got very tired of this narrative construct in which Carrie was supposed to be the victim with zero responsibility for her life. They both acted like jerks a lot of the time, they both engaged in actions that caused intense pain for people they supposedly cared about, so I can't accept the idea that Big is some lone monster who will swoop in to take advantage of poor innocent Carrie if she accepts his loan. If Miranda had flatly said that Carrie and Big were a toxic combination and therefore should stay the hell away from each other, I'd have agreed. But Miranda came off as being concerned that Carrie was somehow going to owe Big more than money if she accepted the loan.

The issues I have with Carrie reflect the issues I have with the show overall. I like the idea that the show emphasized that maintaining close friendships was just as important as maintaining romantic relationships. However, as a whole, the show seems to me now, with the perspective of several years since viewing it, as a bait and switch. It touted itself as showing women who could enjoy fulfilling lives with or without being in a romantic relationship, yet at the end reverted back to gender stereotypes that I find offensive (if you're over 40, female, and single, you might as well be dead; a happy ending for a woman requires having a man; etc.). With Carrie, at the start of the show she seemed a quirky but fundamentally nice person and good friend, but by the end of the show she had become increasingly neurotic, self-centered, and so high-maintenance as a friend or lover that I kept wondering why the hell these people chose to hang out with her.  To me, Carrie as a character is an ongoing reminder of exactly why some friendships and relationships have an expiry date.

[Inquisitionist]

SJP is starring in a new HBO series called Divorce:

Quote

HBO suggested that Ms. Parker meet with Sharon Horgan, the producer and co-star of Amazon’s “Catastrophe,” who ultimately wrote the pilot of “Divorce.” The resulting project appealed to Ms. Parker both for its darkness and for its less-than-glamorous milieu. “So often when you see divorce in cinema or on television, it’s like — ‘War of the Roses’! Rich people fighting!” she said. “I wanted to tell a different story, one that I haven’t really seen on television.”

I like Catastrophe quite a bit, so Horgan's involvement is encouraging.

[zxy556575]

Quote

The resulting project appealed to Ms. Parker both for its darkness and for its less-than-glamorous milieu. “So often when you see divorce in cinema or on television, it’s like — ‘War of the Roses’! Rich people fighting!” she said. “I wanted to tell a different story, one that I haven’t really seen on television.”

Really, Parker? The environment in the trailer seems solidly middle class. I'd be surprised if it's set anywhere other than the mannered suburbs of the Northeast. She herself doesn't know how to act any other way than "as Carrie."

From the NY Times review: "Frances is far from a starry-eyed romantic: She has cheated on her husband; she is a narcissistic oversharer, a foul-mouthed accuser, a weak-kneed manipulator. She is also, as played by Ms. Parker, deeply real and somehow appealing." Rest my case?

It's a hard pass for me.

Er, I don't actually have HBO but even so.

[AndySmith]

Quote

With Carrie, at the start of the show she seemed a quirky but fundamentally nice person and good friend, but by the end of the show she had become increasingly neurotic, self-centered, and so high-maintenance as a friend or lover that I kept wondering why the hell these people chose to hang out with her.  To me, Carrie as a character is an ongoing reminder of exactly why some friendships and relationships have an expiry date.

Amen.

[NutMeg]

On 9/13/2016 at 1:20 AM, BookWoman56 said:

The issues I have with Carrie reflect the issues I have with the show overall. I like the idea that the show emphasized that maintaining close friendships was just as important as maintaining romantic relationships. However, as a whole, the show seems to me now, with the perspective of several years since viewing it, as a bait and switch. It touted itself as showing women who could enjoy fulfilling lives with or without being in a romantic relationship, yet at the end reverted back to gender stereotypes that I find offensive (if you're over 40, female, and single, you might as well be dead; a happy ending for a woman requires having a man; etc.). With Carrie, at the start of the show she seemed a quirky but fundamentally nice person and good friend, but by the end of the show she had become increasingly neurotic, self-centered, and so high-maintenance as a friend or lover that I kept wondering why the hell these people chose to hang out with her.  To me, Carrie as a character is an ongoing reminder of exactly why some friendships and relationships have an expiry date.

I totally agree but the weird, sad or funny thing (depending of the viewpoint) is that, in real life, I've seen exactly that happen. So while I wish Sex and the City had remained the fun friendship uber alles show that it was initially, I have to say it ultimately remained true to its beginning (the book Sex and the City was not terribly uplifting, to say the least) and also to the life experiences of their viewers, I suppose. My motto and my friends'motto was all "who need men" when one of us was having a bad boyfriend time - but we still all ended in a long time relationship, and some failed, and some lasted, and some lasted even though they were not emotionally satisfying. So, while I initially felt totally how you did, now that I look back to the show and to life, I think the end of the show was - somehow - closer to life, if not to what I wanted to see/ wanted to be true/ wanted to happen for the characters.  

[BookWoman56]

6 hours ago, NutMeg said:

So while I wish Sex and the City had remained the fun friendship uber alles show that it was initially, I have to say it ultimately remained true to its beginning (the book Sex and the City was not terribly uplifting, to say the least) and also to the life experiences of their viewers, I suppose.

One of my biggest issues with the show is the 180 it did on the ending of the show versus the ending of the book. To me, one of the major points of the book was that Carrie and Big were not really suited for a long-term relationship, much less marriage. IIRC, at the end of the book, Carrie has moved in with Big temporarily because her air conditioning is broken, Big is not really happy about it, and makes it clear this is not a permanent solution and she needs to take care of herself. The first edition of the book didn't spell out that they broke up, but a careful reading of the text made an imminent breakup implicit. I don't recall the specifics of the timing, but I'm fairly sure about the time HBO picked up the rights to the book and so forth, Bushnell released a second edition of the book, in which she explicitly stated that Big was happily married and Carrie was happily single. I've thought for a long time that she saw the direction the show was going to go with Carrie and Big, and wanted to go on the record to say, no, they were not intended to end up in a romantic relationship. Carrie and Big's characters were based primarily on Bushnell herself and a man she was involved with, but he married someone else. Bushnell remained friends with the real Big and his wife, and Bushnell eventually went on to be with someone else, I believe a ballet performer. I intensely disliked Bushnell's writing style, but I thought she got the truth and feelings of that relationship correct.  So while I understand that IRL many people do end up in romantic relationships and even stay in them when unhappy, for me what the show did with the ending was essentially the equivalent of taking Romeo and Juliet but changing the ending so they both lived. Same characters, many of the same plot points, but completely missed the underlying message.

[NutMeg]

2 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

One of my biggest issues with the show is the 180 it did on the ending of the show versus the ending of the book. To me, one of the major points of the book was that Carrie and Big were not really suited for a long-term relationship, much less marriage. IIRC, at the end of the book, Carrie has moved in with Big temporarily because her air conditioning is broken, Big is not really happy about it, and makes it clear this is not a permanent solution and she needs to take care of herself. The first edition of the book didn't spell out that they broke up, but a careful reading of the text made an imminent breakup implicit. I don't recall the specifics of the timing, but I'm fairly sure about the time HBO picked up the rights to the book and so forth, Bushnell released a second edition of the book, in which she explicitly stated that Big was happily married and Carrie was happily single. I've thought for a long time that she saw the direction the show was going to go with Carrie and Big, and wanted to go on the record to say, no, they were not intended to end up in a romantic relationship. Carrie and Big's characters were based primarily on Bushnell herself and a man she was involved with, but he married someone else. Bushnell remained friends with the real Big and his wife, and Bushnell eventually went on to be with someone else, I believe a ballet performer. I intensely disliked Bushnell's writing style, but I thought she got the truth and feelings of that relationship correct.  So while I understand that IRL many people do end up in romantic relationships and even stay in them when unhappy, for me what the show did with the ending was essentially the equivalent of taking Romeo and Juliet but changing the ending so they both lived. Same characters, many of the same plot points, but completely missed the underlying message.

haha, point well taken. Although, I remember the book as a series of vignettes about various characters living in Manhattan, like at the beginning of Season 1 and It thought the series was all new stories. But I read a book such a long time ago and remember so little... So, you're probably right.

[AndySmith]

Carrie and Big weren't right for each other in the TV series, if you ask me. It was the chemistry between SJP and CN that carried (no pun intended) them all the way to a happy ending, because, on paper, the two of them were just so toxic and brought out the worst in each other when they were in a relationship.

[Mu Shu]

On September 23, 2016 at 6:58 PM, lordonia said:

Really, Parker? The environment in the trailer seems solidly middle class. I'd be surprised if it's set anywhere other than the mannered suburbs of the Northeast. She herself doesn't know how to act any other way than "as Carrie."

From the NY Times review: "Frances is far from a starry-eyed romantic: She has cheated on her husband; she is a narcissistic oversharer, a foul-mouthed accuser, a weak-kneed manipulator. She is also, as played by Ms. Parker, deeply real and somehow appealing." Rest my case?

It's a hard pass for me.

Er, I don't actually have HBO but even so.

She really is Carrie.  I was reading a Vogue article about her new perfume release, and she's as over the top giddy, dramatic, and self centered describing everything up to her morning coffee.   Then again, a friend met her during the filming of Flight of the Navigator and took her out to dinner.   She chose to go to Skyline Chili and was very down to earth.

The perfume is very good, especially for a celebrity release.   The name (stash) is stupid, and of course she's chewing scenery trying (and very cringe inducingly failing) to be sexy in the commercial for it.    But I give her credit for not just slapping her name on shit.    She was very involved in  developing three very good perfumes.  

[Inquisitionist]

From the NY Times:  In ‘Divorce,’ Sarah Jessica Parker Wants to Ditch Mr. Medium
 

Quote

 

In 1998, playing the relationship columnist Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City,” Sarah Jessica Parker helped usher in HBO’s golden age and define a Manhattan gilded age. So it’s unavoidable to wonder if her new HBO series, “Divorce,” is “Sex and the City” 18 years later.

It is not. It’s more like a comedy about the kind of people who once watched “Sex and the City,” 18 years later: suburbanites, pushing 50, for whom the sex (at least with their spouses) is nothing to wax literary about, and the city is a long train ride away.

“Divorce” is not as dewy-eyed as its forebear, not as fresh in its material, and in its first outings, not as consistently funny. But it can be a caustic pleasure, a chaser, heavy on the bitters, to Carrie’s fruity cosmo. ...

Ms. Parker plays the more complex role, with more mixed results. She made audiences love Carrie for years, and her inclination is to win us over to Frances. That’s important: You need to see that Frances believes that she’s the hero of a drama, not an antihero in a farce. But sometimes the role misses someone — like Ms. Horgan herself — who could own the character’s faults and the series’s acid tone.

I'll probably give it a spin out of curiosity.  It debuts this Sunday on HBO.

[ChlcGirl]

We just watched the first ep On Demand.  It is not a good show.  There are humorous parts here and there (mostly thanks to Molly Shannon) but Frances is highly unlikeable.  Is it written into SJP's contracts that her characters have to be completely repugnant?

[qtpye]

One of the the things that I never understood about Carrie is that when Big got married, she told herself that he did marry her because she was wild and untamed like Barbara Streisand's character in "The Way We Were".  I was kind of like...besides the curly hair, you have nothing in common with that character.

Your were not wild and independent, but more like stalkerish and obsessed.  Big almost had you at his beck and call.  The reason he did not marry you, was at that time he did not think you were a good fit for his high society world.  The fact that she was acting like Big did not want her, because he could not control her was so silly.

I actually found them to be toxic and did not love the happily ever after ending.