Sex and The City was published a whole twenty years ago, twenty lonnnnng years that feel more like two. But what’s changed since Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha spent their days drinking Cosmopolitans and never, ever working?
Author Candace Bushnell (who wrote the column for The New York Observer that was later adapted into what we now know far and wide as Sex and The City) spoke to The Guardian about if Sex and The City would work today, in 2017. Spoiler alert: it wouldn’t.
Being single then vs now?
Twenty years ago when Carrie and co were single in their 30s, this was the end of the world. Finding a man, or partner was the focus of all activities and there was something wrong with you if you weren’t in a relationship. Bunshell told The Guardian that ‘people really felt that if a woman was single in her 30s, there was something wrong with her – she must have terrible baggage or a terrible personaility.’ So basically, no one was writing about single women. But now? Rejoice. Being single is GREAT and it’s more than ok to be single in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. Whatever your age, you do you and if you find someone, fantastic – if you don’t, don’t you fret.
Media then vs now?
I work in media, obviously, so I suppose the main difference I see is that Carrie writes one column and gets paid a ton. Because she can afford lots and lots of shoes, to go out and eat and drink constantly and basically do nothing else alongside that one column. Errrr Carrie mate want to pass over some of that money to the rest of us? Bunshell makes a really good comment about the fact that if her column, or Carrie’s were set today, it would probably be on a blog because today ‘everybody wants to appeal to everybody.’
Politics then vs now?
Now that I think about it, Sex and The City didn’t really comment on politics. There was that one time Carrie dated a politician, but we never knew who the characters voted for, or who was president. Bunshall’s answer? ‘Miranda would probably be marching for human rights and the show would address it in a bigger way.’ We can just see it now...
Mr Big then vs Mr Big now?
And now, the one you’ve all been waiting to hear about. Carrie and Big, what of it? According to Candace, Mr Big and Carrie Bradshaw would not be a thing in real life. ‘At that point, the TV show had become so big. Viewers got so invested in the storyline of Carrie and Big that it became a bit like Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. They became an iconic couple and women really related to it.’ We get that, we do – and we agree that 2017 Carrie wouldn’t put up with Mr Big’s shit so that relationship would (hopefully) be dust in the wind and she could find a man that treated her, and her shoes right.
Lile this? You might also be interested in…
**Follow Alyss on Instagram @alyssbowen **
x
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.