Entertainment
Sex and The City author warns fans not to base their lives on the ‘not very feminist’ show
Carrie and co aren’t the best role models (Picture: HBO)
You may think of yourself as an IRL Carrie Bradshaw, or describe yourself as more of a Samantha, but the characters’ creator says – yeah, don’t do that.
Candace Bushnell, who wrote the Sex and the City books the TV show is based on, doesn’t think that women should base their lives on the ‘not very feminist’ series, noting that relying on a man isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Speaking to the New York Post, the 62-year-old admitted she finds it a bit strange that devoted Sex and the City fans are guided by the actions of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.
She said: ‘I don’t look at the TV show the way other people look at it. I don’t parse every little bit. It’s a great show, it’s really funny. But there are fans who . . . it’s like, that show really guides them
‘The reality is, finding a guy is maybe not your best economic choice in the long term. Men can be very dangerous to women in a lot of different ways. We never talk about this, but that’s something that women need to think about: You can do a lot less … when you have to rely on a man.’
Bushnell added: ‘The TV show and the message were not very feminist at the end. But that’s TV. That’s entertainment. That’s why people should not base their lives on a TV show.’
Candace Bushnell called the series ‘not very feminist’ (Picture: Presley Ann/Getty Images for Visionary Women)
At the end of the original six-season series, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) ended up with Mr Big, Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) was adopting a baby with husband Harry (Evan Handler), high-flying lawyer Miranda Hobbes was living the family life with husband Steve (David Eigenberg) and sex-mad Samantha (Kim Cattrall) was in a monogamous relationship with Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis).
While the show insisted that the real soulmates were the four ladies at the centre of the plot, their love lives went on to be the focus of the movies, with Carrie being jilted at the altar by Big in the 2008 movie before they reunited and married, and the couple hitting a rut in the 2010 sequel, with Carrie kissing her ex Aidan (John Corbett) while on holiday.
Sex and the City is returning once more as a limited series, And Just Like That…, with the show focusing on Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda now that they are in their 50s.
Kim Cattrall is not reprising her role as Samantha.
Carrie and Big’s relationship has dominated the show (Picture: HBO)
A synopsis from HBO Max read: ‘The series will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.’
SJP told Vanity Fair that Covid-19 will also play a part, saying: ‘[Covid-19 will] obviously be part of the storyline, because that’s the city [these characters] live in. And how has that changed relationships once friends disappear? I have great faith that the writers are going to examine it all.
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‘What is their relationship to social media? What has changed? What is their life like? For Carrie, who doesn’t have family beyond her friendships, where is she professionally? How have all of these political changes affected her work? Is she still writing a column? Has she written any more books? Or does she have a podcast? What does fashion mean to her now? How have the friendships changed or not changed, and has her social circle grown?’
Mr Big, Steve and Harry are also back for the show, but so is Big’s ex-wife Natasha (Bridget Moynahan) – so we’re still expecting some romantic drama for Carrie.
And Just Like That… premieres in December.
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