It was 20 years ago that the first episode of Sex and the City made its television debut on June 6, 1998 and revolutionized the way we shop, drink and love - forever. It was not just a show which depicted four women talking openly about love and sex, but their lives offered a 'Promised Land' which was difficult yet achievable. The four leading women were better dressed, well-paid and lived in New York’s Manhattan. Who wouldn’t dream of a life like that?
The lead characters of Sex and the City were certainly all different. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a writer by profession, lived for Vogue and Manolo Blahniks. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a Harvard-educated lawyer, wanted to reach her professional zenith. Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), owner of an art gallery, always wanted to fall in love and have a family. Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), an unapologetic PR-professional, was as bold and brazen as any woman could ever get. But what binds them all was their constant faith in each other that was instilled by their strong bond of friendship.
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Although the show was criticised as being more feminine than feminist, the protagonists certainly celebrated a woman’s personal and professional choices. Their constant search for men, sex and relationships might be less relatable to many, but that’s what the show offered. A whole lot of reality with a tinge of fantasy. Let’s take a look at what SATC meant to us and the reason behind its unmatched success:
Cosmopolitan and Jimmy Choos
It would not be wrong to say that four women walked the streets of Manhattan like it was a fashion runway. From tutu and tulle dresses to those fur coats and heels, the shoe swept over the collective consciousness of a generation and still does. “Sometimes, I would buy Vogue instead of dinner. I just felt it fed me more,” says Carrie as she recollects her struggles when she moved to New York. 20 years hence, women still sip on Cosmopolitan as they dream to have a pair of perfect Jimmy Choos.
Celebration of singlehood
“Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free till they find someone just as wild to run with them,” says Carrie when Mr.Big gets married to a young model. But it is her vulnerabilities and her choice to get back and face the world, that inspired most women to live a life without a barring shadow of a man.
Breaking the taboo of female friendships
Be it when Carrie had to get over her bad breakup with Big or when Charlotte had undergone an abortion, the four women stuck together through thick and thin. Despite the innumerable fights and an array of men, they were each other’s soulmates as they “let men be just these great, nice guys to have fun with.”
“And finally, the most important breakup rule: no matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you’ll never go through it, without your friends.”
Nonetheless, SATC still resonates amongst the masses and how.