Recently I seem to have developed a rather worrying and shameful habit.
I think I have become addicted to Sex and the City.
As you can read here, I was a late starter when it came to Carrie and her oh-so-stylish chums, and have always felt slightly guilty about watching, but lately, thanks to Sky+, I have been making up for lost time, to the point where it’s almost a daily fix.
I feel guilty on two levels. Firstly, it’s television generally. I really want to be one of those people who claims to find TV dull, who doesn’t have a set in the house, and who spends their evenings reading classical literature and discussing politics over fine ports with their equally high-brow friend. Or even a lovely, floaty creative type who prefers to spend their weekends pottering in the garden amongst the reclaimed tin baths, or sketching pictures of their cat, but I’m just not.
I like watching television.
Given a day to myself I would quite happily spend the whole afternoon eating crisps and watching sappy rom coms or back to back Come Dine With Me.
As if that weren’t bad enough…
Then there is the programme itself. Sex and the City epitomises everything I try so hard not to believe in – the idea that we always need a man in our lives to feel complete, that shoes equal happiness, or that a cocktail is the answer to everything. Although actually I do believe that last one.
Watching it makes me feel slighty dirty.
Part of it is envy. My life is pretty much the opposite of a single New Yorker, and there are times when the idea of living alone in a cute apartment, attending fabulous parties and taking late night calls from sexy, rich bankers has a certain allure.
The reality of course is that if I had all that, I’d probably wish I was at home with Come Dine With Me and the crisps.
I also fall into that classic trap of imagining which of the women I am most like. In my head I am a combination of the best bits of Miranda and Carrie – independent, sexy, creative and intelligent. In truth, I fear I may be more like the worst bits of Samantha and Charlotte – hopelessly romantic, oftentimes naive, slightly slutty, with a habit of talking loudly and inappropriately in restaurants.
So what is it really about the programme that appeals? Is it a genuine affection for the characters, or a shallow coveting of their seemingly enviable lives and glamorous wardrobes?
I couldn’t help but wonder as I watched last night… is this love, or simply Sex and the City lust?
Photo credit – Kenny Hindgren
Oh well, takes all sorts I guess :)
I seem to finally rid of my. Satc addiction. For me I watched because it made me piss myself laughing. Politics is overrated in any case.
I was thinking one way to cure myself might be to buy the boxset. Buying the boxset of anything seems to guarantee I never watch it ever – it just sits happily in its cellophane wrapping…
I am forced to watch SaTC endlessly as Evie is an addict and we too imagine ourselves as one or other of the characters. E is definitley Miranda, I wish I was Samantha – Kim Cattrall is fabulous. But like Friends it has made E believe life should be like the programme. Can only lead to disappointment I fear…
What?? You mean Friends isn’t a reflection of How Life Should Be?? *sad*
P.S. Well done again on your excellent scrabble win :-)
I wish I didn’t like tv, it takes up too much time! I’m a soap-a-holic, home and away, hollyoaks (so bad it’s hilarious!) and Eastenders. Add to that SatC, Ugly Betty, CSI, Charmed (yes I’m *that* person) and god only knows how many others, I’m well and truely hooked to the tv! >_<
I’m not very good at things I have to remember to watch, but I do love the stuff that you know will always be on somewhere, like SATC, Friends, CSI. Or anything on Dave of course :-)
I have always had a slight Satc addiction and I think it is the fact that is so far removed from my life that I like it. It is a bit of escapism that’s what it is for me.
That’s true, it is good for escapism. It’s a bit like reading a trashy chick lit. You know it’s a bit rubbish, but it’s so easy and fun…
Well I’m not a fan of SATC but I am a fan of telly. In fact, I’m a bit of a evening telly addict!
CJ xx
I think it’s partly because I’m really a morning person, so after about 8pm all my brain is good for is staring wide-eyed at a film of someone hosting a dinner party or talking about shoes. (When you put it like that it doesn’t sound good though!).
I am determined not to watch SATC for fear of developing the severe addiction you speak of!
Stay away! You’ll be doomed otherwise…
Ohh I do like a good sex in the city session, the shoes, the mad clothes and all the sex talk!
You can’t beat a bit of good sex talk :-)
You struck a chord! Virgin+ & SATC kept me sane through the first 2 or 3 months of being a new mum. The strange nocturnal existence when there’s all sorts of random crap on the TV through the night. I just recorded the whole of SATC – all episodes of all series & watched whilst pinned to the sofa feeding my little Miss. Now baby sleeps through the night (strangely coinciding with the last ever SATC) & we don’t need the fix anymore. The theme tune will probably always make my boobs ache & my babe will probably have a taste for romance, cocktails & Manolo Blahniks!
Hahaha! That sounds rather odd when you say it like that… The theme tune to SATC will always make your boobs ache…
When Belle was a baby and used to spend hours every lunch time alseep/feeding/attached to me I used to have a similar relationship with Ally McBeal!
I have struggled on and off with severe boats of SATC addiction for years, at low points I’ve attempted the quirky dress sense of Carrie, searched for a gold chain stating my name… At more reasonable phases I covet a career as a lawyer but invariably settle for crisps Come Dine With Me and sex I believe to be Samanthaesque but in reality is nothing like….
Yes my name us Whimsical Wife & I am a SATC addict (ps all written under the dubious notion of chaneling Charlotte and therefore thinking I’m uber groomed)
Oh no! I found myself online the other day looking for my own Carrie necklace!! I have resisted for now, but I have clearly got it bad…
I don’t think you have anything to be ashamed of. There’s nothing wrong with some girly escapism. It’s so far removed from reality it’s absurd, but elements of it strike a chord and it’s often just effin hilarious! The Jessica Rabbit episode anyone?!!!!!!!
You’re right – most of it does seem terribly far removed from my life, but then sometimes there will be a plot line, or even just a comment, that really resonates, and makes you feel a connection to women everywhere.
I have all the SATC boxsets waiting to be watched in succession…now all I have to do is find the time to watch them…
You’ve made me want to go and dig out the old box-sets….& congrats on the MAD win, v well-deserved
It is a great show! Well written, funny, escapist! I’m one of those don’t watching tv types, but I rented the whole season on DVD. Enjoy!
I live my life by the mantra WWCD? The answer is usually cocktails or inappropriate flirting. Works in almost every situation.
My guilty TV viewing is: Stargate SG1, the televisual equivalent of Capri Sun.
*hangs head in shame at drinking a capri sun in a bid to clear my hangover on the way home from the MADS*
Oh I adore sex and the city!! I’m a big fan of it as well as CSI.. and desperate housewives! Oh and Ghost Whisperer.. Ok I’m a TV show whore! But I dont watch soaps so this kinda makes it for it! :)
Have you watched the sex and the city movies yet or are you saving them for when you’ve finished watching them all?
So long as you don’t watch soaps I think it’s ok to admit to anything…
I have watched both. I reviewed number two here actually: http://slummysinglemummy.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/review-sex-and-the-city-2/
Oh I love telly too. For me it’s CSI all cities (apart from Miami because Horatio Cane is a tool), Criminal Minds, Come Dine With Me, The Hills, The City – oh I just watch all sorts of shit.
Nooo! You are wrong about Horatio! He is awesome. I love the way he says serious things twice, slowly, for emphasis and peers over his sunglasses. Brilliant acting :-)
Sex and the City is just fabul-arse! Definitely don’t feel guilty! It’s a modern day classic, let me tell ya! I love that and Desperate Housewives.
I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I do have things I like and I don’t think you should worry about that. ‘Tis normal.
Oh, and I think I’m Miranda mixed with Charlotte. Definitely.
I cried during the 2nd film! Honestly! Once when Charlotte was in the kitchen and her little girl put her hands on her vintage skirt. And the other time when Miranda and Charlotte were away, talking about how hard it is to have children. I cried and cried. Soft arse.
Haha! xx
The second film was rather bizarre, but I did like that Charlotte and Miranda moment. I did get the feeling though that they were crowbarring it in a bit – as if they realised that most of their fans would now be 30-somethings with babies at home, having a precious night out at the cinema, so they snuck something in that wasn’t ALL cocktails and expsensive holidays. Or maybe I’m just being cynical…
It is a funny program but it is too hilarious the way Carrie acts like she works so hard – typing out some three hundred word article PER WEEK in between shagging and drinking. Oh gosh Carrie its such a tough life. At least Samantha looks like she could hold down a job even if it did involve busting a lot of people’s balls!
That is REALLY annoying. I remember one episode/film (they are blur into one) where she had ONE commission from Vogue and she got in a right flap about having to write 1,500 words and locked herself in her apartment for three solid days. What a diva! I don’t for a minute believe one little newspaper column could finance Carrie’s shoe habit.
I LOVE SATC! I am 90% Charlotte 10% Samantha! Shoes do equal happiness! And I refuse to be ashamed about needing a man!
Hmm… I like that balance – predominately respectable and well-groomed but with a slutty, determined edge. Nice.
I was just finishing off some work and then about to dive upstairs with a bottle of red and my SaTc DVDs…oh dear.
Actually, I think there is some very fine bittersweet writing – that’s what hooks me.
Thanks Steve for introducing me to this very funny blog!
No problems Sarah.
Yes, thanks Steve! Glad you like it Sarah, and hope you enjoyed the DVDs :-)
Oh heck, I absolutely love SATC. So much so that I couldn’t bring myself to see the latest film in case it ruined a beautiful relationship. The series started when I was in my late twenties, and I went through it all with them, cocktails and all. OK, they got a bit silly by the end, and I didn’t always get the clothes, but I laughed, cried and all the rest of it and was so, so sad when the series ended. You’re not alone. Though hopefully not quite as addicted as I was (am?). And a belated well done on winning the MADs – hope you had lots of Cosmopolitans to celebrate!!
Thank you! I may have had a small glass of wine or two to celebrate :-)
I think you’re probably doing the right thing by not watching the second film. Unless you like watching two hours of adverts…
Getting addicted to Tv shows (SATC a few months ago) provides escapism for me, still not something I’m proud of!