Idaho State Journal, December 28, 2003

Let's talk about 'Sex'

by Sarah Keech, Features Editor

   It's only a week until the beginning of the end. Yes, just seven days left until the first of the last eight original episodes of HBO's "Sex and the City."
   Sure, the show is somewhat controversial - I can't even write in this column about some of the topics they cover - but it has a following and a meaning.
   For every woman who has seen the show, I've never met one who hasn't felt some sort of connection with one of the show's main characters: Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha.
   If you haven't seen the show, you don't know what you are missing. Based on the novel by New York City party girl/writer Candace Bushnell, "Sex and the City" reveals the true-to-life trials and tribulations of four single thirtysomething girls in Manhattan.
   It may sound cliché, but it's easily one of the most original shows on TV and one of the most influential on American culture.
   Carrie is the cool fashion-oriented columnist, Miranda struggles with being a single mom and a top lawyer, Charlotte is the sweetheart of the group and an art dealer and Samantha, well, she works in public relations, but she would be best described as the most shameless of the bunch.
   Over the past four seasons I've watched, many times with a group of my girlfriends, as Carrie and Mr. Big hooked up, broke up, got back together and eventually went their separate ways, sort of.
   Not only has "Sex and the City" been a great way to bond with friends over our own version of the infamous cosmopolitan, but we can relate to the dire dating scenarios the show's foursome goes through each week. The unrequited love, the boyfriend who doesn't want to get married, the dates that don't go as perfectly as planned, being stood up, getting dumped.
   We've all been through it, and it's refreshing to see others - especially beautiful, successful women - who have gone through the same ups and downs that relationships bring.
   Beyond the relationship aspect of "Sex and the City," there is also another reason to love the show: the fashion.
   For those of us who love clothes, each episode of "Sex and the City" is like a vicarious shopping spree. There is no way I can afford a pair of Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik shoes - even if I could find them here in southeast Idaho - but watching Carrie waltz around Manhattan in her $1,000 footwear, fabulous outfits and carrying the most wanted handbags, keeps me up with the latest style.
   And I am not alone. The fashions of "Sex and the City" seem to go from the small screen to the shopping mall. The series has inspired knockoffs that everyone can afford. From wearing oversized flowers as accessories, to the return of the color pink, to wearing your initials on your shirt, around your neck, or on your bag, there probably hasn't been such an influential TV show since Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle on "Friends."
   But now it's all coming to an end. I'll miss the Sunday night get-togethers. I'll miss the crazy and inspiring fashions. I will miss Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. But most of all I will miss laughing with my friends and recounting our own crazy dating mishaps.