Pop-Culturalist.com

Sex and the City was one of the most iconic shows to have aired on television. In my opinion, the best part of the show–and a reason it appealed to so many women–was that, at it’s heart, it was about the relationship between four female friends. Sure, we got to witness and experience (by proxy) the epic romantic relationships (Mr. Big, Steve, Smith Jerrod, and Harry), or the countless other male men who were briefly or lengthily (Aiden!) a part of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte’s lives. More importantly, though, we were able to listen to women talk frankly about sex, love, aging, and careers; we also got to witness how their relationships with each other deepened over time.  

In season 4, episode 1 (“The Agony and the Ex-tacy“) of Sex and the City, the strong relationship between Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda is on display. Carrie attempts to celebrate her 35th birthday (a daunting milestone to a lot of women) with a dinner party at a restaurant, but it leaves her sitting alone at the table as people cancel or forget about it. After that, at the women’s traditional breakfast, Carrie laments her lack of a romantic male partner in her life (aka a soulmate). In response to Carrie’s soulmate statement, Charlotte (normally the one most intent on landing a husband for life) says one of the most wonderful lines from the show:

“Maybe we can be each other’s soul mates, and then we can let men be just these great, nice guys to have fun with.”

And, she is right. They are each other’s soulmates. A soulmate is someone who understands you completely (and if they don’t, they support you anyway); they love you unconditionally (even if you do fight every once in a while as all of the women on Sex and the City have done); and soulmates will be there for you no matter what. Remember the episode in season 2 where Carrie tried to get over Big by going out with the new Yankee player? On their date, she encounters Big, and she gets rattled. Later, New Yankee kisses Carrie who immediately starts sobbing. She leaves New Yankee behind and immediately calls Miranda at a crazy hour of the night. And, do you know what Miranda does? She meets up with Carrie, no questions asked. Miranda is Carrie’s rock. 

There are many other plot lines from the six seasons of Sex and the City that explore the strength and depth of female friendship. When Samantha has breast cancer, or when Miranda suddenly, surprisingly, and accidentally gets pregnant, or when Charlotte has trouble getting pregnant. In each case, the women all rallied around each other. They took care of each other and grew older and wiser together. That is soulmate material in my book; and that is why Sex and the City was so great. It showed us that strong, independent, wonderful women can live full and happy lives–whether or not they have a romantic partner–because they have the support they need in their friends. As Carrie says,  “They say nothing lasts forever …dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style.” 

Photo Credit: HBO