SATC Week – A writer’s tribute to the brilliant mind of Carrie Bradshaw

As a writer and hopeless romantic, the main thing I’ve always appreciated most about Sex and the City is the brilliant nuggets of wisdom tucked away in the columns written by the show’s primary character Carrie Bradshaw. Carrie always managed to eloquently and succinctly sum up some fascinating truth about men, life, love or relationships in 200 words or less during one of her voiceovers, as she was seen typing her column on her laptop.

Whether she was waxing profound on the mysteries of the universe such as why there were so many great single women but not enough great single men to go around or something a little more personal such as the soul-searching that takes place in the aftermath of a particularly bad break-up, Carrie was an inspiration to single women everywhere through her powerful voice.

Like many other women in their thirties, I always secretly wanted to be Carrie Bradshaw. From her fashionable clothes and Manhattan apartment to her witty, insightful columns to her relations with some of the most interesting men on the show, Carrie seemed to have it all. Sometimes Samantha’s sexual escapades were a bit too risqué, sometimes Charlotte seemed a bit too naïve and sometimes Miranda was just a tad too unlikeable in the brusque way she treated the men in her life and her lawyer-like approach to everything. But Carrie was just about always likeable, even when she was breaking hearts or buying one too many pairs of ridiculously overpriced shoes.

Carrie was the woman you could totally relate to on Sex and the City – the girl next door. If you didn’t see something of yourself in her, she perhaps reminded you of your best friend or sister. She was the one who was always putting herself out there in the dating world but you never really lost respect for. She was talented and independent and she wasn’t afraid to take risks. Whether it was agreeing to be a model on the runway or to grace the cover of a magazine, she may have made her share of mistakes, but she was always true to herself in the end.

She was a romantic at heart. Remember when she drew inspiration from the greatest love letters of all time for her book research? You always wanted it to work out with Big because you knew she was smitten with him from the very first time their eyes locked. And yet you knew he was trouble with a capital T. But you couldn’t help but go along for the ride because you knew Carrie was always going to come up with some insight for you along the way. Not only were you living vicariously through her, but she was also teaching you some of life’s important lessons. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself or overheard a girlfriend remark, “That makes sense!” while viewing this program.

In my opinion, some of the show’s best writing emerged in Carrie’s column voiceovers. In fact, I once watched a special in which the show’s writers talked about tackling the column topics and how much pride they took in writing them. While just about every episode features a clever column that rings true in some way or another, I’ve narrowed down my favorite gems for you. If I left out one of your favorites, please feel free to share it in the comments section below.

• “Some people are settling down, some people are settling and some people refuse to settle for anything less than butterflies.”
• “Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”
• “Then I realized, no one had told her about the end of love in Manhattan. Welcome to the age of un-innocence. No one has breakfast at Tiffany’s, and no one has affairs to remember. Instead, we have breakfast at seven a.m. and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible. Self-protection and closing the deal are paramount. Cupid has flown the co-op!”
• “One of the reasons some people still risk the possible horror of a first date is the possible magic of the good-night kiss at the front door. The world slows down just for a second as some people take that hopeful lean into a possible future together.”
• “Maybe there are no right moments, right guys, right answers. Maybe you just have to say what’s in your heart.”
• “Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course, we wouldn’t fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it’s comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you’re very lucky, a plane ride away.”
• “In the end, I decided I was definitely 34 going on 35, but in a city like New York, with its pace and its pressures, sometimes it’s important to have a 13-year-old moment. To remember a simpler time when the best thing in life was just hanging out, listening to records and having fun with your friends, in your very own apartment.”
• “People say ‘Everything happens for a reason.’ These people are usually women. And these women are usually sorting through a break-up. It seems that men can get out of a relationship without even a ‘Goodbye.’ But, apparently, women have to either get married or learn something.”
• “New York is definitely haunted. Old lovers, ex-boyfriends, anyone you have unresolved issues with you are bound to run into again and again until you resolve them.”
• “Maybe some women aren’t meant to be tamed. Maybe they need to run free until they find someone just as wild to run with.”
• “As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda,’ buckle up and just keep going.”

Clacked by Kim Tibbs
on Aug 30, 2012 @ 11:00 EST5EDT