Sex and the City, a detractor speaks

Sex and the City, a detractor speaks

First off, an admission. I've never watched one episode of Sex and the City. Without research, I couldn't name one character. I'm a Sex and the City ignoramus. I'm also a little leery of all this Sex and the City love. It's just in my nature, to be leery.
     Every hit show, I know, has its detractors. I thought, in this column, I'd find one of those detractors.
     After a rather extensive investigation, I found seemingly the one and only. On Amazon's website, where the complete Sex and the City compilation (all six seasons) is going for a steep $196.99, I found one negative review among 26 pages of glowing reviews.
     The author of the review went by the pseudonym, "The Dementor." I contacted The Dementor (it pays to have friends at Amazon.) He was more than happy to chitchat about Sex and the City. Here is an excerpt from our e-mail conversation.

Q: Let's get down to business. What exactly is your gripe with Sex and the City?

The Dementor: Where do you want to start? At the heart of the show there is this great irony. Sex and the City was touted as a breakout show – here's female empowerment at its strongest, here's the new feminism, strong, thoughtful characters, independent – and yet the characters are more shallow, superficial, petty and empty-headed than virtually any other television show in history. Three's Company had more female empowerment.

Q: That's the show with Suzanne Somers as the blonde-headed dumbbell?

The Dementor: Yes, exactly. Her character name was Christmas. She went by Chrissy. Carrie Bradshaw is the 21st century version of Chrissy. Silly, adolescent, juvenile, totally unencumbered by any burden of logic.

Q: But yet you say that Three's Company had more female empowerment?

The Dementor: There was a character named Janet [played by the actress Joyce DeWitt]. She's somewhat evolved, or at least she's evolving. There's no Janet on Sex and the City.

Q: I thought the Cynthia Nixon character was a little like Janet.

The Dementor: Please. She spends the entire show on a hunt for sex. Do you know what they call that in psychosexual parameters? Nymphomania.

Q: I thought the Kim Cattrall character was the nymphomaniac.

The Dementor: No, she's the exhibitionist. These characters, they all fall into little boxes. Charlotte York [Kristin Davis] just wants to get married. Samantha Jones [Cattrall] just wants shock value. Carrie Bradshaw has the emotional maturity of a 16-year-old. These characters don't break out of their molds, and the show goes on for six years. I mean, even the characters on Friends expanded a little.

Q: Chandler got married?

The Dementor: Well yes, he learned to commit to a relationship. And Rachel established herself as an independent, career-oriented girl. Had Rachel been a character on Sex and the City, she would still be walking out on that wedding.

Q: That was the Friends' pilot?

The Dementor: Exactly. And here's another thing that really bothered me about Sex and the City. It never mentioned larger world issues, not even symbolically. It was all fashion, sex talk, martinis, hubris. Who cares about Manolo Blahnik?

Q: Who?

The Dementor: The Spanish fashion designer. Mr. Stiletto Heels.

Q: As far as larger world issues, what would you have liked to have seen?

The Dementor: The show was filmed in New York City, right? I mean, New York City plays a starring role. How about some serious ongoing discussion on 9/11, or post 9/11 New York City? Meanwhile, Carrie Bradshaw is busy writing her infantile and meaningless ponderings, such as "Is life in Manhattan like a bagel with cream cheese?" Um, reality check. They just blew up the World Trade Center.

Q: I understand your point, but what show, a sitcom, deals with such big issues?

The Dementor: M*A*S*H.

Q: Yes M*A*S*H but M*A*S*H was set in a warzone.

The Dementor: That's my point. Listen, I don't need a full examination of geopolitical realities. But how about some recurring references? Take a show like Seinfeld. There were constant references to the larger world, even as simple as Kramer yelling "Yo-Yo Ma" or Jerry saying "Boutros Boutros-Ghali." I mean, at least Seinfeld recognized its time and place. With Sex and the City, you'd never know the era of the show. Put the series in a time capsule. A century from now, would they know that Sex and the City was shot in 2000? I doubt it. I think it's more probable that the sociologists of the future would place Sex and the City in the 1970s, beside Dukes of Hazard.

Q: So what's your idea of a great show?

The Dementor: Star Trek, the Next Generation. Imagine if Carrie Bradshaw somehow ended up on the Enterprise. Like in the Holodeck. Do you think the characters on Trek would pay her any attention, other than as a historical curiosity? Of course not. They would dismiss her as a composite of a silly age.

Q: Well, maybe that's what Sex and the City was saying. This is a silly age.

The Dementor: Maybe. But why do we really need six seasons and a movie to do that?

Q: There will be people reading this article who will identify you according to your pseudonym. In the lore of Harry Potter, dementors are soul-sucking creatures, the foulest of the foul. They will say that you've missed the entire point of Sex and the City: that you won't let whimsy be whimsy, that you won't let fun be fun. What do you say to them?

The Dementor: It's just a pseudonym. I really wanted to call myself Dumbledore, but that was already taken.

Q: In your opinion is there anything redeeming about the show?

The Dementor: The end.

Q: Other than the end, I mean.

The Dementor: The way Mr. Big treats Carrie, as an unbalanced little child. That's exactly what she is and exactly the way she should be treated.

Q: Why would Mr. Big, if he thinks Carrie is an unbalanced little child, want to be in a relationship with her?

The Dementor: That's the million dollar question. But that question could be asked for every relationship in the show. Let's face facts, unless these girls grew up together, they would not be friends in real life. In fact, they would hate each other.

Q: They do, if there's any truth to the dominant gossip. Any last thoughts?

The Dementor: I hope there's not a Sex and the City movie sequel.

Q: You realize you're in the vast minority, don't you? Most of America loves the show.

The Dementor: I know, I know. You can include my wife and daughter in there.

Q: Really. That's kind of ironic, isn't it?

The Dementor: How so?

Q: Well I'm assuming your wife is a self-empowered woman and I'm assuming you're bringing up your daughter to be a self-empowered woman and here they are, in love with a show that in your own words is more "shallow, superficial, petty and empty-headed than virtually any other television show in history." That's irony for you.

The Dementor: Do you want to hear something even more ironic?

Q: Sure.

The Dementor: My wife already bought tickets to the movie. We're going to the first showing on opening day.

Q: That's funny, in a twisted way.

The Dementor: I'm glad you're amused.

Q: Well, thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy the movie, despite your disdain. I hear the plot has Carrie becoming a political writer and trying to end our war in Iraq.

The Dementor: I would like a show like that.

Q: I thought you would.

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The Gonzo Journalism of Brian Josepher

Sex and the City, a detractor speaks