Sex and the City Analysis

This clip from Sex and the City involves Charlotte, the more reserved character, talking to her friend about the recent anonymous sex she had. The scene makes it seem like this type of behavior is acceptable, which is reinforced by the gay man she is confiding in. How would this be different if the same thing happened in a suburban neighborhood? It would be considered much more scandalous and Charlotte would probably be looked down upon by her neighbors rather than praised, as she is in this scene. There is something about the city, especially New York City, that allows a person to be more private and anonymous about their actions. Charlotte found herself having sex with her not-so-attractive divorce lawyer and nobody found it to be a disgrace.

This may be against one’s morals and values, but it does not matter because many people are unaware that this event even occurred, or events like it. Also, the city is a more forgiving place. Not only are personal actions kept anonymous, but the eclectic group of people who have settled here are more forgiving to this life style. Chris Barker writes in Cultural Studies that the city is an “escape from the controls of traditions” and is a “product and symbol of modernity” (380). The typical New Yorker residing in Manhattan is not a Christian suburban housewife who will judge a woman about her promiscuous behavior. The typical New Yorker is more open to different ways of living.

New York offers an abundance of excitement. It is a place where a person can either completely disappear or make themselves known. Barker wrote a section in his book called, “The excitement of the city” in which he describes the very essence of a city its self. According to Barker, cities have many things to offer, one being “the context for mixing and meeting with a range of different people” (397). The gay club where this scene takes place reinforces the idea that there are many, many different types of people that a person can mingle with at any given time. In other episodes, the girls go to all types of different parties where they meet interesting, and sometimes bizarre, people. It is more available to them in the city as apposed to a family-oriented neighborhood in which one will encounter the same people each day.

Barker also writes that, “In big cities, as nowhere else, one can…play with identities” (397). With such a large mass of people in one small area, it is nearly impossible to keep track of a single person’s whereabouts. Charlotte had sex with her divorce lawyer and the only people who will be aware of this are the people that she tells. She is not normally this promiscuous but she has no shame because she was personifying an alternate identity. She was not Charlotte the conservative and reserved girl; she was Charlotte the client who this working professional is not familiar with.

New York, and big cities in general, are more open-minded to multiple lifestyles, forgiving of the mishaps of others, and enable people to “play with identities” as Barker puts it. Yes, the people here have morals and values, but they are less defined. There is a gray area between right and wrong that people live within. Some of the things the characters do in Sex and the City may be deemed completely acceptable to some and utterly reprehensible to others. The atmosphere in the city is fast-paced, exciting, and best of all, anonymous. If you want to go to a gay bar and talk about your promiscuous sex life without anybody judging you, then go right ahead.