At the repeated demands of my three best friends, I decided to binge watch Sex and the City throughout the semester. That’s right. I indulged in approximately three to four episodes a day for weeks and topped it with the viewing of the two movies. Although Carrie Bradshaw was everyone’s favorite “it” girl in the show, I have to admit I fostered a love and hate relationship with her throughout the entire six seasons—and it did not get better after watching the two movies. She was the centre of the show and the heart of her friend group, but to me, there are just a few points I could not overlook. Here are five times Carrie showed herself to be the worst.
-
When Carrie threw a tantrum at Charlotte for not offering to lend her money (S4E12)
For the OG viewers, you may remember a certain Carrie having to pay for her apartment and realizing she had no savings at 35. Banks would not lend her the money and after asking for her friends’ guidance, she refused to cash in her ex boyfriend’s check. Samantha and Miranda offered to pay for her apartment instead while Charlotte remained silent. Carrie declined the ladies offers and went on about her day. However, she wanted Charlotte to offer to help and stormed off to her apartment and called her out for being a bad friend. Carrie used examples of how much “she listened to Charlotte’s divorces stories” and could not understand why she did not even try to help her. It is not because a friend has the means that they have to give it to you. Money, clothes, shoes, and food in friendship should be given freely, not in exchange for free listening. Her attempt had only one goal and it was to reroute the guilt from her own financial mistakes to Charlotte’s lack of friendly spirit.
-
When she cheated on Aiden (S3E07-S3E08)
Aiden was the perfect boyfriend. He was everything Big was not: he was present for her, he cared for her, he was ready to make a commitment and he was honest with her. And how did Carrie repay him? By cheating on him with her married ex-boyfriend who had been awful to her in their previous relationship. She did it not once, but multiple times. It was a complete affair! After whining for months that she wanted a healthy and happy relationship, she screwed over the one man who was ready to help her experience that.
-
When she accepted to marry Aiden… but she didn’t mean to (S4E12)
If point two was not enough, get this: he forgave her. She dated some other guy and they took some time apart. She knew she wanted Aiden back. Carrie waited for him outside at night and declared to him that she still had feelings for him and she wanted to be a couple again. When he screams out that he is hurt, she runs away (she runs away a lot throughout the six seasons. It’s her thing). He eventually meets her outside of her apartment the same night and they make up. That would have been a sweet beginning of a new rekindled love right? Wrong. Aiden did his good guy skit again and was the wonderful boyfriend that we all knew he would be. Not only did he forgive the cheating, he had to endure Big’s phone calls to Carrie without getting crazy jealous. After a few weeks of cohabiting and being happy, he proposed to her. She had her doubts, but said yes anyway. He was happy, started bringing some boxes in and doing some renovations to make the apartment bigger. As a matter of fact, he bought her apartment and the one next door for them to live in. And only after these building blocks started to take shape did Carrie decide to confess she did not want to be married breaking Aiden’s heart for the second time.
-
Each time she dated a guy knowing she liked Big better
I do not buy the whole “I am in love” after three dates attitude Carrie has throughout her whole dating history. She went from one guy to another (which is something she shamed Samantha on the fourth episode of season 5) and always wound up right where she wanted to be—with Big. Although the show’s audience probably thought this was romantic, I felt it was unjust for the men who fell in love with her. They never had a chance to actually get anywhere with her because her heart, whether she admitted it or not, was never fully in it. My theory is that Carrie always wanted Big, but she knew she could not have him right away. Because of this, she had in-between boyfriends to fill in until the real thing would come along. They both played mind games with each other; I just felt it was unnecessary to bring exterior people into the mix.
-
When she cheated on Big (with Aiden in the second movie)
Ironic, isn’t it? That part only happens in the second Sex and the City movie. Carrie is dissatisfied with her marriage to Big—whom, if we recall, did not want to be committed to her for ten years and had finally became the bigger person. So when she bumps into Aiden in Abu Dhabi, she makes the unreasonable decision to go on a date with him. After discussing their marriages and enjoying a rather heated evening, they share a kiss outside Aiden’s hotel. I don’t even think there needs to be a comment added to this fraudulent moment!
In conclusion, Carrie Bradshaw is a character that you almost love to hate. From dating mistakes to friendship missteps, she’s certainly outdone herself in the category of “bad person.”