As a recent convert into the Sex and the City fandom, but still not having watched the series in full, in the words of Carrie Bradshaw ‘I couldn’t help but wonder…’, who the real main character of the series is. The four ladies; Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, have different personalities and relationship standards, yet they still somehow fit together as one of television’s most iconic friend groups.
Starting with the one and only Carrie Bradshaw, we see the good and the bad over six seasons. When we first meet Carrie, she is a romantic, dreamy and messy individual. I got inspiration from a TikTok edit for this one, but the song ‘Messy’ by Lola Young was made for Carrie, especially in her relationship with Mr Big, and how she’s only enough for him when it’s convenient. However, as the series progresses, Carrie’s messiness becomes less and less lovable. Carrie becomes more self-involved and obsessed with her on-and-off toxic relationship with Big, bringing their problematic relationship into every conversation, such as the iconic moment of “Big is moving to Paris”. Carrie couldn’t think of anything without bringing him into it. The back-and-forth mess of a relationship is finally stable in the pilot episode of the series’ revival ‘And Just Like That…’ until the episode is met with a tragic end.
In contrast to Carrie, we have art dealer Charlotte York, our sweet and sophisticated Park Avenue Princess. Charlotte York is much more attuned to expectations for women in the dating world, has much higher standards than her friends and is much more put-together. It’s fair enough that Charlotte deserves to hold herself to high standards. Charlotte is the ultimate lover girl, a true romantic just in the search for Mr. Right. “I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. I’m exhausted! Where is he?” The more demure, sensible friend of the group surprisingly had the same number of partners as Carrie, at eighteen men. Charlotte’s dreams of a perfect husband and kids eventually do come true; she converts to Judaism for her husband Harry and after adoption and fertility treatments, she becomes a mother to two; Lily and Rock (previously Rose).
Miranda Hobbes, the tomboyish, overachieving, career-oriented lawyer often acts as the voice of reason, calling the others out when they get too obsessed with their romantic life. Throughout the series’ six seasons, Miranda had the least amount of partners in the group, but this isn’t a bad thing, she has different priorities compared to the others; her job as a lawyer is more time-consuming and she believes that the group had more to talk about than their relationships and men. Eventually, Miranda does end up coupled with on-and-off boyfriend Steve, the barman after their son Brady is born.
Last but certainly not least, we have the iconic Samantha Jones. A brash, outspoken PR rep, Sam is not afraid to say what’s on her mind and what the rest think. Samantha advises her friends but doesn’t encourage her friends to do the same as her. She is the ultimate ‘we listen and we don’t judge’ friend, listening to the others’ stories and offering advice, no matter how crass it might be. As the oldest of her friend group, in her early forties compared to the others’ early thirties at the beginning of the first season, Samantha didn’t let age stop her from going out and living her best life with those nearest and dearest to her. In SATC’s final season, Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer. However, this doesn’t stop her from being fabulous as always as she sports different outrageous wigs, hats and headscarves having lost her hair. Samantha makes a brief appearance in season 2 finale of the SATC revival series ‘And Just Like That…’ where she calls Carrie from London to say farewell to the iconic Brownstone apartment in the West Village.
No matter how many Buzzfeed quizzes you might take to find out which of the four your personality aligns with, we all have a little bit of each of the four ladies in us. Over the past twenty-five years, each of the group have remained role models in their own right.