Remember that time as a little kid when you realized that Santa was not real? Or the first time you saw your mother sticking her hand under your pillow instead of the tooth fairy?
I remember those two times remarkably well, and I also recall how, for quite a while, I was in denial, hoping that it was just all dream.
I had that same feeling when I discovered the truth behind Carrie Bradshaw.
Sarah Jessica Parker's character in her HBO series, Sex and the City, is that one character I always admire. In a time of doubt I ask myself "what Would Carrie Bradshaw do?" I'm certain I am not the only one doing that; we all like to look up to graphic comic superheroes, book characters, and even TV show characters.
Sex in the City created the ideal character for many young female writers hoping to make it in the big city. Carrie is portrayed as a young woman living in New York City, writing a column for a newspaper, who always has time to meet up with her friends, and is occasionally enjoying a good ole cup of boy trouble.
The problem here is that no matter how hard you try to mimic your life after that of a fictional character, it will never be the same. Primarily, even though I know every single episode of Sex and the City by heart, it is still a two-dimensional story that only lasts 30 minutes per episode, while I am here trying to carry out her ideals 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, in all six seasons, the audience does not get a glimpse of how Carrie made it into the Big Apple. How did she find a huge apartment in the city with a closet that size? Does she have a college degree? Can a column in a small newspaper really pay my rent and buy new designer shoes monthly?
Even when looking past Carrie's career and into her personal amorous life, I thought Carrie's life was phenomenal; however, after my own share of dysfunctional relationships, I was able to see right through Carrie and Big's relationship: parasitical and detrimental. I am sure hoping that by my mid-30s, I won't be depending on a 40-year-old bachelor to make all my hopes and dreams come true!
It is truly disheartening when the character you most admire becomes a flawed, gilded idol, but I can most definitely thank her for paving the way for my dreams. I do think that Sex and the City makes the life of a female writer in New York seem incredibly easier, but that still doesn't stop me from wanting to live that kind of career for the rest of my life, even if it means having a smaller closet.