When Megan and I were vexed with trying to find an issue on which males and females have different opinions -- an issue that would still remain in context with the subject matter of the Life page -- it took us quite a while to find a topic. Clearly men and women differ on many points. However, when a simple task is forced to resolution, the mind stalls and is momentarily incapable of even its most primitive functions. Nevertheless, in the process of our conversation, somehow, someway, "Sex and the City" came up. Though somewhat of a banal topic, "Sex and the City" has been a cultural paradigm affecting our lives since its premiere in 1998.
"Sex and the City" is a great show. The storylines are always good, and the production is fantastic. Along with "The Sopranos," "Sex" is the reason HBO has been elevated to its current status. But just as columnists pointed out how provocative the show was when it first hit the airwaves, we must now asses its effects on our culture. While I admit "Sex" is a good show, I am not going to plan out my day to watch it like I would "The Sopranos" or my friends do "The O.C."
Perhaps if I were a girl, I would buy all the DVD sets the day they hit stores. Unfortunately, as a guy, I rarely watched the show when it was on. The reason? Simple: I could care less about listening to four women complain about their risqué New York lives. I would watch "Sex and the City" when other girls would watch it, especially this last season when the house behind mine filled with about a dozen girls every Sunday night -- I had to make an appearance then. My point is, and I feel most other males will agree with me, the only reason we like it is because girls do and because of the effects it has on them.
Let's face it. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are sluts by the standards under which our parents tried to raise us. Sure, they're funny and easy to relate to, but watching their promiscuous behavior has increased the promiscuity of the show's female viewing population. Just as watching television can teach kids things they had never before comprehended, it can also bring what was once taboo out of the closet and into the living room. Sure, America's moral standards were on the decline before the show aired, but it has had a detrimental effect on what was already an exponentially increasing problem.
We would expect that Candace Bushnell, the author of the novel on which the show is based, would be an extremely intelligent modern woman. And while I doubt I could write a book that would turn into such a popular show, she disappointed me in the one television interview I have seen. She appeared briefly on CNN's "Headline News," and instead of answering the anchor's questions about her show's popularity, she began hawking a digital camera and showing it off to the audience, almost refraining from all questions posed. Perhaps this type of behavior would be acceptable on QVC, but not in an interview on "Headline News."
Once I lost faith in its author, I began considering the effects of "Sex and the City" and asking myself whether or not we should heed a creation from the mind of this woman. I am not sure if I have yet found an answer, and, of course, I am too late since everyone has already been affected anyway.
In a culture that allows students to talk about their sex lives in weekly columns in the school newspaper, is it necessary that all of our audio/visual entertainment focus on sex as well? We have become a culture obsessed with sexual deviance. Feeding on Internet pornography and our ADHD amphetamines, we are turned on by Britney Spears when she dresses like a Catholic school girl and turned off when we have to watch another 9/11 documentary. I'm not quite sure where we are going as a society, but I am quite sure it is getting harder and harder to raise children with all this going on in the background.
"Sex and the City" has won many awards and is acclaimed and loved by most all. And I am not necessarily disappointed that every college girl I know watches it makes the show's sluts her role models -- the situation does have its benefits. I am only pointing out what I believe this show has done to our culture. Sex is now a household term, not a class saved for sixth grade and hidden from younger children. It's not the corporeal ritual of love between two people -- it's a way get ourselves off and find somewhere to sleep tonight. But who am I to complain?
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