Though their closets aren’t filled with Manolos and they don’t live on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, female students still relate to the ladies of “Sex and the City.”
As devoted fans of the HBO series, UCLA second-year students Lindsay Lindberg, Becky Neighbors, Kira Stearns, Lucine Torosian and Linda Yun have watched and rewatched every episode for reasons much deeper than love for shoes and men.
Four years after the successful HBO series ended, the movie version of “Sex and the City” opens today across the country.
The movie is one these five girls, like many fans, have eagerly anticipated, as the film shows the next steps in the lives of their favorite four fashionistas.
The students explain that even though the show follows the lives of 30-something women, college students are able to identify with the leading characters because of the emphasis the show places on friendship.
“The show definitely stresses the importance of girlfriends over their relationships with men,” Stearns said.
She said the show, through this emphasis, defies standards set by society and proves that a woman does not need a man to lead a fulfilled life.
“One of the things I love most about the series is that it shows that there is nothing wrong with being a professional woman and there is nothing wrong with not being in a relationship,” Neighbors said.
“As long as you are strong and independent, that is fine.”
Something that seems to especially resonate with students is the show’s message that it is okay if life doesn’t always go according to plan.
The four women on the show choose completely separate paths, embrace different opportunities, and have their own life experiences.
“It is like, “˜Oh wow, there are these single, over-30 girls, and they do have a story and they do have a place,'” Stearns said.
“”˜Sex and the City’ shows us that we can make a choice. “˜Do I want to be single and 30 and having a fantastic career?’ These different lifestyle options weren’t really presented until this show drastically and shockingly showed us.”
But since the show is admired for going beyond the conventions of society, Stearns will be disappointed if the movie pieces everything together perfectly, especially in regard to media speculation about a possible wedding for Carrie and Mr. Big.
“If (Carrie and Mr. Big) do get married, that would be a happily-ever-after ending, and to me, that isn’t really what the show is about,” Stearns said.
Lindberg, who sees herself the most similar to the ceaselessly romantic Charlotte, has learned from her favorite character that a realigned fairy-tale ending is more likely.
“You have to be open and you have to be willing to change your definition of a fairy tale,” she said.
The four women of Manhattan have also taught young adults a great deal about themselves and how to embrace their individual characteristics.
“The show helps you understand aspects of your own life,” Yun said.
“You would never describe any of these women as drop-dead gorgeous. These aren’t the most beautiful women in the world, yet they are still so sexy and that is one of the show’s biggest draws,” Yun said. “It has nothing to do with whether or not they look like pinup girls. They are sexy because they are confident.”
While Torosian also says she is undeniably a Charlotte, she has learned the most from the main character, Carrie.
“Carrie showed me that remaining true to yourself is of the utmost importance, whether you’re single or in a relationship,” she said.
That sentiment is one all of these five fans, and probably many more, have taken to heart, even after the show ended.
It’s clear with one glance at a special post-it note hanging on their dorm room door: a post-it note Ms. Bradshaw would find much more to her liking than those of episodes past.
A famous Oscar Wilde quote, the post-it reads: “Be yourself; everybody else is already taken.”