I am a 34 year old man and I did watch this when I was underage in the late 90s and didn't really understand what I was seeing. I rewatched it again in my 20s and again in my 30s. I'm telling you this now because with this knowledge, I can see how this show is misunderstood and not liked by some.
First off, the show is extremely well written and witty. The dialogue has great introspection. The show was mostly written by gay men, and at times, does seem to be over-sexualized, cynical, and very vain but I do think this is a major center theme within the idea of the obsession with sex and the vanity of New York city. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is essentially written through the gaze of a gay man who is friends with hyper neurotic caricatures of NYC women.
I do feel this show was far more on the cusp of open sexuality and social politics involving relationships and men/women/gay/straight/single/marriage issues in the late 90s/early 00s. It did a great job showing raw human behavior and how deplorable and sexual a lot of people really are sometimes on the inside. With the show being on HBO, it had an easier time showing these things as well. Some people were offended by how vain and vulgar it was which resulted in it unrealistic nature. This is true, but I feel people may be misunderstanding the how deep the human psyche does go for something people who are highly cynical and critical. The same could be said about other shows like Seinfeld.
All-in-all, it's a great watch for adults and it still holds up today 20 years later. Some of the jokes and pop culture references are dated, but they are still perfectly fine when knowledgeable and I do think the show deserves a solid 7 for its efforts.
First off, the show is extremely well written and witty. The dialogue has great introspection. The show was mostly written by gay men, and at times, does seem to be over-sexualized, cynical, and very vain but I do think this is a major center theme within the idea of the obsession with sex and the vanity of New York city. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is essentially written through the gaze of a gay man who is friends with hyper neurotic caricatures of NYC women.
I do feel this show was far more on the cusp of open sexuality and social politics involving relationships and men/women/gay/straight/single/marriage issues in the late 90s/early 00s. It did a great job showing raw human behavior and how deplorable and sexual a lot of people really are sometimes on the inside. With the show being on HBO, it had an easier time showing these things as well. Some people were offended by how vain and vulgar it was which resulted in it unrealistic nature. This is true, but I feel people may be misunderstanding the how deep the human psyche does go for something people who are highly cynical and critical. The same could be said about other shows like Seinfeld.
All-in-all, it's a great watch for adults and it still holds up today 20 years later. Some of the jokes and pop culture references are dated, but they are still perfectly fine when knowledgeable and I do think the show deserves a solid 7 for its efforts.