I read the reviews (which weren’t good), but that didn’t matter because I was excited to see my old friends on screen. We’ve been friends for 12 years now, which is hard to believe, and I have enjoyed watching this dynamic foursome grow and navigate the crazy world of relationships, finding happiness and getting older.
Like many women who were fans of Sex and the City during its years on television, I was excited to find out how my ladies were doing after the first movie. In particular I was curious to see how Big and Carrie were handling marriage after a long and tumultuous road leading up to it. 
After seeing Sex and the City 2, I left with a very warm and content feeling that this wonderful foursome can still teach women some very valuable lessons. Regardless of how movie reviewers or movie goers feel about the quality of the movie, it still had very striking and important themes that really resonated with me and offered some lingering food for thought.
I feel a sense of appreciation for these characters and their storylines because even today it’s one of the few ways for women to connect, relate and empathize with each other around central challenges, issues and fears that we all experience yet still feel uncomfortable talking about.
Since its inception, Sex and the City struck a chord with millions of women because finally here was a show that talked about the many issues we’ve all been grappling with but never had the courage to talk about even with our girlfriends. It opened up lines of communication to discuss taboo topics and gave us permission to feel more comfortable to laugh and relate to our girlfriends about the many, crazy intricacies of relationships and sex.
The beauty of the four characters is that even after 12 years women can relate to all four of them in some way. They each represent a part of us: Type A, cut to the chase Miranda with her career focused mind and need for intellectual fulfillment, play-it-safe Charlotte with her unending hopeful desire for traditionalism and stability, unpredictable Samantha with her boldness and risk-taking to stay true to herself and finally playful Carrie with her constant journey of self-realization and struggle with how to move forward after her mistakes.
For me, Sex and the City 2 touched upon some important messages and themes that women of any age can relate to:
Make your own rules: Carrie and Big are the definition of bucking society. They have decided not to have children and contemplate whether they should allow themselves to spend two nights apart from each other every week. In her usual manner, Charlotte gives a disapproving reaction to this idea and in many ways she represents the society we all think we face that deems what’s acceptable and what’s not. In the end, Carrie realizes that what she and Big need in their marriage is a very individual and personal decision and trying to conform to what’s viewed as “right” isn’t going to make her or anyone happy. Each of us needs to decide what’s right for us, our partners and our relationships–not based on the status quo.
Balancing work and family is hard: Miranda has always been the character that struggles with this the most because of her intense, high-powered job as an accomplished lawyer and having her son Brady. The movie portrays her no differently except this time she has an obnoxious boss that feels threatened by her. It’s obvious that she’s had to miss a lot of Brady’s milestones because of work, but she feels caught between the need to be intellectually challenged and attending to her son’s needs. By the end of the movie, Miranda is able to strike a happy and healthy balance for her and her family but it wasn’t without a lot of soul searching and compromise to get to that point.
It’s OK (and important) to be honest: Like Charlotte, many women hesitate about being brutally honest that motherhood is exhausting. They feel guilty that it will be a reflection on how they feel about their children. In a sweet scene between Charlotte and Miranda, they nervously take turns talking about the challenges of motherhood and in a moment of pure honesty Charlotte admits her two girls are driving her crazy. You could tell from Charlotte’s face how much weight had been lifted when she said what she had been feeling for weeks out loud. Women need to be honest with each other because others are feeling the same thing but just won’t admit it. And inevitably everyone feels better when they can share their experiences and lean on their girlfriends.
Take risks: Granted we may not be able to live like Samantha, or want to for that matter, but you have to give the girl credit—she takes risks. And not just sexual ones. One of the funniest parts of the movie is when she became immensely frustrated by the sexual repressed city of Abu Dhabi, where they were vacationing, and shook condoms in the faces of the uptight men who expect women to remain very subdued. She was insulting them on multiple levels but took the risk to be herself and make her voice heard.
Growing older can be funny and sexy: Like many women going through menopause, Samantha attempts to trick her body into thinking it’s younger. She takes elephant size pills, uses lots of creams and can’t be without her hormones. Hollywood is so obsessed with youth that I loved seeing a beautiful middle-aged woman on screen. We didn’t see the usual stereotypes but instead a woman who is vibrant, excited about life, sexually empowered and with the attitude that she can do anything regardless of age.
And finally the most poignant lesson, enjoy what you have: There isn’t a woman on this planet that doesn’t think at some point the grass will be greener on the other side. As women it’s natural for us to always think about and want what’s next, but unfortunately that sometimes prevents us from truly embracing and enjoying what we have in the present moment. For single ladies, they crave being married. For married ladies, they think about starting a family. For ladies living in small places, they want a bigger place. And so on and so forth. The biggest take away I got from the movie was while it’s OK to want something more, treasure what you have today.
As seen throughout all four characters what happens next in their lives with babies and marriage, while happy and wonderful, also brought new challenges. Ironically as mentioned in the movie they spent the prior 10 years working toward their current situation so how could they complain? The greener grass, while a worthy goal, doesn’t mean your life will be better just different. No matter what stage in life you are it will have its pluses and minuses and achieving something else or securing something more won’t be the fix all many of us fantasize. So live in the moment ladies!
