"Do modern day singles need modern day myths?" If you're a super-fan of Sex and the City then you probably recognize this quote from Carrie Bradshaw. I am a mega-fan of the show! Oddly enough the very first time I saw an episode I hated it and refused to watch another. But then I happened to catch a few more and now to say that I'm a SATC addict is sort of an understatement. I have the entire series and have watched it more times that I can count and own both movies. I want to be Carrie Bradshaw...no joke. And yes, I know how pathetic that sounds...I don't care.
The movie was on TV last night and despite the fact that they had to cut out all of the good parts like Gilles Marini totally naked, I still had to watch it. Two parts of the movie (and yes this will spoil it if you haven't seen it, so be warned and stop reading if you care) made me think of my opening quote. The first scene that got me thinking was when Steve and Miranda meet on the Brooklyn Bridge after spending time apart deciding if they want to work on their marriage. Miranda had checked out of the marriage and devoted too much time to work and Steve had an affair. Their therapist suggest they pick a place to meet and if they both show up then the past has been put behind them and they'll start over. Of course, when that day comes, they both show up. There are tears, hugs and kisses. It's a great moment for a romantic like me. But is it just a modern fairy tale? If this wasn't a scene in a movie would they have both shown up, or would one of them be standing on the bridge alone?
The second scene, or scenes in this case, is everything from Carrie going to her computer to find all of the love letters Big has been writing to her until the very end of the movie. Every single thing about this part of the movie made me jump up and down. Even though self-respecting women should really hate Big and think Carrie a spineless moron to keep going back to him, many of us love them and so this was the happy ending we all wanted. But outside of a movie? Would any man write e-mails like that? Would any man go back to the house at the 11th hour to rescue the shoes? Would the woman run back into his arms and would he really have proposed again? Would any man whisper part of a poem in her ear or call her girlfriends? Even though nothing about this movie is the typical fairy tale we were told as children, isn't it just a modern day fairy tale?
So we're older now and Cinderella and Rapunzel have moved out of our lives (unless we have children to relive them with), so do we need fairy tales for our modern adult lives? I know it's a movie and I know it's just supposed to be entertaining. But does it serve some purpose for hopeless romantics like myself? Do I need to believe that the Mr. Big's of the world exist and can change into happy husbands? Do I need to believe that two people could go through something really awful and come out happy on the other side? This is my modern day fairy tale, and I know fairy tales don't come true.
But yeah, I still need to believe.
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