As real as Sex and the City writers got, which according to Cynthia Nixon is very real, they couldn't escape the siren call of a fairytale ending. As we all know, despite every indication that Mr. Big was an emotionally unavailable commitment-phobe (and that Aidan was the sweetest, most perfect guy ever), Carrie Bradshaw still somehow ends up with John James Preston at the close of the hit HBO show—a bittersweet if not frustrating moment for us all.
The independent single girl whose wardrobe we lusted after and whose struggles we related to abandons her single life, ignores the red flags, and gets back together with the guy who's been the source of endless heartache and game-playing for the better part of a decade. And yet, we're supposed to be happy for her questionable relationship choice and trust it'll all work out because, you know, happily ever after? (Watch the final scene here.)
If the shift into rom-com territory left you suspicious and unsatisfied, you're not alone. Sex and the City creator Darren Star didn't like the way things turned out for Carrie and Big either.
"I didn't break those last episodes," Star noted in a new Kindle Singles Interview. "If you're empowering other people to write and produce your show, at a certain point, you've got to let them follow their vision."
"But I think the show ultimately betrayed what it was about, which was that women don't ultimately find happiness from marriage," he explained. "Not that they can't. But the show initially was going off script from the romantic comedies that had come before it. That's what had made women so attached. At the end, it became a conventional romantic comedy… But unless you're there to write every episode, you're not going to get the ending you want."
If this is his opinion on the series finale, we can only imagine what Star would say about how things played out in the movies…
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I am an experienced editor, writer, and creative strategist, specializing in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content for digital media outlets, as well as video and social platforms. While I currently operate as a freelance contributor/consultant, with such clients as The Zoe Report, my 10+-year background in the industry was cultivated at the dot-coms of elite publications, including Harper’s BAZAAR, ELLE, and Marie Claire.
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