Anyone who's seen Sex and the City has no doubt wondered how on earth Carrie Bradshaw managed to live in that fabulous apartment in the middle of Manhattan all by herself, take taxis every day, eat out every night, brunch and sip Cosmos every week, and buy Manolos every other week ('there's your down payment') when all she did was write one weekly newspaper column.
Fifteen years after 'Ring a Ding Ding,' the episode where Sarah Jessica Parker's controversial character had to choose between buying or losing her place in New York — ending in BFF Charlotte having to bail her out — Sex and the City's writer and producer, Amy Harris, has spoken out about Carrie's unrealistic champagne lifestyle on a lemonade income.
'If people were pissed and hated that Carrie did that, I'm OK with that,' she told CNBC.
'Sarah Jessica and I talked about this: we believe [Carrie] paid [Charlotte] back. It was a loan, not a gift, so she did have to learn to save a little, to not spend everything on shoes and clothes.'
'In my mind, she had to acknowledge all the shit choices she'd made and the fact that she hadn't saved a penny and that was a big mistake, and so she was living with that. Carrie learned a lesson. I do believe she sat down every month and wrote Charlotte a check.'
Harris also admitted that Carrie's spending divided the script writers, adding: 'People are funny about money.'
'The biggest fight we ever got into in the writers' room was about the money — that was a very big debate. Money is a tricky, complicated thing. Carrie spent it well on things she enjoyed, and luckily it all worked out well for her – I love happy endings.'
At least now, in the current financial climate, millennials can relate to Carrie having no place to live. Unfortunately, they probably don't have as many Manolos.
