Neo Aristotelian Analysis of Sex and the City - Essay Example

?Neo Aristotelian Analysis of Sex and the Sex and the is a hit American television series broadcast on the HBO channel from 1998 to 2004. It is a situational comedy/drama that uses the irony in the lives of its lead characters to create humor. Sex and the City is the story of four single friends in their thirties, their love life and the various problems they face. These four main characters are Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Samantha Jones played by Kim Cattrall, Charlott York played by Kristin Davis and Miranda Hobbes played by Cynthia Nixon. The series is based on the book and columns by the same name written by Candace Bushnell. According to Bushnell, the main characters of the story are based on her and her friends in real life (Degtyareva, 2005). This inspiration from real life makes the series believable and identifiable. The story is told in first person by Carrie in the form of a narration. Carrie often talks to the audience in the middle of a scene to make a specific point. The first person narration also means that we see the lives of the four women through Carrie's perspective. This is important since it impacts the "character" aspect of the Neo-Aristotelian Analysis and will be discussed in details below. The entire series is set in Manhattan and so the overall character of the city also influences the characters and their actions. At the start of the series, the audience is introduced to the four friends who are all single and looking for love. Carrie is a writer, Samantha is in public relations, Miranda is a lawyer and Charlotte works in an art gallery. The four friends have contrasting characteristics. For example, while Samantha is assertive and aggressive and has a number of short lived affairs, Charlotte is much more traditional and believes in marriage and relationships. The four main characters hope to find love and marriage and so are shown dating a number of men through the series in an attempt to find the right life partner. The main theme repeated several times through the series shows someone of the main cast finding what seems to be the perfect man but then realizing that the said man is not the right one. Keeping this overall theme in mind, we shall now attempt a Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of the Sex and the City series. Action: The Neo-Aristotelian Analysis defines action as "any occurrence performed by a character, be it physical, mental or emotional that furthers the plot, delineates character, or explains or dramatizes a theme" (Taflinger, 1996). Action consists of eight parts. These are exposition, problem, point of attack, foreshadowing, complications, crisis, the climax and the denouement. In Sex and the City, we see these eight parts of the action being repeated in every episode, every season and in the series as a whole. In other words, every single episode had an exposition which establishes the status quo at the beginning of the episode. This is quickly followed by the problem definition as we were introduced to an issue that needs to be solved. Some kind of complication furthers the story to the crisis point which is than solved by the characters in the climax. As such, each episode is a complete story on its own and any person not following the series could still enjoy a particular episode. Just as each episode is complete on its own because it follows the eight parts of action, similarly, each of the six season is a complete story on its own. And the whole series also follows the eight actions to form a complete story which can be said to have an exposition, a problem, a complication, crisis, climax and denouement. This characteristic off Sex and the City is common to all sitcoms wherein every episode is a complete story on its own and the entire series also tells a story. This action is extremely important for the success of a sitcom because every audience, irrespective of whether or not he/she is regularly watching the show, should be able to enjoy the episode. The aim of each episode is to hook any new viewer as well as keep the old viewers interested. So while each episode is a complete in itself, it also furthers the story until the story reaches its climax in the final season. Another characteristic of action in sitcoms is that each episode and each season ends at a point that only partially resolves the conflict and leaves some lose ends that still need to be tied. This is also important because the loose ends ensure that the audience keeps coming back for the next episode and next season. For example, season 1 of the series ends with Carrie breaking up with "Big". The breakup in itself is the denouement for the season. However, during the course of the season, the audience had come to root for Carrie and "Big" as a couple and so when they breakup, the audience hopes that this is only temporary and that they would get back together at some later day. When the audience tunes back in the second season, they hope that the two get back together. This is a very intelligent plot move because while it ends the story arc of the first season, it still leaves scope for further exploration of the relationship between Carrie and "Big". To the viewers, the breakup does not seem permanent and there seems to be a very high possibility that given some more time, the two will get back together. It must be noted that this indication is not through a specific dialogue or sequence but is subtly implied by the way the relationship is portrayed. Viewers who have regularly watched the entire season know the dynamics of their relation and find it difficult to accept that the relationship has ended. So the writers and the directors use the plot to ensure a loyal audience by keeping the audience hooked through the action in every episode, every season and through the series. Character: As mentioned above, Sex and the City has four main characters. The plot uses all the four ways of developing the characterization to help form deep, multilayered characters. These four ways of showing characterization are "what he or she says, what he or she does, what other characters say about him or her, and how he or she looks" (Taflinger, 2006). The audience is first introduced to all the characters through Carrie's narration. Carrie continues to give her opinion and comments on each of the characters, including herself and these comments help form the basic outline for the characterization. Carrie's comments form the base through which the audience understands all the other characters in the series. Although, the characterization is also helped by the dialogues, the actions of the characters and their outfits, Carrie's words still remain the most important and color how the audience interprets the other factors. So when Carrie says that Charlotte may be a little dumb, the audience begins to see Charlottes as the dumb, stupid member of the group. Even though Charlotte is well educated and just as intelligent as the other three girls, the audience expects her to act and behave in a manner that shows that she may not be too bright. For example, if it takes Charlotte an inordinately long time to make a decision, it could be because she is a careful person or an indecisive person. But because the audience view is colored by Carrie's comments, we think that she is taking so long to decide because she is too dumb to come to a decision. Thus, a single person's perspective can color the proper characterization of the characters. Besides, Carrie's comments, the series also develops the characters through other means. Most of the story unfolds through the long conversation between the four friends. These conversations makes the audience aware of each of the four characters intellect, emotions, feelings, thoughts etc. It is through these dialogues that we learn that Samantha is assertive and aggressive, Charlotte is simple and preppy, Miranda is cynical and Carrie is a believer. The screenplay also shows the four friends actually doing things that further define their characterization. So Samantha is shown having sex with a number of partners, usually on the first date and Charlotte is shown to be avoiding sex until she gets to know her boyfriends better. Finally, how the girls dress also gives important clue regarding their characterization. Although, all the four girls dress in expensive glamorous clothes, Charlotte's clothes are a lot more conservative, while Miranda dresses in a more masculine manner indicating that she is a tomboy. The in-depth characterization of the four main characters helps the audience identify with them and every female member of the audience can see herself in one of the four girls. Such identification with the characters makes them interested in finding out about the fate of the characters and ensures that they keep coming back to learn more. Thought: Thought is the basic background or theme of the plot. It also gives the characters a reason for doing what they are doing. In Sex and the City, this thought is the main characters' search for love and contentment. Each of the four characters are searching for a different way to find this contentment. Contentment means different things to different people. For Samantha it is great sex. For Charlotte it is a family with a husband and a kid. Miranda finds contentment when she is finally able to properly balance all the problems in her life. Carrie is contented when "Mr. Big" confesses his love for her. The series explores the journey of the four women in search of contentment and this forms the thought behind the story. Because HBO generates its revenue directly from the viewers and does not have to depend on advertising dollars, the producers have much more freedom to craft intricate storylines with complex characters that fall within the comfortable range of emotions (Montemuro, 2004). This makes it easier for the audience to identify with the situations. Since the basic struggle of life involves trying to find the contentment and because Sex and the City is able to bring out this quest for contentment in a way that is nearer to real life, audience are able to connect with it much more intimately. With the four characters each having their own storyline, the series could be said to have four distinct thought and most viewers can find themselves identifying with one of these thoughts. Diction: The diction of Sex and the City is very casual. All the characters in the series use words and phrases that would come naturally to people living in similar social, educational and economic setting. The accent, words and vocabulary used by the characters is what would be expected of well-educated, upper middle class, white people living in Manhattan. The use of such a natural diction makes the characters believable. Samantha is shown openly using sexually expressive language while Miranda and Charlotte are a lot more conservative with their language. When Miranda and Charlotte do use more colorful words, they usually need to be tutored about the right words and their right usage. Thus, while the whole series has a very natural diction, the words and vocabulary used by the individual characters reflects their characterization. Such a natural and easy diction is easy for the audience to understand and appreciate. Use of unnatural language or big difficult words can often put off audience because they are unable to understand them. But Sex and the City uses normal everyday language and is not even afraid to use strong, even abusive language, most audiences are able to identify with it because it is the kind of language all of us use in everyday life. Music: Background music is "used to create moods, fill spaces, provide rhythm and link the production to other cultural texts" (McCourt and Zuberi). Sex and the city makes ample use of good, pleasing music to set the mood of each and every scene. In fact, the series has an elaborate music that is good enough for the producers to release DVDs corresponding to the series. The music is generally light and peppy in keeping with the show's spirit. On the few occasions that the characters encounter a serious situation, the music gets somber enough to reflect the scene. Background music needs to be subtle and soft to enhance the actual scenes because if the music is too loud and intrusive it can drown out the show entirely (Dee, 2011). Sex and City uses just the appropriate kind of music that reflects the mood of the actual scene. So if the scene shows Carrie and "Big" having a romantic moment, the background music used is light and romantic. The music is soft enough to remain in the background and does not have any jarring notes that may distract the viewers. That is, the series does not use background music to attract the viewers attention but allows it flow in the background. The audience hears the music but more at a subconscious level, which affects their mood. This means that hearing romantic music puts the audience in a romantic mood and much more likely to appreciate a romantic scene. Right kind of music also has a soothing affect on the listener and makes them much more open to suggestion. Sex and the City uses music to enhance its storylines and make it even more appealing to the audience. Spectacle: The show is set in the city of Manhattan and the city lends itself greatly to the unfolding of the storyline. All the main characters live in Manhattan, which is a small island in New York. Being a small area, there are only a limited number of places to visit and so two people living in the city and moving in the same circle are much more likely to keep bumping into each other. This fact about Manhattan has been used to forward the plot of the series. For example, Carrie and "Big" bump into each other so many times throughout the series that it would not have been possible to explain it away in a larger city. But in the small Manhattan, it is perfectly possible and understandable for two people to keep seeing each other unintentionally. Also, since Manhattan has a larger than life image in minds of many viewers, it allows the show's producers to "show real life situation being played out in blown up proportions to emphasize their points" (Yandoli, 2009). So the use of Manhattan allows the producers to show things which might not have been believable if set another city but in Manhattan it seems completely natural. This allows viewers to get the point being made without getting distracted by the incredulity of the situation. Thus we see that the sitcom Sex and the City uses the basic characteristics of a drama to weave together an interesting and appealing plot with identifiable characters. Each of the six elements of Neo-Aristotelian system has been used to invoke maximum reaction from the audience, be it something as inconsequential as the background score or something as important as the characters and the plot. References Dee, J. (2011). Does TV background music bother you? The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/mar/15/tv-background-music-wonders-of-the-universe Degtyareva, V. (2005). Bushnell speaks on sex city and shoes. The Stanford Daily. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20071028120658/http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2005/3/1/bushnellSpeaksOnSexCityAndShoes McCourt, T and Zuberi, N. (n.d.) Music on Television. The Nuseaum of Broadcast Communication. Retrieved from http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=musicontele Montemurro, B. (2004). Feminist Television Studies: The Case of HBO. S&F Online, 3(1). Retrieved from http://barnard.edu/sfonline/hbo/montemurro_01.htm Taflinger, R.F. (1996). Sitcom: What It Is, How It Works NeoAristotelian Analysis. Washington State University. Retrieved from http://public.wsu.edu/~taflinge/neoarist.html Yandoli, K. (2009). 'Sex and the City' entertaining, not a factual portrayal of NYC life. The Daily Orange. Retrieved from http://www.dailyorange.com/2.8654/sex-and-the-city-entertaining-not-a-factual-portrayal-of-nyc-life-1.1225843#.TuHrH_LfU5s Read More