A Deconstruction of an episode of Sex and the City - Essay Example

A Deconstruction of an episode of Sex and the Introduction Sex and the is known for its frank and humorous portrayals of some of the dilemmas faced in modern life in a complex urban environment. At times it can take even the most controversial subjects - such as abortion - and make them the subject of its wry, ironic observations of the foibles of modern life. In a sense Sex and the City deconstructs some of the supposed passions and seriousness surrounding this issues. It thus makes sense to add a further layer of deconstruction by analyzing an episode of the comedy through the deconstructive lense. 2. Description of the text and its context. In the episode called "Woulda Shoulda Coulda" the subject of accidental pregnancy (and subsequent wish to have an abortion) is juxtaposed against a couple who desperately want to get pregnant, but who cannot because the woman's body is attacking her partner's sperm. The context of this episode is the ongoing battle over abortion, together with the great advances in reproductive medicine in general, including the ability to discern precisely "why" a couple cannot get pregnant, together with the possibility of artificial implantation. 3. Method The method to be used in this discussion in deconstruction. Jacques Derrida, often regarded as the "father" of deconstruction, described the deconstructive process in the following manner: To deconstruct is to think (in the most faithful interior way)within the concepts of a discipline while at the same time being able to see what it has been able to dissimulate or forbid. (Derrida, 1994) Thus this analysis will consider a particular episode of Sex in the City within the context of its "discipline" (that of satirical humor), but also see what this discipline has been able to "dissimulate" and/or "forbid". The method will involve entering into the mindset of the series, with its attempted sophisticated portrayal of the postmodern condition. This condition has been well described by Jean Baudrillard in his analysis of what he calls "the schizo". He argues that all individuals in postmodern societies, especially those who are attempting to thrive in a large city, may be characterized in the following manner: The schizo is bereft of every scene, open to everything in spite of himself, living in the greatest confusion. He is himself obscene, the obscene play of the world's obscenity . . . he can no longer produce himself as a mirror. He is now only pure screen,a switching center for all the networks of influence. (Baudrillard, 1983) This is a complex idea, but one suited to this study. The individual, within Baudrillard's vision, is no longer the solid, three-dimensional object that he/she once was, but rather now exists as a kind of node on a two dimensional surface. The forces of modern society flow through these "nodes" without the individual having much influence upon them. Within the episode being considered here the random forces of nature: whether a woman gets pregnant or not, together with the pressures and opportunities of modern medicine, produce a kind of dance of the characters as they attempt to deal with the situation. The terrible ironies of the situation faced by these people will be couched within the exigencies of comedy, but the true seriousness of the situation often shines through. Irony can only go so far. 4. Discussion The episode starts with a view of a busy New York and two fo the main characters running along the street, clearly late. The main character states in a voice-over. "In life, sometimes we find ourselves at a crossroads. In New York that crossroads tends to be busy and very loud." As the last words are being spoken she nearly gets run over by a taxi as she crosses the road without really looking. The fact that she is literally at a crossroads, and that it is very loud, and perhaps even very dangerous makes the beginning of the show apparently very clichd. But in reality it can be seen that the writers are in fact putting the whole classic drama of people facing life-changing decisions at a crossroads in their life into an ironic context. Yes, characters may be at some metaphorical crossroads, but they are also having to deal with the potentially deadly nature of New York traffic. The profound is made ordinary with a sophisticated wink to the audience. This is a classic example of what made Sex in the City so popular. The two characters meet and the following exchange occurs. CARRIE: I'm sorry, I'm ten minutes late. MIRANDA: Well I'm three weeks late. I'm pregnant. HOMELESS MAN: Spare any change The homeless man appears straight after Miranda has made her remarkable announcement. In three lines the writers show the essential absurdity of modern life. Ordinary, mundane "lateness" is juxtaposed against a potentially much more profound "lateness" and both are interrupted, and placed into context, by the homeless man's pleading for money. It seems difficult to find time and space within the world of Sex in the City for serious communication. Later in the scene the audience (and Carrie) discover how Miranda got pregnant. She slept with Steve, "I slept with him once, it was a mercy thing: he only has one ball." The fact that she had sex with the man as some kind of generous gesture, and that he only has "one ball", together with her "twisted ovary" has somehow made a baby. Miranda asks "what kind of twisted world" would make her pregnant under these circumstances and this is a rhetorical question that will be answered throughout the rest of the episode. The characters' casual attitude towards sex (one of the main features of the whole series) is deconstructed as the conversation continues. She has decided not to tell Steve that she is pregnant, and then wonders, out loud, whether this is the right thing to do. Visually the scene is shot quite conventionally with over-the-shoulder shots. Miranda's read hair is made even more noticeable by her very colorful clothes and she appears, in the clichd way of pregnant women, "radiant". Juxtaposition is at the heart of much of deconstruction, and this scene of reluctant fertility is replaced by one of Charlotte sitting on the toilet and Carrie announcing that this character has had "an unpleasant surprise of her own: her period". Such, goes the conversation that the writers are having with the audience, goes the random cruelty of life: a woman who does not want a baby is pregnant, a woman who wants a baby is not. Carrie's voice-over acts as the vehicle of communication between the story and the audience. Her comments echo what the audience is thinking and provides the framework for the whole story. As with the narrator in any story, or the Chorus in a play such as Henry V, she provides a distance from what might be a very serious story. The need to provide humor (as this is a comedy) continues when all the women get together for the brunch that appears in virtually every episode of this series. The audience expects this brunch, and they are provided with it. A familiar scene is made humorous by the fact that a large box of Tampax is sitting on the table next to someone's cereal. The serious nature of the fact that Charlotte cannot get pregnant sits next to the supposedly light-hearted nature of brunch conversation: I'm sorry. I thought this was brunch, not a fertility seminar. The need to constantly make light of serious matters is a characteristic of all the characters throughout the series, yet it can also be seen as one of the conventions of comedy. Thus, while the writers of Sex in the City are deconstructing the characters, it is possible to deconstruct the fact that they need to make light of the fact that the characters make light of serious situations. The "shoulda woulda coulda" of the title makes it appearance as Charlotte laments that she spent the whole of her twenties worried about getting pregnant when she might have "screwed every man in sight" because of her apparent inability to get pregnant. With lightning speed the subject of abortion appears as Charlotte's silence to the question of "what are you going to do" says that she is going to have an abortion. When asked whether she is even thinking of keeping the baby, she says that "its not even in my plans right now." Soon abortion becomes a subject for humor as all the characters discuss quite casually how many abortions they have each had. Again, the characters are shown in a somewhat cold and satirical light, but this is moderated by the fact that their casual attitude towards abortion is funny. The writers seem unable to tackle the full significant of such attitudes as they wish to avoid offending those who might dislike such an examination. Thus it can be seen that Sex in the City is first and foremost regarded as "entertainment", with all the conventions and provisos inherent therein. Throughout the rest of the episode "abortion" is the constant subject, but one that is quickly lightened through an examination of the foibles of the characters. Thus when Carrie tells her boyfriend that Miranda is pregnant, she makes him swear to keep the secret - and she makes him "swear on Chanel". The Chanel scarf is some kind of holy icon within the rather synthetic world that these characters inhabit. The "abortion scene" is suitably serious, as Miranda asks Carrie what she should do, and her friend says that she can't tell her. Her name is called, and Miranda pauses. There is a silence between the two of them. There is a jump cut to the next scene, which as Miranda sitting rather gingerly on a couch, a large pillow behind her and a cup of tea in her hand. It looks as though she has had some kind of medical procedure. Charlotte arrives, incongruously carrying flowers. Miranda says that she couldn't go through with the abortion and Charlotte says: CHARLOTTE: My God, we're having a baby! Carrie sums up the scene with another voice-over stating, "and with those four little words, three aunts were born". Thus, for this episode at least, they happily ever after. 5. Conclusion Sex in the City appears to deconstruct the world that the hilarious characters within the series inhabit, and yet, as this essay has shown, in fact just places them within a rather conventional comic framework. The characters face various challenges and problems that might, if presented in a different manner, be the stuff of serious drama, but within a comic framework they are just that: comic. Works Cited Baudrillard, Jean. "The Ecstasy of Communication." The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture. Ed. Hal Foster. Bay Press, Seattle: 1983. -----------------------. The Transparency of Evil. Verso, London: 1993. Derrida, Jacques. Between the Blinds. UC Press, Berkeley: 1994. "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda". Episode. Sex in the City. Shakespeare, William. Henry V. OUP, London: 1982. Read More