Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
All glitz and glam?: A look at the image of public relations practitioner Samantha Jones from Sex and the city
(USC Thesis Other)
All glitz and glam?: A look at the image of public relations practitioner Samantha Jones from Sex and the city
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
ALL GLITZ AND GLAM?: A LOOK AT THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
PRACTITIONER SAMANTHA JONES FROM SEX AND THE CITY
by
Catherine Maria Donahoe
________________________________________________________________________
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PRINT JOURNALISM)
May 2011
Copyright 2011 Catherine Maria Donahoe
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract iii
Chapter 1: Methodology and Literature Review 1
Chapter 2: Sex and the City: Background Information 3
Chapter 2 Endnotes 4
Chapter 3: Public Relations: A Definition 5
Chapter 3 Endnotes 6
Chapter 4: Samantha Jones: A Biography 7
Chapter 4 Endnotes 10
Chapter 5: Samantha Jones in the Sex and the City series 12
Chapter 5 Endnotes 18
Chapter 6: Samantha Jones in Sex and the City: The Movies 1 and 2 22
Chapter 6 Endnotes 27
Chapter 7: Samantha Jones in Relation to other PR practitioners in Popular Culture 28
Chapter 7 Endnotes 34
Chapter 8: Samantha in Relation to Female Journalists and Carrie Bradshaw 37
Chapter 8 Endnotes 40
Conclusion 42
Bibliography 43
Appendix: Episode Summaries 44
iii
Abstract
Samantha Jones in the series Sex and the City (1998-2004) is a career-driven,
confident, unmarried woman who lives the lavish life as a public relations executive in
Manhattan. She is a single woman who prioritizes her work above all else. In accordance
with some images of public relations practitioners, she is an accomplished, poised woman
who loves her job. Although sometimes Samantha intertwines men and sex with her
career, her image of a PR practitioner in popular culture is positive one. The series and
movies (Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 and Sex and the City 2, 2010) showcase
Samantha as a high-powered PR practitioner who chooses her own happiness over love—
unlike other images of female journalists.
1
Chapter 1: Methodology and Literature Review
As a student studying the image of the journalist in popular culture (IJPC) I
conducted an in-depth study of the image of Samantha Jones (a public relations
practitioner in the popular show Sex and the City) and her image in popular culture. I
viewed every episode of the show and both of the Sex and the City movies to get a good
view of the character and what she is like. I then compared her with other images of
public relations practitioners in popular culture by utilizing the research of Carol Ames
and Karen Miller, who both procured in-depth studies of public relations characters in
popular culture. I compared and contrasted Samantha‘s traits to traits of other public
relations practitioners. I also viewed a few movies on my own that had public relations
practitioners in them, and drew conclusions on them and compared Samantha to those
characters as well. Additionally, I did original research on the series Sex and the City by
reading books and articles on the series to get a better understanding of Samantha‘s
character.
As a conclusion, this paper examines Samantha as a working professional and
how she is similar and different to public relations practitioners in popular culture.
The literature used in this thesis were all of the Sex and the City episode DVDs,
the two Sex and the City films, a Sex and the City book titled Kiss and Tell, another IJPC
paper by Bibi Wardak titled Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as
2
a Famous, Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and
the City, an article titled ―PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films
1996-2008‖ by professor Carol Ames, an article titled ―Public Relations in Film and
Fiction: 1930-1995‖ by professor Karen Miller, and the IJPC book titled Frank Capra
and the Image of the Journalist in American Film by professor Joe Saltzman. I also
reviewed various website for more information on Sex and the City, public relations, and
IJPC for further information, all listed in my bibliography.
3
Chapter 2: Sex and the City: Background Information
Sex and the City is a popular series that ran on HBO from 1998-2004. It
showcases four single women and their life and loves in New York City. It was created
by and primarily written by Michael Patrick King. Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah
Jessica Parker, is a sex columnist that writes for the New York Star and is the protagonist
in the series. Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, is a fiercely independent, high-
powered public relations practitioner. Charlotte York, who works as an art dealer longing
to find her soul-mate, is played by Kristin Davis. Miranda Hobbes, played by Cynthia
Nixon, is a cynical lawyer who is never afraid to speak her opinions. The series spans six
years of the women‘s lives, and a movie was made that takes place four years after the
series ends.
1
4
Chapter 2 Endnotes
1
Sohn, Amy, Sex and the City Kiss and Tell (Pocket Books, New York, 2002).
5
Chapter 3: Public Relations: A Definition
Throughout the years, many have struggled to find a definition for public
relations. Karen Miller of the Department of Advertising/Public Relations at the
University of Georgia conducted a study titled ―Public Relations in Film and Fiction:
1930-1995‖ and concluded that defining PR is not easy.
2
Miller cites the book A Really
Sincere Guy by saying that ―it would take a while‖ to explain the difference between
advertising and PR.
3
She also referenced a study in 1977 that analyzed 472 different
definitions, but no definition seemed more correct than the other.
4
She cites a definition
from A Really Sincere Guy stating the PR is ―the art of adjusting….relationships so
they‘re satisfactory both to the company and the publics concerned.‖
5
In 1982, the Public
Relations Society of America (PRSA) formally adopted a definition of PR; ―Public
relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”
6
6
Chapter 3 Endnotes
2
Miller, Karen. Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995. Journal of Public
Relations Research II (1) p.11.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Public Relations Defined.
PRSA.org.http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined/
7
Chapter 4: Samantha Jones: A Biography
Samantha Jones is a go-getter who puts herself, her work, and her friends first.
She is headstrong and almost always gets her way. Samantha is very promiscuous and
only has two serious relationships in the six-season series. ―If you‘re a successful, single
woman in New York, you have two choices: you can bang your head against the wall and
try to find a relationship, or have sex like a man,‖ she says in the pilot episode.
7
Samantha does not have a strong grasp of her emotions, and sometimes does not know
how to express them. When Miranda‘s mother dies, Samantha has trouble supporting
Miranda and is unable to express the right words to tell her. Only at the funeral do her
emotions come out, and she sobs on Carrie‘s shoulder.
8
Her difficulty in connecting with
her emotions showcases her character as domineering and manlike.
Samantha likes to keep her relationships simple. ―If you‘re never someone‘s
girlfriend, you can never be someone‘s ex-girlfriend,‖ she says.
9
By having no-strings-
attached relationships, she remains guarded and rarely gets hurt. Samantha likes to be the
man in the relationship and takes control. Her controlling attitude in life also spills over
to her work in PR.
Samantha does not like children. Her career is one of the most important parts of
her life, and a child would not fit in her life. She is not the type who wants to settle down
and become a mother. Samantha babysits for Miranda‘s son, Brady, but only
reluctantly.
10
She only does it to help Miranda when she is overwhelmed with her new
8
baby. She doesn‘t know how to make him stop screaming, so she puts a vibrator in baby
Brady‘s rocking chair to calm him down.
11
However, her dislike for children doesn‘t
impact her support for her friends and their desires for kids. She is genuinely happy when
Charlotte becomes pregnant.
12
In the episode ―A Woman‘s Right to Shoes,‖ Carrie‘s shoes are stolen at a baby
shower. Samantha scoffs at the idea that she has to take her shoes off, and even went as
far as comparing her stolen shoes to a stolen baby. ―If you gave a party, and told her to
leave her baby outside in the hall and her baby was missing at the end of the night,
believe me there‘d be payback,‖ she says.
13
―I am so sick of these people with their
children. They‘re everywhere! Sitting next to me on first class, eating at the next
table….this place is for double cappuccinos, not double strollers,‖ she says.
14
Later in
that episode, Samantha goes to a nice restaurant to eat and makes a business phone call.
Her lunch is interrupted by a child making noise, so she confronts the mother to express
her disdain. The child throws food in her face in response to Samantha‘s comment. ―I‘ve
made my point, and he‘s made his,‖ she states as she walks out of the restaurant.
15
Samantha is the oldest of Carrie‘s friends, yet she embraces aging. Her confidence
never wavers. She pulls out her glasses and proclaimed, ―Yes, I have glasses, and I‘m not
ashamed. I have a sexy young man who likes to fuck me, and I‘m fabulous.‖ She goes on
to say, ―I‘m forty-fucking-five, I have nothing to hide!‖
16
9
Samantha is very passionate about her job; however, her love of sex and men
sometimes causes ethical dilemmas for her at work. Samantha becomes attracted to her
assistant in Season 3, and she fires him so she can sleep with him.
17
She falls in love with
her client, Richard Wright, and ends up having a serious relationship with him.
18
Later in
the series, she dates Smith Jerrod, and virtually creates his career.
19
Samantha‘s love life
and her career life become intertwined, and in the Sex and the City movie, they are all in
one—as she is her boyfriend‘s manager.
20
She realizes that she is unhappy in a serious
relationship, and dumps him.
21
10
Chapter 4 Endnotes
7
Episode 1: ―Sex and the City,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 6, 1998, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Susan Seidelman. Written by Darren Star.
8
Episode 56: ―My Motherboard, My Self,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 15, 2001,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Elisa Zuritsky
and Julie Rottenberg.
9
Episode 81: ―The Post-It Always Sticks Twice,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 3,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Liz Tuccillo.
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Susan Seidelman. Written by Darren Star.
10
Episode 72: ―Critical Condition,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 25, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Written by Alexa Junge.
11
Ibid.
12
Episode 86: ―One,‖ Sex and the City. First aired September 14, 2003, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Michael Patrick King.
13
Episode 83: ―A Woman‘s Right to Shoes,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 17,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Timothy Van Patten. Written by Jenny
Bicks.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid.
16
Episode 86: ―One,‖ Sex and the City. First aired September 14, 2003, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Michael Patrick King.
17
Episode 34: ―Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 25,2000, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Pam Thomas. Written by Jenny Bicks.
18
Episode 61: ―The Good Fight,‖ Sex and the City. First aired January 6, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Charles McDougall. Written by Michael Patrick
King.
11
19
Episode 79: ―Lights, Camera, Relationship!,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 20,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Michael
Patrick King.
20
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on characters from the book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV series created by Darren Star.
21
Ibid.
12
Chapter 5: Samantha Jones in the Sex and the City Series
Samantha Jones is introduced in the pilot episode of the series, titled ―Sex and the
City.” In the episode, she is introduced as a ―New York inspiration—a public relations
executive who routinely had sex with men in their twenties.‖
22
Samantha doesn‘t believe
in monogamy, and as a single woman she routinely sleeps with many different men.
23
In the first season, Samantha is portrayed as a go-getter and radiates confidence
who routinely gets what she wants.
24
Her job is a priority to her; she does not shy away
from doing any kind of PR, no matter how risqué it may be. In the episode ―La Douleur
Exquise!,‖ Samantha runs the publicity for a new S&M club in Manhattan.
25
Samantha isn‘t afraid to yell and to get her point across. In the Season 3 episode
―Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl‖ she says on the phone ―Don‘t bust my balls here Mitch. You call
yourself a fucking headhunter, then get me a decent assistant!‖
26
An attractive young man
applies for her assistant job, and she is attracted to him instantly and hires him. She gets
angry at her assistant when he doesn‘t treat her clients with respect; but she admits to
herself that she has a crush on him. ―Your job is to do what I say, no matter what,‖ she
tells him. When he doesn‘t do his job the way Samantha wants him to, she fires him.
―The bad news is you‘re fired. The good news is, now I can fuck you.‖
27
Samantha also has issues with her female assistant in the Season Two episode
―Twenty-something Girls vs. Thirty-something Women.‖ Her 25-year old female
assistant Nina takes a copy of Samantha‘s Rolodex when she is fired—which upsets
13
Samantha. ―Your career is being MY assistant,‖ she tells Nina.
28
Samantha‘s ex-assistant
takes a job planning a party in the Hamptons. Samantha is upset about it, until she
realizes that her ex-assistant still needs her help. Samantha thinks that she is the best at
her job, and wants other people to know it, too.
Samantha meets Richard Wright in the fifth season. Richard, a huge name in the
hotel business, is looking for someone to do PR for his hotel.
29
Samantha asks an old
lover for a meeting with Richard. Richard asks her to work alongside a male counterpart,
which infuriates Samantha.
30
He says that her work is all ―fluff‖ and that people would
respect her more if she were to work alongside a businessman. ―Read between the lines,
Ms. Jones…I deal with a lot of business…men,‖ he says to her.
31
Samantha storms off,
but later she gets the job. Richard says that ―he admired her balls,‖ meaning how she
didn‘t back down and stood her ground.
32
Samantha‘s stubbornness was evident, and she
always stands up for herself in her career life.
Samantha‘s relationship with Richard Wright progresses into something
physical.
33
The two begin a sexual relationship, and, against her better judgment,
Samantha falls in love with Richard and they decide to start a monogamous relationship.
34
However, Samantha‘s role as his publicist interacts with her role as his lover, which
results in an ethical dilemma. Samantha ended up getting hurt by Richard when she
catches him cheating on her.
35
However, she takes him back after he continues to
apologize to her for cheating.
36
After spending time with Richard in Atlantic City, she
14
realizes that she can‘t trust him, and dumps him.
37
The breakup with Richard affects how
Samantha sees herself. ―I don‘t even know who I am anymore, after that fucking
Richard,‖ she says to Carrie.
38
Samantha also uses her clients for her own benefit. In the episode ―Coulda,
Woulda, Shoulda‖ Samantha gets a new client, Lucy Liu. Samantha desperately wants
the new hip bag, the Birkin, and uses Lucy Liu‘s name to bypass the waiting list—only to
have Lucy Liu find out, and then fire her.
39
Although Samantha is usually very
professional, from time to time she uses her job for her own benefit. Also, she uses her
connections to get into the greatest new clubs. While walking into a new restaurant, Bed,
Samantha says her name and says she‘s on the VIP list.
40
When Samantha and her friends
go to Los Angeles in the third season, they try to get into a movie premiere with Carrie‘s
press pass. When they don‘t get in, Samantha says to the PR girl, ―Don‘t you know who
she is?‖
41
Samantha is used to getting the star treatment due to her connections with her
clients, and when she doesn‘t, she gets upset.
Samantha also once planned a fabulous soiree to celebrate Carrie‘s book party.
42
However, Carrie lost faith in Samantha‘s integrity when she caught her engaging in oral
sex with her World Wide Express mailman. Carrie questioned Samantha‘s ethics as a PR
person.
43
This is a significant part of the series, and suggests that Samantha‘s career and
her ethics don‘t always align. She engages in the sexual activity while on the job, and
Carrie thought that wasn‘t professional. Later on, Carrie forgives her and takes her advice
on what to wear on her book cover.
44
15
Samantha also has experimented with different drugs. Carrie turns to Samantha
after a rough break-up and asked her where she could get marijuana. ―I‘d call my dealer,
but he‘s at the cape,‖ Samantha says.
45
Also, Samantha takes Ecstasy while with Richard
and tells him she loves him.
46
In Season Six, she meets Jerry Jerrod, a young waiter who works at a restaurant
called Raw.
47
She instantly is attracted to him and dates him. Jerry is an aspiring actor,
and Samantha travels to Brooklyn to watch his show. In the play, Jerry performs naked,
which made Samantha think the play could be a hit. ―The promotion for this is all wrong.
Who‘s doing the PR?‖ she asked.
48
Samantha then decides she will help Jerry. ―I‘m going
to help you be a star, if I have to see you act, there better be a red carpet involved.…all
you need to do is work on your abs,‖ she says to him.
49
The next day, Samantha places an article in the paper about Jerry being the next
big thing—and changes his name to Smith Jerrod. The article says that ―the glitterati are
migrating to Brooklyn to see him act,‖ and Samantha sets up a red-carpet event for him at
his performance.
50
Samantha also places a Times Square billboard of Smith Jerrod posing for
Absolut Vodka.
51
She tries to parlay her new boyfriend as a sex symbol, and give him
exposure in the industry. She also books the MTV show ―Total Request Live‖ for Smith
Jerrod.
52
Samantha also has famous designers dress Smith Jerrod for his appearance. She
instructs Smith to say that he is single.
53
―As your publicist, calling someone your
16
girlfriend isn‘t a good idea right now,‖ she said to Smith.
54
Smith could tell that
Samantha is still afraid of commitment, and decides to go with her instructions. Samantha
watches Smith say that he is single on TV.
55
She realizes that she wasn‘t happy with that
title, even though she created it for him herself.
Smith begins shooting for a movie, and leaves Samantha for a few weeks.
56
Samantha begins to realize that she likes having him around, and misses him while he
was gone. When Smith gets back, Samantha tries to avoid holding his hand. ―He did
something to me that was so perverse…..he tried to hold my hand,‖ she says to Carrie.
57
Samantha has always tried to avoid all signs of intimacy, and she admits to Carrie that
she didn‘t sleep with any men while Smith was gone.
58
Despite Samantha‘s true feelings for Smith, she still feels that he is too young for
her. ―Smith, he‘s hot, but he‘s a baby….I need a grown up,‖ she said.
59
She saw Richard
at a ―Top 30 Under 30‖ party she went to with Smith, and slept with Richard one more
time.
60
―This was fun, but where is it going?‖ she tells Smith.
61
However, she realizes
that Smith was a better man than Richard will ever be, and decides to stay with him.
In the final season, Samantha finds out that she has breast cancer.
62
Her character
is shaken to the core as she tries to deal with this serious issue. However, she still
maintains her cool. She tells her girlfriends, and doesn‘t make a big deal about it. ―I know
I‘m going to be fine, I know that….it‘s just that I don‘t want to lose my breasts. They‘re
fabulous!‖
63
17
Smith‘s celebrity rises, but he still stays with her and supports her fully. In fact,
when her hair starts to fall out, she decides to shave it.
64
―You can‘t handle it,‖ she tells
Smith.
65
However, Smith shaves his head in support for her. Samantha also confides in
Carrie that she is afraid; but doesn‘t let that stop her from attending a red-carpet event in
a pink wig.
66
Samantha is asked to speak at a breast cancer benefit and delivers an
inspirational speech to other women who are dealing with cancer.
67
The series ends with
Samantha saying that Smith has meant more to her than any man she‘s ever been with.
68
18
Chapter 5 Endnotes
22
Episode 1: ―Sex and the City,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 6, 1998, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Susan Seidelman. Written by Darren Star.
23
Episode 7: ―The Monogamists,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 19, 1998, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Darren Star. Written by Darren Star.
24
Samantha Jones: Character Bio. HBO.com http://www.hbo.com/#/sex-and-the-
city/cast-and-crew/samantha-jones/bio/samantha-jones.html (accessed February 2010)
25
Episode 12: ―La Douleur Exquise!‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 22, 1999,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Allison Anders. Written by Michael Patrick
King, Ollie Levy.
26
Episode 34: ―Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 25,2000, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Pam Thomas. Written by Jenny Bicks.
27
Ibid.
28
Episode 29: ―Twenty-something girls vs. Thirty-something women,‖ Sex and the City.
First aired September 26, 1999, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Darren Star.
Written by Darren Star.
29
Episode 58: ―Belles of the Balls,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 29,2001, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Spiller. Written by Michael Patrick King.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
32
Ibid.
33
Episode 60: ―Just Say Yes,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 12, 2001, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Cindy Chupak.
34
Episode 65: ―A Vogue Idea,‖ Sex and the City. First aired February 3, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Martha Coolidge. Written by Allan Heinberg.
19
35
Episode 66: ―I heart NY,‖ Sex and the City. First aired February 10, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Martha Coolidge. Written by Michael Patrick King.
36
Episode 68: ―Unoriginal Sin,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 28, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Charles McDougall. Written by Cindy Chupack.
37
Episode 69: ―Luck Be an Old Lady,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 4, 2002,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by John David Coles. Written by Julie
Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky.
38
Episode 70: ―Cover Girl,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June August 11, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by John David Coles. Written by Judy Toll, Michael
Patrick King.
39
Episode 59: ―Coulda Woulda Shoulda,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 5, 2001,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Jenny Bicks.
40
Episode 81: ―The Post-It Always Sticks Twice,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 3,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Liz Tuccillo.
41
Episode 44: ―Sex and Another City,‖ Sex and the City. First aired September 17,2000,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by John David Coles. Written by Jenny Bicks.
42
Episode 71: ―Plus One is the Loneliest Number,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August
18, 2002, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Written by
Cindy Chupack.
43
Episode 70: ―Cover Girl,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June August 11, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by John David Coles. Written by Judy Toll, Michael
Patrick King.
44
Ibid.
45
Episode 81: ―The Post-It Always Sticks Twice,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 3,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Liz Tuccillo.
46
Episode 62: ―All that Glitters…,‖ Sex and the City. First aired January 13, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Charles McDougall. Written by Cindy Chupack.
47
Episode 76: ―Great Sexpectations‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 29, 2003, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Written by Cindy Chupak.
20
48
Episode 79: ―Lights, Camera, Relationship!,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 20,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Michael
Patrick King.
49
Ibid.
50
Ibid.
51
Episode 80: ―Hop, Skip and a Week,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 27, 2003 HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Amy B. Harris.
52
Episode 81: ―The Post-It Always Sticks Twice,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 3,
2003, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Liz Tuccillo.
53
Ibid.
54
Ibid.
55
Ibid.
56
Episode 82: ―The Catch,‖Sex and the City. First aired August 10, 2003, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Cindy Chupack.
57
Episode 85: ―The Domino Effect,‖Sex and the City. First aired September 7, 2003,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Elisa Zuritsky and
Julie Rottenberg.
58
Ibid.
59
Episode 87: ―Let There Be Light,‖Sex and the City. First aired January 4, 2004, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Written by Michael Patrick
King.
60
Ibid.
61
Ibid.
62
Episode 88: ―The Ick Factor,‖Sex and the City. First aired January 11, 2004, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Wendey Stanzler. Written by Elisa Zuritsky and
Julie Rottenberg.
21
63
Ibid.
64
Episode 90: ―Out of the Frying Pan,‖Sex and the City. First aired January 25, 2004,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Jenny Bicks.
65
Ibid.
66
Ibid.
67
Episode 93: ―An American Girl in Paris- Part Une,‖Sex and the City. First aired
February 15,2004 , HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Timothy Van Patten.
Written by Michael Patrick King.
68
Episode 94: ―An American Girl in Paris-Part Deux,‖Sex and the City. First aired
August 22, 1999, HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Timothv Van Patten.
Written by Michael Patrick King.
22
Chapter 6: Samantha Jones in Sex and the City: The Movies 1 and 2
In the movie, Samantha Jones moves with her boyfriend, Smith Jerrod, to Malibu,
CA. She manages his career, and for the first time, her life is planned around a man.
Samantha‘s entire career is working as Smith‘s manager. When Carrie tells Samantha
that that she is engaged, Samantha‘s response is short. Later in the conversation, she
admits that she ―doesn‘t believe in marriage.‖ However, when Big left Carrie at the altar,
Samantha felt Carrie‘s pain. Although marriage is not for her, she supports her friend‘s
wishes. Samantha stayed at the altar to ―take care of everything,‖ so Carrie wouldn‘t
have to be there.
69
All of the women end up going to Mexico with Carrie for her faux honeymoon.
During that trip, Samantha confides that she is not happy with her current life. ―I can‘t
believe that my life revolves around a man. In what planet did I allow that to happen?‖
she says. ―Does that mean worrying about his needs before me and mine? Is it all about
the other person, is that love?‖
70
she responds to Charlotte, when Charlotte defends love
and her relationship.
She also gets upset when her boyfriend buys her a diamond ring that she wanted
to buy herself. ―It meant something for me to be able to do that, and then, he buys it for
me. But now every time I look down at it, I see him, not me!‖ she says.
71
Samantha‘s
former independence and love for being single made her think being in a serious
relationship may not be for her.
23
Samantha begins to notice her new, attractive next-door neighbor and fantasizes
about him. ―What‘s the point of having a hot next door neighbor if you can‘t have sex
with him? Every night, sex with a different partner. It‘s like me-- 5 years ago,‖ she says
to Carrie on the phone. In an effort to stay out of trouble, Samantha eats excessively, goes
shopping, and buys a dog.
72
Samantha‘s job remains important to her in the movie, but she still uses it to get
what she wants. Samantha said she ―pulled some strings‖ to get her and her friends front-
row seats at New York Fashion Week.
73
Samantha‘s unhappiness with Smith is shown when she waits for him for hours
on Valentine ‘s Day with a special surprise. ―I am not the kind of woman who sits and
waits around all day for a man!‖ she exclaims. He shows up a few hours late and
Samantha is furious.
74
She is not happy with her current life with Smith Jerrod, but feels she needs to
stay with him because he stayed with her when she had cancer. She doesn‘t cheat on him,
but she gains weight and claims that she ―eats so she won‘t cheat.‖ ―I stuff my face to
stop myself from doing something natural to me,‖ she says. ―Smith stayed with me
through chemo…I should be able to stay in this relationship for him,‖ she continues.
After sharing those feelings with her friends, she realizes that maybe she shouldn‘t
continue her relationship.
75
24
When she returns to Los Angeles, she breaks up with him. ―I love you, but I love
me more,‖ she says. ―I‘ve been in a relationship with myself for 49 years, and that‘s the
one I need to work on,‖ she continues.
76
Samantha moves back to New York, and remains happily single.
77
In the second movie (Sex and the City 2), Samantha‘s past is brought up for the
first time. She was introduced in the movie as a bartender when she first met Carrie. In
the movie, Samantha refers to herself as Carrie‘s publicist. Carrie recently wrote a new
book, and Samantha mentioned setting up press for it. She still works in public relations
and she has a large office in Manhattan, right in the middle of Times Square.
78
Samantha still talks to Smith Jerrod, her old boyfriend, but simply sees him as an
old client. He asks her to accompany him on the red carpet for a movie premiere he is in.
―My career never would have happened without you,‖ Smith said to Samantha,
confirming her PR work that made him a star.
79
Samantha is obsessed with staying young. In the movie, she is 52 years old, and is
shown taking many herbal supplements to stay young. On the red carpet, she runs into
teenage singer Miley Cyrus, who is wearing the exact same dress as her. Although she
could be mortified, she puts her game face on and poses with her for the cameras. She has
a hard time dressing for her age from time to time and although she is honest about her
age, she is in denial of the aging process. She lets it affect her too much, and it even has
25
an effect on her work life—she is shown putting on moisturizer at work and discussing
her skin routine with her former client, Smith Jerrod, and her receptionist.
80
The main plot of the movie takes place in Abu Dhabi, when Samantha and her
friends visit there for Samantha‘s business trip. She was invited by film producers that
live in the middle east that worked with Smith Jerrod on his movie. Smith said that
Samantha had made him a star, and the film producers want Samantha to ―make their
new hotel a star.‖ They offer her a week-long stay to Abu Dhabi at the new, luxurious
hotel and want to discuss doing business with her and hiring her to do the public relations
for the new hotel. Samantha happily accepts the task, and brings her friends along.
81
Although the reason she was sent to the Middle East was for her business trip,
Samantha doesn‘t quite take the trip very professionally. The culture requires women to
cover up, and Samantha blatantly refuses to do so. Samantha meets a man in the desert,
and during their date, they act affectionate, which is also against the Middle Eastern
culture. They end up offending other patrons in the restaurant, and she gets sent to jail for
kissing the man on the beach. The result of her jail sentence causes her film producer-
business partners to send her home without even having a business meeting.
82
Even though Samantha knew the rules, she disobeyed them so much that she was
sent back to the United States. This is an extreme case when her personal life interfered
with her work life. Because of her personal decisions to show skin and be affectionate
with a man in public, she was kicked out of the hotel and she wasn‘t able to do business
26
with the hotel owners in Abu Dhabi. Her professional life took the back seat to her
personal life in this instance.
Although Samantha didn‘t lose her public relations job, she lost one client due to
her poor behavior. Samantha cares a lot about her job, but it is blatant that she frequently
intermixes her personal life with her professional life as a PR practitioner.
27
Chapter 6 Endnotes
69
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
70
Ibid.
71
Ibid.
72
Ibid.
73
Ibid.
74
Ibid.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.
77
Ibid.
78
Sex and the City 2, 2010 (running time 146 minutes) New Line Cinema. Directed by
Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace Bushnell. Based
on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
79
Ibid.
80
Ibid.
81
Ibid.
82
Ibid.
28
Chapter 7: Samantha Jones in Relation to other PR practitioners in Popular
Culture
Samantha has qualities similar to other PR practitioners in popular culture. She
emulates a positive stereotype as a hard-working PR woman, and also has time for a
personal life. Although she doesn‘t always use the best ethical judgment, she is portrayed
positively in Sex and the City.
However, Samantha‘s work as a PR practitioner is mainly featured as party and
lifestyle public relations. It rarely takes a look at other types of PR, and her role in
corporate communication is shown as very superficial. The main type of PR Samantha
deals with is issues with a celebrity client or, in the case of Smith Jerrod, ―making him a
star,‖ and creating placement for him in publications. PR is shown in the series as
something fun, stress-free, and full of fabulous parties. That isn‘t always the case in real
life.
Carol Ames is a communication professor at California State University,
Fullerton. She wrote an article titled ―PR goes to the Movies‖ and examined the image of
the PR practitioner in films. Ames analyzed eight main traits of PR practitioners.
83
Samantha‘s role coincides with some of the personality traits in the study. As Ames
mentions in her article, Samantha is an ―Accomplished‖—one of the major traits of a PR
practitioner in the movies. ―Here we have a female, as Accomplished, a positive
stereotype of a practitioner who is ‗confident, poised, capable, responsible, bright,
29
reliable, efficient, imaginative, well-read, personable, and trusted.‘‖
84
Samantha is all of
those things. She knows how to talk to people, and gets what she wants in life. She is
very confident.
Ames mentions another personality trait- someone who is ―unfulfilled, ‗skilled
but unhappy with their jobs.‘‖
85
This is not the case with Samantha. Throughout the
series, Samantha never shows any distress or unhappiness with her career path. Another
personality trait, ―manipulative, practitioners who ‗lie and cheat both for personal career
advancement and on behalf of their clients‘‖ does relate to Samantha.
86
She lied to Lucy
Liu when she denied using her name to get on a list for a handbag she wanted. ―The only
thing worse than a liar, is a bad liar. I won‘t be needing your services anymore,‖ Lucy
Liu says in the episode.
87
Although Samantha is not caught in many lies throughout the
series and the movie, she does have that personality trait, as shown in the Lucy Liu
example.
Ames discusses the PR practitioner in the 1996 movie Mars Attacks! and
describes his character as being ―sexually unfulfilled, because he has no personal life.‖
88
Samantha is the complete opposite of Martin Short‘s portrayal of a PR practitioner in that
movie. Samantha has sex frequently in the series, and her personal life is very important
to her. Despite her busy schedule, she was always socializing with her friends and
engaging in an active sex life.
Ames mentioned another stereotype being a ―Manipulative.‖ Samantha can be
manipulative from time to time in the series, just like the PR practitioner in the movie
30
―Wag the Dog.‖ The PR practitioner in the film Wag the Dog created ―a massive
distraction‖ and was a ―Manipulative‖ character.
89
―His PR goal is to supplant
impending media coverage of the President‘s sexual peccadillo until after the coming
election,‖ said Ames.
90
In the series, Samantha comes up with a plan to distract the
public from thinking that her boyfriend, Smith, was gay.
91
She places a tape of the two
having sex online in order to squash the rumors.
92
Samantha can be manipulative, like the
PR practitioner played by Robert De Niro in Wag the Dog. She creates a distraction from
people talking about Smith being gay by leaking the sex tape.
Samantha is quite similar to Billy Crystal‘s character Lee Phillips in America’s
Sweethearts whom Ames describes as a ―Schmooze‖ as well as an ―Accomplished.‖
93
In
the movie, Phillips has to deal with a breakup of the stars of a new movie, and
orchestrates an entire press junket.
94
However, his ―dedication [to his job] can lead to
questionable ethics,‖ writes Ames.
95
Samantha has similar issues with ethics in her job,
albeit Phillips‘ ethical dilemmas weren‘t sexual. Both of these PR practitioners in film
were ―Accomplished‖ and PR was important to both of them.
Ames discusses Samantha in Sex and the City: The Movie in her article as well,
saying that she is an ―Accomplished.‖
96
She says that ―for a PR person—and for a talent
manager—every year is all about the client.‖
97
She says that could be one of the reasons
Samantha and Smith break up at the end of the movie. ―Neither job fits well intertwined
with a supposedly reciprocal love relationship; neither suits an egocentric personality
such as Samantha Jones,‖ Ames said, adding that the ―HBO series depicts PR as the job
of one of its glamorous leads.‖
98
31
Samantha is similar to the ―schmooze,‖ another representation of a PR
practitioner. Ames discusses different depictions of PR in print and broadcast news. She
mentions seven themes in print media, one being ―a schmooze, ‗a still prevalent
stereotype of the glad-handing, smooth-talking, personally charming front man or
woman.‘‖
99
Samantha works at the front door of many different events, and Richard
Wright calls her work ―fluff.‖
100
This depiction of a PR professional relates to Samantha
because she is a smooth-talker, and frequently slips her card to future clients with a coy
smile.
101
Karen Miller‘s article ―Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995‖
indicated that ―representations of PR are woefully inadequate in terms of explaining who
practitioners are and what they do, and it shows that writers dislike primarily PR‘s
apparent effectiveness.‖
102
She said that journalists perceive PR people ―as a group lack
credibility.‖
103
Carrie Bradshaw is a journalist and is one of Samantha‘s best friends.
When Carrie sees Samantha engaging in sexual activity in the office, she thinks that
Samantha is not a credible PR woman.
104
This aligns with Miller‘s idea of journalists
believing that some PR people may lack credibility.
105
In Miller‘s research of PR practitioners, 75% of them were men and there was not
very much ethnic diversity.
106
However, Samantha played a well-known and high-
powered PR woman in the show, and came across very few men in her field. Other
movies since Miller‘s study, such as Valentine’s Day, also have female public relations
practitioners.
32
Miller‘s study found that PR practitioners in film were referred to as ―publicists,‖
―PR men‖ or ―press agent.‖
107
Samantha refers to herself as ―Carrie‘s publicist‖ in the
show.
108
Ditziness is another characteristic that Miller found in her study that emulated PR
practitioners; however Samantha‘s portrayal is smart and domineering.
109
―Ditzy
characters were shallow but lovable—their jobs in no way intellectually stimulating,‖
writes Miller.
110
Samantha is anything but ditzy—her personality commands the room
and she is very powerful. Samantha is very smart and business savvy throughout the
show and knows how to get her way.
Miller also said that some PR characters in film were obsequious, saying that the
―characters do anything necessary to please their bosses; they have no principles but are
guided by whatever they think will satisfy their employers.‖
111
Samantha works for
herself, so she always does what she wants with her job. She strays from different types
of work throughout the series, from representing celebrities to planning different events.
She never had to do whatever necessary to please her superior, because she was her own
boss.
Another movie that features a PR practitioner is the film Valentine’s Day (2010).
In the movie, Jessica Biel plays Kara Monahan, a public relations practitioner. Samantha
is portrayed very differently than Kara. Kara is lovesick and hates Valentine‘s Day.
112
In
fact, she threw an ―I Hate Valentine‘s Day‖ party. She didn‘t like men and the movie
alluded that she had been hurt in the past. By the end of the movie, she ends up kissing
33
her friend Kelvin Moore, played by Jamie Foxx, who is a journalist. He attends her party
and they end up hitting it off. Her faith in love is restored.
Samantha Jones is different from Kara Monahan. Kara yearns for love, and is
depressed by the fact that she is alone.
113
Samantha prefers to be alone, and scoffs at love.
Although she does fall in love twice in the series, she ends up reconsidering her long-
term relationship in the movie and ends up single.
114
Kara longs for a relationship, and
Samantha is the complete opposite. She enjoys sleeping around and having nothing
holding her back. In this instance, Samantha is different from Kara Monahan‘s portrayal
of a public relations practitioner.
34
Chapter 7 Endnotes
83
Ames, Carol, PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films 1996-2008
(accessed February 2010)
84
Ibid.
85
Ibid.
86
Ibid.
87
Episode 59: ―Coulda Woulda Shoulda,‖ Sex and the City. First aired August 5, 2001,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Jenny Bicks.
88
Ames, Carol, PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films 1996-2008
(accessed February 2010)
89
Ibid.
90
Ibid.
91
Episode 91: ―The Cold War,‖ Sex and the City. First aired February 1, 2004, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Julian Farino. Written by Aury Wallington.
92
Ibid.
93
Ames, Carol, PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films 1996-2008
(accessed February 2010)
94
Ibid.
95
Ibid.
96
Ibid.
97
Ibid.
98
Ibid.
35
99
Ibid.
100
Episode 58: ―Belles of the Balls,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 29,2001, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Spiller. Written by Michael Patrick King.
101
Episode 49: ―The Agony and the Ex-Tacy,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 3, 2001,
HBO, Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Written by Michael
Patrick King.
102
Miller, Karen. Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995. Journal of Public
Relations Research II (1) p.20-21.
103
Ibid.
104
Episode 70: ―Cover Girl,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June August 11, 2002, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by John David Coles. Written by Judy Toll, Michael
Patrick King.
105
Miller, Karen. Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995. Journal of Public
Relations Research II (1) p.20-21.
106
Op. cit.
107
Op. cit.
108
Episode : ―Plus One is the Loneliest Number,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 6,
1998, HBO, Darren Star Productions.Directed by Michael Patrick King.Written by
Cindy Chupack.
109
Miller, Karen. Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995. Journal of Public
Relations Research II (1) p.8.
110
Op. cit.
111
Op. cit.
112
Valentine’s Day, 2010 (running time 125 minutes) New Line Cinema. Directed by
Garry Marshall.
113
Ibid.
36
114
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on characters from the book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV series created by Darren Star.
37
Chapter 8: Samantha in Relation to Female Journalists and Carrie Bradshaw
Samantha is fiercely independent, works hard for her career, and only falls in love
twice in the series. Similar to the female journalist, Samantha is an ―independent, hard-
boiled dame[s] ready and willing to do anything their male counterpart would do.‖
115
Although Samantha is not a ―sob sister,‖ as she is not a journalist, she acts like one in
some instances. Some sob sisters fall in love with their sources, sleep with their sources,
and remain dominated by men in the profession.
116
In the series, Samantha ends up
sleeping with her clients, and has her career dominated by a man when she became
Smith‘s full-time manager. However, everything changes when she broke up with Smith.
The typical sob sister image will never apply to Samantha—because she is happily single
at the end of the movie. She realizes that she is too independent and dislikes being in
relationships.
117
Her main difference from the ―sob sister‖ female journalist image is that
she didn‘t end up with a man.
Carrie Bradshaw is another woman who works in communication, and is one of
Samantha‘s best friends. Carrie writes a sex column for the New York Star.
118
She is not
married and very career-oriented. Former USC Graduate Student Bibi Wardak‘s article
―Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous, Exciting and
Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO‘s Sex and the City‖ examines
Carrie‘s stereotypical role as a female journalist in Sex and the City. She explained that
Carrie is ―just like other modern sob sisters, she is romantically unfulfilled and has
38
sacrificed aspects of her personal life for professional success.‖
119
Carrie is unsure about
marriage and children.
120
Samantha is different from Carrie in that way—Samantha
knows that does not want children, and doesn‘t want to get married. In the series, Carrie
questioned if she is the marrying kind, and has mixed feelings about getting married and
having a traditional family.
121
However, Carrie does end up getting married to Big, her
longtime boyfriend, in the movie.
122
Her marriage and search for love plays into the sob
sister mentality, and the fact that she ended up with a man makes her similar to other sob
sisters.
Samantha is different from other women who work in communication, like
Carrie. Although they both want to be with men, they have different ideas of what they
want from men. Samantha rarely wants to be in relationships and has sex with more than
40 men throughout the series.
123
Carrie sleeps with 14 men throughout the series, and six
of those she was actually in a relationship with.
124
Carrie and Samantha have different
needs and wants when it comes to men.
Additionally, when men interfere with their careers, the two women handle it
differently. Carrie was willing to leave her job to follow two separate boyfriends to Paris,
France, and ends up going to Paris with one of her boyfriends, Alexandr Petrovsky.
125
Samantha was happy to help Smith‘s career in the beginning of their relationship, but
when her career became all about him, she was extremely unhappy and ended up
breaking up the relationship.
126
The two women make different choices when it comes to
men interfering with their jobs.
39
The two women also see their job in different ways. Carrie also questions whether
being a sex columnist is considered a ―real‖ job.
127
Samantha never once questions her
job as a PR practitioner.
Carrie and Samantha are both successful in their careers. Carrie becomes a well-
regarded columnist on her own, despite her problems with men.
128
Neither Carrie nor
Samantha use men to try and get ahead in their careers. When their friend Charlotte
discussed quitting her job to stop working altogether to be with her husband, Carrie and
Samantha both expressed their shock.
129
Both women are very invested in their careers.
Although Carrie and Samantha are both women in communication, they have
some differences in how they view their careers.
40
Chapter 8 Endnotes
115
Saltzman, Joe, Frank Capra and the Image of the Journalist in American Film (Image
of the Journalist in Popular Culture, a project of the Norman Lear Center, Annenberg
School for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,2002).
116
Ibid.
117
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on characters from the book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV series created by Darren Star.
118
Episode 1: ―Sex and the City,‖ Sex and the City. First aired June 6, 1998, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Susan Seidelman. Written by Darren Star.
119
Wardak, Bibi, Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous,
Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
(www.IJPC.org, 2009). p.1.
120
Op. cit.
121
Op. cit.
122
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
123
Sohn, Amy, Sex and the City Kiss and Tell (Pocket Books, New York, 2002).
124
Ibid.
125
Wardak, Bibi, Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous,
Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
(www.IJPC.org, 2009). p.7.
126
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
41
127
Wardak, Bibi, Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous,
Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
(www.IJPC.org, 2009). p. 9.
128
Op. cit.
129
Episode 55: ―Time and Punishment,‖ Sex and the City. First aired July 8, 2001, HBO,
Darren Star Productions. Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Jessica Bendinger.
42
Conclusion
Samantha Jones in Sex and the City is a strong, outspoken PR practitioner. She
uses her power and poise to get what she wants, both in her career and with men.
Although she does show her vulnerable side from time to time, she is no way a ―sob
sister‖ like her friend Carrie Bradshaw, the sex columnist. Samantha is an
―Accomplished‖—a positive stereotype of a PR practitioner. She emulates one of the best
stereotypes of a hard-working PR woman—however; she doesn‘t let her work get in the
way of having fun with her friends or sleeping with men. Although the portrayal of public
relations in ―Sex and the City‖ can be superficial at times, the portrayal in general is a
positive one. Although she is sometimes manipulative and tries to use her career to get
perks, Samantha‘s portrayal of a PR practitioner in popular culture emulates a woman
who is happy with her job and life.
43
Bibliography
Ames, Carol, PR Goes to the Movies: Public Relations in Selected Films 1996-2008
(accessed February 2010)
Miller, Karen. Public Relations in Film and Fiction: 1930-1995. Journal of Public
Relations Research II (1) p.3-28.
Public Relations Defined. PRSA.org.
http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined/ (accessed February 2010)
Samantha Jones: Character Bio. HBO.com http://www.hbo.com/#/sex-and-the-city/cast-
and-crew/samantha-jones/bio/samantha-jones.html (accessed February 2010)
Saltzman, Joe, Frank Capra and the Image of the Journalist in American Film (Image of
the Journalist in Popular Culture, a project of the Norman Lear Center, Annenberg
School for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 2002).
Sohn, Amy, Sex and the City Kiss and Tell (Pocket Books, New York, 2002).
Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 (running time 145 minutes) New Line Cinema.
Directed by Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace
Bushnell. Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
Sex and the City 2, 2010 (running time 146 minutes) New Line Cinema. Directed by
Michael Patrick King. Based on Characters from the Book by Candace Bushnell. Based
on the TV Series Created by Darren Star.
Sex and the City: The Complete Series. 2005. Home Box Office, Inc. Season 1: Episodes
1-12, Season 2: Episodes 1-18, Season 3: Episodes 1-18, Season 4: Episodes 1-18,
Season 5: Episodes 1-8, Season 6 Part One: Episodes 1-12, Season 6 Part Two: Episodes
1-8.
Wardak, Bibi, Knowing Good Sex Pays Off: The Image of the Journalist as a Famous,
Exciting and Chic Sex Columnist Named Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
(www.IJPC.org, 2009).
44
Appendix: Episode Summaries
Sources:
Sex and the City Episode Guide. TV.com.
http://www.tv.com/sex-and-the-city/show/456/episode.html,
Sohn, Amy, Sex and the City Kiss and Tell (Pocket Books, New York, 2002).
Season 1:
Episode #1: ―Sex and the City‖
Carrie Bradshaw and her friends Samantha Jones, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes
discuss trying to have sex like men. The women think that ―having sex like men‖ means
having sex with no feelings. Carrie tries this with her old flame Kurt Harrington, and
meets Mr. Big. Samantha tells Carrie about Mr. Big, and refers to him as ―the new
Donald Trump.‖ Miranda meets Skipper, a hopeless romantic, and Samantha has a one-
night stand with Capote Duncan, a man that Charlotte refused to sleep with after the first
date.
Episode #2: ―Models and Mortals‖
Samantha dates a ―modelizer,‖ who is someone that likes to date strictly models. He
videotapes them having sex. Miranda also goes out with a modelizer; while Carrie goes
home with Stanford‘s client, Derek the Underwear Model.
Episode #3 ―Bay of Married Pigs‖
Miranda pretends to be a lesbian to fit in with her work crowd; while Carrie dates
―Marrying Guy,‖ the Manhattan single who actually wants to get married. Samantha
accidently goes into a party for only married people, and sleeps with Charlotte‘s
doorman. Charlotte dates Carrie‘s ―Marrying Guy,‖ but dumps him because he chose an
ugly China pattern.
Episode #4 ―Valley of the 20-something Guys‖
Samantha gets upset that her man-of-the-moment (who is younger than her) notices
wrinkles on her neck, and dumps him. Carrie tries dating a 20-something man, but still
thinks about Mr. Big. Miranda still sees Skipper; Charlotte is worried about having anal
sex with her partner.
Episode #5 ―The Power of the Female Sex‖
Carrie goes on a date with a French man who leaves her money after spending the night
45
together. A famous painter asks to paint Charlotte; and Skipper becomes even more
obsessed with Miranda.
Episode #6 ―Secret Sex‖
Carrie sleeps with Mr. Big for the first time and then worries he‘s secretly ashamed of
her; Miranda meets a man who has a spanking fetish; Samantha realizes she has no
secrets when it comes to sex; Charlotte reveals her past love affair with a Hadistic hottie.
Episode #7 ―The Monogamists‖
Carrie is spending all her time with Mr. Big, and then finds he's not being exclusive,
which she can't handle. Miranda has broken up with Skipper, but when she sees him out
with another woman, she tries to get back together, on a non-exclusive basis, which he
can't handle. Samantha goes apartment hunting, supposedly with a realtor on an exclusive
basis, but actually continues to use others.
Episode #8 Three‘s a Crowd
Charlotte is dating Jack, who wants a threesome, but she is unsure. Carrie discovers that
Mr. Big has an ex-wife, and feels threatened. Samantha is seeing a married man; when
his wife finds out, she proposes a threesome to keep their marriage together. Miranda
feels unattractive and looks for affirmation that she isn't.
Episode #9 The Turtle and the Hare
Mr. Big tells Carrie he's never going to marry again, which unsettles her. Miranda
introduces the friends to the Rabbit, a mechanical aid, and Charlotte becomes addicted.
Stanford Blatch proposes to Carrie as a cover, so he can inherit his part of the family
fortune.
Episode #10 The Baby Shower
Mr. Big tells Carrie he's never going to marry again, which unsettles her. Miranda
introduces the friends to the Rabbit, a mechanical aid, and Charlotte becomes addicted.
Stanford Blatch proposes to Carrie as a cover, so he can inherit his part of the family
fortune.
Episode #11 The Drought
Mr. Big tells Carrie he's never going to marry again, which unsettles her. Miranda
introduces the friends to the Rabbit, a mechanical aid, and Charlotte becomes addicted.
Stanford Blatch proposes to Carrie as a cover, so he can inherit his part of the family
fortune.
Episode #12 Oh Come All Ye Faithful
Mr. Big tells Carrie he's never going to marry again, which unsettles her. Miranda
introduces the friends to the Rabbit, a mechanical aid, and Charlotte becomes addicted.
Stanford Blatch proposes to Carrie as a cover, so he can inherit his part of the family
fortune.
46
Season 2:
Episode #1 Take Me Out to the Ballgame
After Carrie ends her relationship with Mr. Big, she dates a new member of the Yankees
team, but they bump into Mr. Big and she realizes she is not over him. Miranda becomes
annoyed with the others talking about nothing but men. Samantha is unsatisfied with her
boyfriend's shortcomings. Charlotte has a problem with her new boyfriend, Paul Ericson,
continually adjusting himself, and her attempt to improve things misfires.
Episode #2 The Awful Truth
Carrie reluctantly invites Mr. Big to her birthday party after he sends her flowers.
Samantha tries to tell her boyfriend about his shortcomings, and he gets them to go to a
therapist. Charlotte gets a puppy, Henry, in lieu of a perfect man. Miranda talks dirty with
her lover, the ―spring-roll man‖.
Episode #3 The Freak Show
Carrie ruins a new relationship with Ben, a guy she meets in the park. Samantha dates
Harrison, but finds he is into something she isn't. Charlotte dates Mitchell Sailor, ―Mr.
Pussy‖. Miranda quits dating after Carrie sets her up with a blind date she doesn't like.
Carrie realizes she's a freak, too.
Episode #4 They Shoot Single People, Don‘t They?
Carrie thinks she enjoys being single, until she's late for a photo shoot and gets a bad
picture on a magazine cover. Samantha dates William, a club owner, who lies about their
possible future together. Charlotte tries to hook Tom, an actor friend after he decides to
move to Salt Lake City. Miranda fakes ecstasy for Josh, a previous boyfriend whom she
meets again.
Episode #5 Four Women and a Funeral
Carrie starts making it up with Mr. Big. Samantha is ostracized from New York's social
scene after she commits an indiscretion. Charlotte falls for a recently widowed man she
meets at a funeral. Miranda buys her own apartment, and starts suffering panic attacks.
Episode #6 The Cheating Curve
Where does the line between cheating and not cheating stands? The four glamorous
women from Manhattan discuss the topic while going through their own experiences.
Charlotte is having an opening at her gallery, where she walks in on her date making out
with another woman. She is intrigued by the "powerful lesbians", a group of well-
dressed, successful lesbians with good shoes. She accepts an invitation of dinner from
one of them and has a great time on a men-free environment (the G-Spot, the newest,
hottest girls club in the city), but soon faces restrictions due to her heterosexuality.
47
Meanwhile, Samantha discovers that her hot personal instructor (that shaved her privates
in the shape of a lightening) is giving lightening to other woman. Miranda has a tough
time competing with porn when she discovers her date can only have sex while watching
porn. And Carrie has trouble revealing to her friends that she is back together – officially
– with Mr. Big.
Episode #7 The Chicken Dance
Miranda is shocked when her decorator and a friend who was just visiting announce their
engagement after knowing each other for only a few days. At the engagement party,
Samantha snags a date for herself, and Miranda wonders if her apartment will bring good
luck to everyone but her. At the wedding, Charlotte is serving as one of the bride's maids,
and gets the sexiest dress she can to walk down the aisle. Her escort is a very handsome
man and within a few hours they click as if they had gone out on several dates.
Unfortunately, the man takes his father's side when Charlotte complains that the old man
felt her up. Samantha is shocked to realize that she had already slept with her engagement
party date. Miranda is stuck with the guest book and thinks she's invisible to all men.
Carrie is asked to write and proclaim a poem for the bride and groom, and is hurt when
Mr. Big walks out of the room to answer his phone during her reading. She is saddened
with the fact that while some people can get married after 4 weeks she can't even get Mr.
Big to sign a card with her.
Episode #8 The Man, The Myth, The Viagra
Carrie continues her relationship with Mr. Big, but wants him to get to know her friends
better. Samantha starts spending time with a wealthy seventy-something. Miranda has a
bad experience with a married man, and starts seeing a bartender, Steve Brady.
Episode #9 Old Dogs, New Dicks
Carrie tries to get Mr. Big out of some of his annoying habits. Samantha chances on an
old boyfriend who is now a drag queen, named in her honor, at drag bingo. Charlotte is
horrified to find she's dating an uncircumcised man. Miranda is still dating Steve, the
bartender, but they have problems with incompatible life-styles and schedules.
Episode #10 The Caste System
Carrie decides to say "I love you" to Mr. Big, but his response isn't exactly what she was
hoping for. Instead, all she got was an ugly purse. They attend a fancy party from an
upstate socialite, who won't allow indoors smoking or have any brown food or drinks at
the party. While out in the terrace for a smoke, Carrie runs into Jeremiah, an
artist/bartender with whom she's been flirting with for a several years. While he was
showing her his tattoo, Serena the socialite walks in on them, and tells Mr. Big Carrie
was giving him a blowjob. Offended, Carrie leaves the party with Jeremiah, get drunk
and wakes up the next morning with him on his bed. Luckily they didn't do anything,
because Mr. Big called her first thing in the morning saying he does love her, but he was
just afraid to say it. Meanwhile, Charlotte meets a famous actor and acts like a groupie
48
around him. But despite making exceptions on several dating rules, she feels like she has
to establish some boundaries when the guy goes too far with his sexual requests.
Miranda is seeing a guy who's poorer than her, and money issues eventually lead to a
breakup. Samantha is sexing a guy with a servant, but she feels like there's no space for
her between their employee-employer relationship after repeatedly being thrown out of
bed by the two-faced jealous maid.
Episode #11: Evolution
Carrie thinks her relationship with Big has evolved enough to the place where she can
leave stuff at his place. She purposely leaves a few items on his bathroom, only to be
surprised by Big the next morning with a bag with all her items in it. Carrie is confused
and tries to discuss it with him, but realizes she doesn't have to leave her marks on his
place to know they're in a relationship. Meanwhile, Miranda feels her biological clock
ticking when her gynecologist tells her one of her ovaries has stopped production. She
starts taking hormones and going out on dates with guys she'd never go – like her co-
worker with the hair plugs – but a discussion about freezing eggs leads her to realize she's
only 33 and still has one ovary working. Samantha has the chance of getting back to the
one guy who broke her heart, but can't resist the temptation of jumping to bed with him.
Her vengeance plan goes down the drain when he dumps her and she realizes she hasn't
evolved past having feelings quite yet. And Charlotte finds a piece of the male evolution
of her own: a man who could be either a gay straight or a straight gay. The difference?
The gay straight is nothing but the product of overexposure to the high life in Manhattan,
but is still straight. Confused, she decides to go forward with the guy, but realizes her
male side isn't as evolved as Stephan's female side.
Episode #12 La Doleur Exquise!
Carrie thinks her relationship with Big has evolved enough to the place where she can
leave stuff at his place. She purposely leaves a few items on his bathroom, only to be
surprised by Big the next morning with a bag with all her items in it. Meanwhile,
Miranda feels her biological clock ticking when her gynecologist tells her one of her
ovaries has stopped production. She starts taking hormones and going out on dates with
guys she'd never go – like her co-worker with the hair plugs – but a discussion about
freezing eggs leads her to realize she's only 33 and still has one ovary working. Samantha
has the chance of getting back to the one guy who broke her heart, but can't resist the
temptation of jumping to bed with him. Her vengeance plan goes down the drain when he
dumps her and she realizes she hasn't evolved past having feelings quite yet. And
Charlotte finds a piece of the male evolution of her own: a man who could be either a gay
straight or a straight gay. The difference? The gay straight is nothing but the product of
overexposure to the high life in Manhattan, but is still straight. Confused, she decides to
go forward with the guy, but realizes her male side isn't as evolved as Stephan's female
side.
49
Episode #13 Games People Play
Carrie meets a new man, Seth Robinson, in her analyst's waiting room. Samantha dates a
sports fan whose sex life is in sync with his teams' successes. Charlotte joins a bridge
club to try to meet someone. Miranda flirts with a Peeping Tom in the apartment
opposite.
Episode #14 The Fuck Buddy
Getting over Mr. Big, Carrie makes a date with a special friend, and tries to make it a
fuller relationship. Samantha has an interesting time with the couple next door until
reality strikes. After Charlotte summons the courage to ask men for dates, she gets carried
away and starts to double book. Miranda dates a man who she thinks is highly-strung, but
is really just unpleasant.
Episode #15 Shortcomings
Carrie dates a writer, Vaughn, and meets his very open family, but finds them all too
much. Samantha dates Charlotte's brother, Wesley, who is in town following his
separation. Miranda dates a divorced father, and finds that his family ties are stronger
than his feelings for her.
Episode #16 Was it good for you?
Carrie meets a man and they go out for coffee. She gives him her phone number and
when he doesn't call she wonders what she might of done to turn him off. She later runs
into him in the street and he tells her the reason he didn't call is because he's an alcoholic
and his AA sponsor told him that he shouldn't start any new relationships for at least a
year. He throws caution to the wind and embarks on a relationship with Carrie. Charlotte
thinks she's bad in bed when a guy falls asleep while making love to her so she enrolls
herself in a tantric sex workshop and signs Carrie, Samantha and Miranda up as well.
They go to the workshop and they all learn how to please their partner without actually
having sex and Miranda accidentally gets hit by flying ejaculate. Samantha agrees to have
sex with a gay couple she knows but when the couple can't go through with it she thinks
there's something wrong with her.
Episode #17 Twenty-something girls vs. Thirty-something women
Carrie and her friends head to the Hamptons to enjoy summer days at the beach. Several
encounters with young women in their 20s cause Carrie to ponder the differences
between the two age groups.
Episode #18 Ex and the City
Carrie wonders why she has never become friend with an ex-boyfriend, and decides that
if she must start with someone, that someone mind as well be Mr. Big. She calls him up
for inviting him over for a dinner, where he breaks the news that he's proposed to his new
girlfriend, Natasha. Shocked, Carrie storms out of the restaurant, shouting and yelling
50
about how with her he had a commitment problem for two years, but had found no
difficulties on proposing to what's-her-name after five months. Meanwhile, the other gals
try to find friends themselves. After running away (literally) from Steve, Miranda
receives a visit from him in her place and ends up in bed with him – they're friends who
have sex. Charlotte tries to become friends with a horse and overcome her trauma caused
by her best friend – a horse – who threw her from his back when she was a child. And
Samantha faces a challenge: she meets a man with a huge penis. So big that she isn't sure
she can make it. When the doubt becomes a certain, she proposes they stay just friends –
for the safety of her own vagina!
Season 3:
Episode #1 Where There‘s Smoke
The four friends take the ferry out to Staten Island to watch and judge the New York City
Fire Department's ―Calendar Contest‖. Carrie meets a handsome local politician, Bill
Kelley, but is reluctant about starting a relationship with him. Charlotte decides to get
herself married by the end of the year, and has a date with Arthur. Samantha meets
Ricky, a dream hunk, but their time together is ended prematurely when he has to leave to
attend a fire. Miranda realizes that being rescued isn't necessarily a sign of weakness.
Episode #2 Politically Erect
Carrie eventually consummates her relationship with Bill Kelley, but is put out when he
reveals a fantasy of his. Charlotte starts to put into action her plan of getting married by
the end of the year, by throwing a ‘used-boyfriend― party. Samantha meets a bachelor,
who although he is no match for her in height, is a match between the sheets. Miranda
discusses with Steve whether their relationship should become deeper.
Episode #3 Attack of the five-foot-ten-inch woman
Carrie spots Mr. Big and Natasha's wedding announcement in the paper, and later bumps
into her while shopping. Samantha treats the four friends to a day at a spa, where one of
the male attendants is reputed to give more than just massages. Charlotte is inhibited
about disrobing in the steam baths, but later manages to force herself to, and is pleasantly
surprised. Miranda has a new, Ukrainian cleaning lady, Magda, who takes it on herself to
clean up Miranda's life as well as her apartment.
Episode #4 Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl
Carrie finds out that Sean, her new young boyfriend, has had relationships with both men
and women, and tries not to let it faze her, but it does eventually. Charlotte takes part in a
photo shoot by a famous photographer, Baird Johnson, whose latest technique is to
photograph women dressed as men. Samantha stands up to Matt, her new male assistant,
eventually firing him, and then having sex with him. Miranda begins to feel suffocated by
Steve's presence in her apartment, but when he leaves she feels lonely, and ends up
inviting him to move in.
51
Episode #5 No ifs, ands or butts
Carrie tries to quit smoking to improve her chances with her new boyfriend, Aidan Shaw,
a furniture designer. Charlotte has a new boyfriend, Brad, but he turns out to be an
irredeemably lousy kisser. Samantha dates Chivon, an African-American, but his sister is
no so open-minded. Miranda doesn't have the time to watch Steve practice basketball,
even though there's the potential to win a million dollars: he is upset about this, and she
realises she needs to put more effort into their relationship.
Episode #6 Are we sluts?
Aidan is waiting until the time is right to sleep with Carrie, despite her best attempts at
seduction, though they get there eventually. Charlotte's new man, Alexander Lindley, is
unpleasantly talkative in bed, which upsets her. Samantha and her late night visitors get
the blame when someone in her apartment building is robbed at gunpoint, and she is
forced to move. Miranda contracts an STD, and notifying her list of sexual contacts
proves to be highly embarrassing.
Episode #7 Drama Queens
Carrie is invited to meet Aidan's family, but she feels overwhelmed and declines: she
then spots Mr. Big and Natasha out together, and comes to realize that she has been
behaving badly, and decides to meet Aidan's family after all. Charlotte falls down in the
street and meets Trey McDougall, a very eligible doctor, with whom she hits it off
immediately. Samantha is seeing Mark, a doctor with access to a supply of Viagra, which
she experiments with. Miranda gets used to the details of a life of domesticity with Steve.
Episode #8 The Big Time
Carrie keeps bumping into Mr. Big, causing her to wonder what's going on, which she
finds out when he confesses he can't stop thinking about her. Charlotte starts to think that
Trey might indeed be her ―Mr. Right‖. Samantha fears she is becoming menopausal, but
when sleeping with Len, an older man from her new apartment building, discovers she's
not. Miranda is starting to get fed up with living with Steve, and the last straw comes
when he tries to persuade her it's time to start thinking about a baby: they break up.
Episode #9 Easy Come, Easy Go
After Mr. Big confesses to Carrie that his relationship with Natasha is not going well,
they return to their old ways, resulting in a night of passion. Charlotte realises her
greatest goal in life when she and Trey become engaged, though it was she who had to
pop the question. Samantha has a difficult time with Adam, her latest boyfriend. Miranda
and Steve are still sharing an apartment even though they've broken up, and they find out
that it's not easy living with a former partner, particularly if they want to date someone
else.
Episode #10 All or Nothing
At last Aidan says that he loves Carrie, which makes her feel even more guilty about her
renewed relationship with Mr. Big. Things go well with Charlotte's engagement to Trey,
52
until he proposes a prenuptial agreement that upsets her. When she's feeling down with
the flu, Samantha panics that she's going to end up alone, as no-one is prepared to look
after her. Miranda finds that phone sex (with her new boyfriend George) can be as
fulfilling, but also as painful, as more usual relationships.
Episode #11 Running with Scissors
Carrie's reignited affair with Mr. Big puts a increasing strain on her relationship with
Aidan, and she meets Natasha again in the worst of circumstances: while letting herself
out of the Big's home. In the commotion, Natasha has an accident, so Carrie takes her to
hospital. Charlotte becomes more and more preoccupied with preparations for her
wedding, especially finding the perfect wedding dress; she also finds out about Carrie and
Mr. Big, and is outraged. Samantha's new boyfriend, Tom Reymi, makes her take an
AIDS test, which fortunately proves negative, before he will sleep with her. Miranda is
attracted to a man wearing a sandwich costume.
Episode #12 Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell
Carrie is in a continued quandary as to whether to tell Aidan about her renewed
relationship with Mr. Big. At the last moment, Charlotte starts to have doubts about
marrying Trey. Samantha has a relationship with one of the wedding party. Miranda
pretends to be an air stewardess to get a date.
Episode #13 Escape from New York
At short notice, Carrie, Samantha & Miranda go to Los Angeles, so Carrie can discuss
options on making a movie based on her columns. Her agent Debbie sets up a meeting for
her with Hollywood actor/producer Matthew McConaughey. Samantha meets an unusual
sort of model at a party. Miranda takes a wild ride on a mechanical bull, determined to
enjoy herself. Meanwhile, Charlotte has been on a sexless honeymoon in Bermuda, and
tries to find out what Trey's problem really is.
Episode #14 Sex and Another City
Carrie, Samantha & Miranda spend a second week in Los Angeles. Carrie & Samantha
go to a movie screening party, but are refused entry at the door. Fortunately another
guest, Keith Travers, gets them into the party, and Carrie spends the evening with him,
ending up in bed at his fabulous home, until she discovers he isn't all he pretends to be.
Miranda meets up with Lew, an old friend from New York, and finds he's mellowed since
he's been living in LA. Charlotte despairs of her sexless marriage, and flies to LA to be
with the others.
Episode #15 Hot Child in the City
Carrie meets a new man, Wade Adams, at a comic store, and falls in love with his
fabulous apartment, but not with his mother. Samantha is hired as the publicist for the Bat
Mitzvah of Jenny Brier, and finds that Jenny and her friends are as over-sexed at 13 as
Samantha is at 34. Charlotte searches the internet for a solution to Trey's sexual problem,
and then demands that they see a sex therapist. Miranda is having to wear braces, which
53
make her feel like a teenager, but she gives them up after a date fears he'll get caught up
in them.
Episode #16 Frenemies
Carrie gives a couple of seminars on meeting men to a packed audience of women, who
ask some pointed questions that show her up badly. Samantha finds a new friend in Claire
Anne, who turns out to be more than her equal. Charlotte succeeds in making herself
more sexually attractive to Trey. At the funeral of a would-be boyfriend, Miranda agrees
to a date with another man, despite Carrie's warnings to her.
Episode #17 What Goes Around Comes Around
Carrie is snubbed by Natasha at a restaurant, and is then mugged. Samantha drags Carrie
to a party, only to find out it's a dorm party; Samantha makes out with one of the college
lads, who happens to share the same name with her, but he becomes obsessed with her.
Charlotte, tiring of the lack of sex with Trey, has a couple of encounters with a gardener,
which leads to their separation. Miranda has a date with the police detective investigating
Carrie's mugging, but nervous that she isn't good-looking enough, gets too drunk.
Episode #18 Cock a Doodle Doo!
Mr. Big phones Carrie and invites her to lunch, which she accepts against Miranda's
advice. Samantha's sleep is being disturbed by the noise made by some transsexual
prostitutes, and she ends up inviting them in for a rooftop party with the other three
friends. Charlotte receives an early-morning visit from Trey, who's finally ready for her.
Miranda is feeling that her life is in a rut, and runs into Steve on a couple of occasions.
Season 4:
Episode #1 The Agony and the Ex-Tacy
When Carrie turns 35, all the girls reflect on how it feels like being in their thirties and
still single. Samantha is doing just what she likes best: men – her latest attempt is a
monk, and despite her unsuccessful attempts to drive him to sin she still manages to have
some sex with him, even if it's only in her mind. Charlotte still believes in soulmates.
Unfortunately she realizes Trey isn't hers after he ejaculates on her leg ("my soulmate
wouldn't do this to me", she whines). Miranda, at first marveled with the greatness of
marriage realizes that you don't have to be married to be happy, while Carrie freaks when
no one shows up at her dinner party and she goes home feeling depressed and abandoned.
Fortunately, Big shows up with a bottle of champagne. And even though he might not be
her soulmate, it's good enough for her. After all, not everything is perfect. Not even your
35th birthday.
Episode #2 The Real Me
Carrie is asked to be a model on a fashion show mixing real models and real people. At
first reluctant to believe she was chosen to be a model, Carrie is quickly swept off her
feet with the glamour of the fashion business. But as everything that comes fast goes fast
54
her dream turns into a nightmare when moments before the show her dress is changed to
a jewelry panty. With a huge hair, heavy makeover and high heels, Carrie finally feels
like a supermodel and enters the stage strong and confident, only to fall from the top of
her shoes. Nevertheless, she gets up and goes on with the show, after all she's a real
person and when real people fall they get back on their feet and move on. Meanwhile,
Charlotte is embarrassed to change gynecologists when she develops a rash on her
vagina, and even more embarrassed when the doctor prescribes anti-depressives for her
vagina. But the real solution for Charlotte's depressed vagina is more attention, and so
Charlotte finally meets her female part with a mirror. Elsewhere, Samantha decides to
pose nude just so she can look back years from now and remember how hot she was,
while Miranda drives a man away with her self confidence.
Episode #3 Defining Moments
Carrie and Big finally seem to be getting along fine, despite the girls's pressure for her to
define what kind of relationship she has established with him. Carrie doesn't know it
herself, but it clearly shows as not being a regular friendship when she flirts with a jazz
player. Big shows up on their date and acts jealous about Carrie, and she has to set some
boundaries. Meanwhile, Miranda lowers her boundaries too when she decides to let her
boyfriend pee with the bathroom door open, but changes her mind after he decides to do
everything else with the door opened. Charlotte sets her boundaries on Trey, who wanted
to have sex on virtually every room they stepped into, and Samantha lowers her
boundaries on relationships when she decides to take on a lesbian relationship with a
Brazilian artist.
Episode #4 What‘s sex got to do with it?
Everyone is having sex except Miranda. She's on a sex strike because she's tired of going
on bad dates so she substitutes sex with chocolate. She finally ends her strike and
masturbates. Carrie is having mind blowing sex with Ray, the jazz club owner, in hopes
of forming a relationship. Charlotte is having great sex with Trey but is angry with him
for not asking him to move in with him. He later comes to see her and not only does he
ask her to move in with her but he also asks her to re-marry him, she accepts. Samantha
decides to give relationships a try because she really likes Maria. She tells Carrie,
Charlotte and Miranda that she's in a lesbian relationship and they support her when she
tells them that she wants to have sex when it feels right. It apparently feels right rather
quickly because the following day she's telling them about how great sex with another
woman is.
Episode #5 Ghost Town
Miranda is invited to the opening of Steve's bar, but is afraid to go because he seems to
be getting on with his life while she's been living the same life she did except she's still
single now. She asks Carrie to join her, but Carrie is reluctant once sees that Aidan is
Steve's partner. However, after mature thinking, Carrie decides that if Aidan can be a
bigger person and invite her, she can be even bigger and buys him a plant. When she
55
enters the bar Steve tells her Aidan didn't invite her; he did. Shocked, Carrie flees the
scene before she runs into the ghost of Aidan. Meanwhile, Charlotte is faced with a ghost
of her own when Bunny insists they buy her preferable mattress. Suddenly Charlotte
realizes that their apartment is more Bunny than her and decides to take a stand in the
name of her marriage. Samantha is bored with all the talking and soaking of her lesbian
relationship, and Maria buys her a strap-on to make up for Sam's dick abstinence.
Unfortunately she never knew how hard it was to be the man on sex and throws out her
back. At the opening, Miranda and Carrie both confront their ghosts. But while Miranda
is now exorcised of any danger of remote feelings for Steve, Carrie doesn't feel so safe.
Can she still love Aidan?
Episode #6 Baby, Talk is Cheap
Carrie sends Aidan an email saying that she misses him and when he doesn't respond she
decides to give him a call. They go out with Miranda and Steve and Carrie senses that
Aidan wants a relationship too even though he tells her that he doesn't wan't a
relationship. She pursues him anyways and they have sex. He later shows up again and
they go walking the dog. Samantha attracted a man by using fake nipples but discovers
that he's a big baby when she tells him to stop using baby talk during sex.Miranda meets
a man who she dubs Marathon Man because he's training for a marathon. They have sex
several and she's shocked when he performs analingus on her. She wonders if she has to
reciprocate so she confers with Charlotte, Carrie and Samantha and they all tell that
they've never done except for Charlotte who seems to find it acceptable because she's
married. Charlotte and Trey try to have a baby but after having dinner with married
friends and their children they decide to stop trying for a while.
Episode #7 Time and Punishment
Things between Carrie and Aidan – which had been going great – get weird after Aidan
overhears Big on Carrie's answering machine. While he seems more distant and cold,
Carrie goes out of her way to please him. Finally, when Aidan and a waitress get too
friendly, Carrie confronts him if he's out to get even with her. He asks her not to see Big
again, but she can't. Aidan will just have to accept it. Meanwhile, Samantha goes to bed
with a guy who stole her cab and ends up shaving his pubic hair after he tells her to get
waxed. And Charlotte faces lack of support from her friends when she decides to quit her
job and become a full time wife and mother – and maybe cure Aids in the meantime. All
the arguments she has with Miranda cause her to have a neck thrown out, and if that
wasn't painful enough try having Aidan picking you up from the bathroom floor when
you're naked.
Episode #8 My Motherboard, My Self
Things between Carrie and Aidan – which had been going great – get weird after Aidan
overhears Big on Carrie's answering machine. While he seems more distant and cold,
Carrie goes out of her way to please him. Finally, when Aidan and a waitress get too
friendly, Carrie confronts him if he's out to get even with her. He asks her not to see Big
56
again, but she can't. Aidan will just have to accept it. Meanwhile, Samantha goes to bed
with a guy who stole her cab and ends up shaving his pubic hair after he tells her to get
waxed. And Charlotte faces lack of support from her friends when she decides to quit her
job and become a full time wife and mother – and maybe cure Aids in the meantime. All
the arguments she has with Miranda cause her to have a neck thrown out, and if that
wasn't painful enough try having Aidan picking you up from the bathroom floor when
you're naked.
Episode #9 Sex and the Country
Carrie goes to Aidan's cottage with him and is bored, and scared of a squirrel, so she
returns to the city where she has dinner with Mr. Big and he tells her that he's dating a
movie star. She decides to give it another shot and returns to the country this time with
Samantha. Samantha is bored until she sees Farmer Luke and she decides to ask if she
can borrow some milk and they end up sleeping together. Miranda finds out that Steve
has testicular so she tries to comfort him but it ends up pissing him off because he thinks
she's pitying him. Charlotte and Trey go to Trey's mother's where they keep trying to
have a baby.
Episode #10 Belles of the Balls
Carrie goes to the country with Aidan and ends up accidently inviting Mr. Big when
Willow breaks up with him. He calls Carrie and tells her that Willow dumped him and
she says that she wishes that he could come over but it's too far but he's willing to take
the long drive to see her. She gives him the directions and then tells Aidan who isn't
pleased to hear that Mr. Big is coming over. He says that it's like a super hero thing and
Mr. Big is Batman while he's the Green Hornet. Mr. Big gets drunk and Carrie won't let
him drive so Aidan lets him sleep on the couch. The following morning Mr. Big tries to
apologize to Aidan but Aidan starts a fight with him and Carrie steps in to stop them. It
turns out that they really get along. Charlotte sends Trey to have his sperm tested but he
can't do it in a cup. She comes in to see how things are going and they end up having sex
in the little room. Miranda goes with Steve to see a specialist about getting a prosthetic
testicle but Miranda tells him not to go through with it when the specialist tells them that
it hasn't received FDA approval yet. Samantha goes for a job interview and doesn't get
the job because she's a woman so she tells the guy off and storms out of his office. He
comes chasing after her but she doesn't stop because she can feel the tears come on. Later
she receives a phone call about the job informing her that he was impressed with how
much balls she has and that she has the job.
Episode #11 Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda
While Charlotte is frustrated that she's can't get pregnant despite her efforts with Trey,
Miranda has the exact opposite problem: her lazy ovary combined with Steve's lonely
ball somehow managed to get her pregnant in what Samantha called "a mercy fuck" ("he
only had one ball", Miranda justifies). Although she's decided to have an abortion, she
isn't sure about whether or not to tell Steve. Carrie thinks she should, despite never
57
having told a waiter from The Saloon that she got an abortion herself after a drunk one
night stand over a decade ago. In the waiting room of the abortion clinic, Miranda
reconsiders her position as she wonder when she'll ever find time and chances to get
pregnant again; so she decides to keep it. Meanwhile, Charlotte discovers her uterus is
attacking Trey's sperm and considers in vitro fertilization; Carrie comes clean with Aidan
about her past after meeting the waiter that knocked her up and Samantha has a hard time
being the rep for Lucy Liu and finding a way to get the purse of her dreams.
Episode #12 Just Say Yes
Upset with the idea of having to move out because her building is going co-op, Carrie
faces an even bigger problem: Aidan suggested that they move in together after he bought
both Carrie's and the next door apartment to make one big place for them. It's a big step
that needs some thinking time, which is not helped when Carrie accidentally discovers an
engagement ring among Aidan's stuff. This makes her question if Aidan is really "the
one" and if she is ready for it. But then again, are we ever ready? An unexpected bump
into Big doesn't really help her, especially when the ring she saw has nothing to do with
her – never mind that it was Miranda who helped him pick it out. Finally, when she's not
expecting, Aidan kneels and pops the question. The right timing, the right place – and
most important, the right ring – make Carrie say yes. Meanwhile, Miranda faces a
proposal too, after she tells Steve she's pregnant with his child. But, unlike Carrie,
Miranda is definitely not ready for marriage – especially with a secondhand ring – and so
they decide to raise the kid together, but separated. Samantha flies off to Rio with her
new boss and doesn't wait long before entering the mile-high club, while Charlotte
anticipates herself and enrolls to adopt a Mandarin baby.
Episode #13 The Good Fight
Maybe having Aidan move in wasn't such a good idea, as Carrie feels her apartment
overcrowded with stuff that isn't hers and noise that disturbs her alone time. Things only
get worse once Carrie's old neighbor tells her she's not moving out until the end of the
month, postponing Aidan's plans of breaking the walls. After a big fight, Carrie and
Aidan spend three days without talking to each other, until she breaks and apologizes
first. Turns out there's a lot more about moving in than just throwing out some one-time-
worn clothes in order to make room for your future husband's stuff. Meanwhile,
Samantha freaks out because she is actually falling in love with her perfect-dicked boss;
Charlotte is extremely offended when Trey gives her a cardboard baby and Miranda
wonders if having sex is going to hurt the baby.
Episode #14 All That Glitters
The girls all go dancing at a gay club and Carrie meets a gay guy and they start hanging
out but she soon discovers that she has to fight for his attention whenever they go out.
Miranda runs into a co-worker who she didn't know was gay so she tells him that she's
pregnant and he lets it spill at work so she accidently lets it out that he's gay.Samantha
58
takes a hit of ecstasy and tells Richard that she loves him. Charlotte and Trey's home is
featured in "Home and Gardens" but they grow farther apart and he moves out.
Episode #15 Change of a Dress
When asked when she was getting married, Carrie reflects on the purpose and meaning of
getting married. Miranda, after faking an ultrasound – she doesn't get it why she has to
cheer with everyone the fact that she's having a boy – takes Carrie to try on ugly wedding
dresses in a weird shock therapy to exorcise her fears away. But Carrie has a freak
allergic reaction to the dress, which makes her feel negative about the whole thing. She
asks Aidan for some time, but he won't give it to her. She realizes he still doesn't trust her
and despite their mutual love, the wedding is just something to give him confidence on
her. He moves out the next day. Meanwhile, Charlotte freaks out on tap dancing class and
Samantha has her first monogamy attack – something she never thought she could – after
finding out Richard is sleeping around.
Episode #16 Ring a Ding Ding
Aidan moves out and leaves Carrie the option of either buying back her apartment for
what he paid for it or selling it off but she doesn't have enough money for a loan so she
goes to see Mr. Big who writes her a cheque but she finally decides that she wants to do it
on her own so she tears up the cheque. Charlotte ends up giving her her wedding ring so
that Carrie can use it as collateral to get her loan. Samantha discovers that Richard isn't
the one that's shopping for all the presents that he buys her and that he isn't even signing
the cards but his assistant is the one who does it so she gets his assistant to sign the most
recent card "Love Richard" to trick him into saying I love you. Miranda and Steve
discuss custody of their soon to be child.
Episode #17 A Vogue Idea
Carrie has a one-time, big-shot free-lancing opportunity at Vogue. She puts her heart and
soul into a shoe article, which unfortunately isn't very well accepted by the female editor.
After a lot of bonding with the male editor, Julian, Carrie finds herself completely swept
off her feet with all the glamour of Vogue. When she is given the opportunity of her
dreams – pick anything on the Vogue closet – she decides that no pair of shoes can
replace her dignity as she is surprised by a pant-less Julian. Meanwhile, Samantha
decides to give Richard a threesome for his birthday, and learns that one twenty year old
bimbo doesn't get anywhere near her twenty year old experience. And Charlotte freaks
out while hosting Miranda a baby shower after sees a present that brings her back to her
past.
Episode #18 I Heart NY
Carrie accidentally finds out that Big is planning on moving away from NY and wonders
if she should have goodbye sex with him. She tries to have a romantic evening with him,
but Miranda goes into labor and Carrie has to ditch Big to join her friend at the hospital.
59
Miranda still doesn't feel maternal at all – she doesn't want to be motivated to push and
she gets annoyed every time Steve cries about the baby. Meanwhile, Charlotte sees her ex
husband and his mother at the museum and decides it's time to date again, but her date
freaks out with her apartment. Samantha wears a wig to catch Richard cheating on her
with another woman.
Season 5:
Episode 1: Anchors Away
It's 'Fleet Week' in New York City and Carrie, Samantha and Charlotte are only just
beginning to adjust to Miranda's new life with baby Brady. Samantha is finding it
particularly hard to adjust to "cleaning up her act" in front of baby Brady, especially
because she's still furious over Richard Wright's infidelity. Charlotte, now over Trey, is
ready to find her next great love, whereas Carrie wonders if she's all out of great loves,
now that Big and Aidan are gone. Carrie turns to Manhattan for romance and discovers
that the only company that she can find is a fellow single woman...one who likes to mix
her prescription drugs with her ice cream! She jumps at the opportunity when a sailor
invites her to the Fleet Week party. At the end of the night though, she realizes that until
she can let go of her past two relationships, she cannot date anymore and goes home
alone... Meanwhile, Samantha is on a mission to get back at Richard. First she throws a
Martini in his face and then puts posters all around his neighborhood calling him a
"cheater" and "liar"! Charlotte also flirts with an officer who isn't quite a gentleman.
Richard, unfazed by Samantha's poster campaign, persists in apologizing to her and
declaring his love for her. Meanwhile, Miranda works on the art of breastfeeding!
Episode #2 Unoriginal Sin
Samantha announces that she's back with Richard, who buys her an outrageously big
diamond ring as a proof of his sorrow and commitment. Still, Samantha has doubts about
his regeneration and can't seem to get over the image of him being intimate with another
woman. Meanwhile, Carrie avoids her editor by all means thinking she's going to get
fired, but turns out he just wanted to tell her she's been offered a book deal. Hesitant,
Carrie is asked to write an introduction and answer the question: "is there hope for single
women?". To help her figure out the answer, Charlotte takes her to a positivism course,
where she learns that although seemingly a positivist, Charlotte is a big negativist. More
than that, she's got a broken heart. And Miranda has to handle a request she can't deny:
Steve asks Brady to be baptized. He even brings in his mother for the ceremony, and
Miranda asks Carrie to be the baby's godmother.
Episode #3 Luck Be an Old Lady
It's Charlotte's 36th Birthday but she doesn't really want to celebrate. Carrie, however,
celebrates the "faux" birthday, by accompanying Miranda and Charlotte to join Samantha
on her latest private jet trip with Richard to Atlantic City. Miranda wants to catch up on
her sleep and read The New Yorker, and Samantha is busy keeping an eye on Richard's
every move. Meanwhile, Charlotte is increasingly fearful that she's become an 'old maid'.
60
To combat this rather frightening thought, she stuns the girls with her new racy, red
lipstick look - a result of an Atlantic City style makeover. Carrie realizes people go to
casinos for the same reason they go on blind dates - hoping to hit the jackpot, but
wonders: If we know the house always wins, why gamble? Samantha's suspicions become
unbearable as she watches the busty casino ladies show off their 'assets' to Richard - She
tells Richard that she loves him but she loves herself more. She leaves behind the mega
diamond ring and the pearl thong he just gave her and walks out the door. Sitting on the
boardwalk and watching a happy couple taking in the sunset, Carrie realizes that she's
hiding in her friends and that perhaps there are things worth gambling on.
Episode #4 Cover Girl
Carrie searches for a sexy and sophisticated look for the cover of her book; Stanford finds
a boyfriend; Carrie walks in on Samantha giving the World Wide Express Guy a blow
job; Miranda dates an overeater who over-eats her; and Charlotte attempts to shop in the
self-help section of the bookstore.
Episode #5 Plus One is the Loneliest Number
Carrie's single status speaks volumes at her book-release party; Miranda approaches the
dating scene as a single mother; Charlotte has an unexpected visitor.
Episode #6 Critical Condition
Carrie prepares for her book's review and obsesses after running into a woman Aidan
dated after their breakup. Charlotte and Bunny battle over the MacDougal apartment.
Miranda is at her wits end with Brady, and Samantha learns to be supportive.
Episode #7 The Big Journey
Carrie's book tour takes her to San Francisco, which isn't far from Big's (Chris Noth) new
digs in Napa Valley. When they meet, Carrie is surprised at how much her former lover
has changed. Joining Carrie on the press junket is her man-hungry publicist Samantha,
who, surprisingly, has grown disillusioned with New York men.
Episode #8 I Love a Charade
On a night out at a Manhattan club, Carrie is amazed to learn that her old friend Bobby
Fine, a flamboyant singer, is finally getting married — and that his intended is a woman.
While the initial shock never quite wears off, it does give Carrie and her friends the
chance to visit the Hamptons. Once there, Samantha takes over Richard's mansion and
throws a party; Charlotte's new boyfriend makes his society debut; and Carrie runs into
writer Jack Berger.
Season 6:
Episode #1 To Market, To Market
Carrie believes her "stock" has gone up thanks to her hot date with new flame Jack
Berger. Meanwhile, Miranda faces her true feelings about Steve, Charlotte is dismayed
61
by Harry's refusal to marry a non-Jew, and Samantha bemoans the gentrification of her
area until a new stockbroker neighbor begins eliciting moans of another tenor.
Episode #2 Great Sexpectations
Away from the bedroom, Carrie and Berger's relationship is sizzling but when it comes to
sex, the passion is mysteriously absent. Samantha competes for the attention of a good-
looking waiter, Miranda falls for Tivo and Charlotte attempts to embrace Judaism.
Episode #3 The Perfect Present
Carrie visits Berger's apartment for the first time and discovers his "ex-file." Meanwhile,
Charlotte sacrifices pieces of her past as the day of her official conversion to Judaism
approaches; a diaper bag-discovery forces Miranda to deal with the reality of Steve's new
relationship; and in a bit of role-reversal, Samantha "waits" on Jerry the waiter.
Episode #4 Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little
Berger and Carrie share their first "I love you's" but her criticism of his book leaves their
relationship rather cold. Meanwhile, Miranda feels enlightened by Berger's blunt advice
on dating. Samantha and Jerry live out some of their fantasies and Charlotte and Harry
clash over her conversion and his failure to propose to her.
Episode #5 Lights, Camera, Relationship
Carrie's relative success brings out the worst in Berger; Samantha turns on her hype
machine to help Jerry; Miranda and Steve spend a surprise evening together.
Episode #6 Hop, Skip and a Week
Charlotte gets unwanted attention at the synagogue; Samantha's PR machine works a
little too well; Miranda feels the pressure of being a lawyer and a single mother.
Episode #7 The Post-It Always Sticks Twice
Samantha begins to care for Smith so she pushes him away. Miranda is ecstatic about
being able to fit in her skinny jeans and Charlotte's initial joy over her engagement
disappears when the realization that it is her second marriage hits her.
Episode #8 The Catch
Charlotte and Harry's wedding day arrives but Charlotte is left in tears after everything
seems to go wrong. Carrie is unwilling to date anymore but sleeps with Harry's best man
but his "lovemaking" leaves her incapacitated for the big day. Samantha finds herself
missing Smith, and Miranda finds herself unable to face Steve's new girlfriend.
Episode #9 A Woman‘s Right to Shoes
Carrie and her old friend Kyra clash over life choices when Carrie loses her shoes at
Kyra's baby shower. Elsewhere, Samantha becomes infuriated with children in public
places, Miranda becomes attracted to Dr Robert Leeds who moves into her building and
Charlotte gets used to Harry's personal habits.
62
Episode #10 Boy, Interrupted
Carrie meets up with her high school boyfriend Jeremy and contemplates dating him
again until he reveals a secret about himself. Things heat up between Miranda and
Robert. The heat of New York gets too much for Samantha as she tries desperately to get
access to an exclusive club with a swimming pool. Meanwhile Anthony reveals
something surprising which put a dent in Stanford's relationship with Marcus.
Episode #11 The Domino Effect
Big visits New York for what could be the moneyed mystery man's last chance with
Carrie. In the meantime, Miranda pursues a relationship with Dr. Robert; Charlotte visits
a Chinese fertility doctor; and freewheeling Samantha balks at holding hands.
Episode #12 One
Alexandr Petrovsky, an internationally acclaimed artist who sweeps Carrie off her feet
show up in her romance life. In the meantime, Miranda and Steve celebrate Brady's first
birthday; Samantha frets about her appearance "down there;" and Charlotte receives some
surprise news.
Episode #13 Let There Be Light
Carrie decides she will begin sleeping with Petrovsky but after doing so wonders if she is
just one in a long line of women he has been with. Steve moves in with Miranda.
Meanwhile, Samantha gets tired of the Smith and decides she needs a more experienced
man. Charlotte does charity work.
Episode #14 The Ick Factor
As Miranda and Steve plan their wedding, Carrie feels uncomfortable by Petrovsky's
grand romantic gestures. Not to be outdone, Harry attempts to romance Charlotte.
Samantha decides to get a breast implants but learns something shocking at her
consultation.
Episode #15 Catch-38
Carrie deals with her feelings towards having a baby and her new relationship with
Aleksandr. In the meantime, Charlotte baby-sits for Brady; Miranda and Steve go on a
honeymoon, and Samantha uses her public relations to get an appointment with a doctor.
Episode #16 Out of the Frying Pan
Aleksandr prefers strong coffee and stronger realities. In the meantime, Charlotte runs to
escape the pain of not having a child and bumps into a small bundle of joy; Miranda puts
her own desires aside and emphasizes Steve's; and Samantha audaciously gets a new
hairstyle.
Episode #17 The Cold War
Carrie avoids the cold weather with Aleksandr; Charlotte and her new "baby" enjoy the
63
spotlight; Miranda toasts her new home; Samantha circulates a steamy video to prove that
Smith is not gay.
Episode #18 Splat!
Carrie considers Aleksandr's question to move to Paris with him; Charlotte uses her
maternal instincts and Miranda admits concerns about Aleksandr.
Episode #19 An American Girl in Paris (part une)
Before leaving for Paris, Carrie runs into Big outside of her apartment, but she makes it
clear to him that she wants him totally out of her life. Ms. Bradshaw then has one last
dinner with Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, and it's clear that the four women know
that Carrie's absence will have a major impact on all of their lives.
Episode #20 An American Girl in Paris (part deux)
After Petrovsky leaves Carrie behind for a second time in Paris, she begins to wonder if
she's doomed to follow in Juliet's footsteps. Back in New York, Samantha's chemo
treatments are killing her sex drive, and she decides to tell Smith he can sleep with other
women. Hoping to adopt a baby, Charlotte and Harry host an expectant couple from
North Carolina, with the intent of acquiring their unborn child.
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
Samantha Jones in the series Sex and the City (1998-2004) is a career-driven, confident, unmarried woman who lives the lavish life as a public relations executive in Manhattan. She is a single woman who prioritizes her work above all else. In accordance with some images of public relations practitioners, she is an accomplished, poised woman who loves her job. Although sometimes Samantha intertwines men and sex with her career, her image of a PR practitioner in popular culture is positive one. The series and movies (Sex and the City: The Movie, 2008 and Sex and the City 2, 2010) showcase Samantha as a high-powered PR practitioner who chooses her own happiness over love—unlike other images of female journalists.
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
Fashion transgressions and crimes of style: the image of the female fashion journalist
PDF
Two-faced: the image of the female political journalist in American film
PDF
Who pays for politics? a profile of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and its proposal for full public funding of local election campaigns
PDF
In the eyes of L.A.'s Black baby boomers, Mayor Karen Bass makes the grade (barely): weighing in on the first Black woman's first 16 months as the city's chief executive
Asset Metadata
Creator
Donahoe, Catherine Maria
(author)
Core Title
All glitz and glam?: A look at the image of public relations practitioner Samantha Jones from Sex and the city
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Journalism (Print Journalism)
Publication Date
05/02/2011
Defense Date
04/01/2011
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
image of the journalist in popular culture,journalism,OAI-PMH Harvest,pr practitioner,Public Relations,samantha jones,sex and the city
Place Name
New York
(city or populated place),
New York
(states),
USA
(countries)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Saltzman, Joseph (
committee chair
), Craig, David (
committee member
), Pflug, Paul (
committee member
)
Creator Email
cdonahoe@usc.edu,cmdonahoe@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3835
Unique identifier
UC1261861
Identifier
etd-Donahoe-4534 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-457227 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3835 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-Donahoe-4534.pdf
Dmrecord
457227
Document Type
Thesis
Rights
Donahoe, Catherine Maria
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Repository Name
Libraries, University of Southern California
Repository Location
Los Angeles, California
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
image of the journalist in popular culture
journalism
pr practitioner
samantha jones
sex and the city