美国国家公共电台 NPR Candace Bushnell Discusses 20 Years Of 'Sex And The City'

 

(SOUNDBITE OF DOUGLAS CUOMO'S "SEX AND THE CITY THEME")

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

For me and maybe many of you out there, this music takes me straight to New York City in the late-'90's and a foursome of Manolo-wearing, cosmopolitan-swilling friends. That foursome would be Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte and Carrie, the women of "Sex And The City." This week marks 20 years since the show debuted¹ on HBO, 20 years since we met the main character, Carrie Bradshaw, who writes a column about love and dating which she narrates² throughout the show.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SEX AND THE CITY")

SARAH JESSICA PARKER: (As Carrie Bradshaw) Welcome to the age of un-innocence. No one has breakfast at Tiffany's, and no one has affairs to remember. Instead, we have breakfast at 7 a.m. and affairs we try to forget as quickly as possible.

KELLY: Carrie's character and her column are based on a real writer, Candace Bushnell. And Candace Bushnell joins me now. Welcome.

CANDACE BUSHNELL: Thrilled to be here.

KELLY: Let me sum up a little bit of how this came to be. You in the '90s were in New York, and you started writing a column called "Sex And The City." This was for the New York Observer. You eventually turned those columns into a book, which became a show. Was that something you ever anticipated when you set out and you were covering the love and dating scene in New York City in the '90s?

BUSHNELL: No. I mean, you have to understand. For me, "Sex And The City" was, you know, the best and the most popular iteration of work that I'd already been doing. I had many, many girlfriends. You know, we felt empowered by the fact that we had control over, you know - somewhat of our careers that we could live without men. But we felt disempowered by the fact that we were in our 30s and that we were no longer considered - how should I say - eligible³, you know, prospects⁴.

KELLY: Let me - we asked listeners to weigh in and send us voice memos⁵ about some of the things that they connected with in the show. And I want to play you a couple of these. One thing that resonates with so many people apparently⁶ is the theme of female friendship. Let me play you this. This is Alexis Miller⁷. She says she started watching "Sex And The City" in high school.

ALEXIS MILLER: To this day, I still think that some of the fights that Carrie and Miranda had over the years were some of the most realistic portrayals⁹ of female friendship that I've seen on TV.

KELLY: Realistic portrayal⁸ of female friendship - was that one of the things y'all were going for?

BUSHNELL: Absolutely. One of the phenomenons of "Sex And The City" was this intense forming of family-type bonds with one's female friends. In New York City, in my life, there was really a feeling that without your girlfriends, you could not survive. And that's certainly something that the show portrayed¹⁰ beautifully.

KELLY: To what extent did those friendships on the show reflect friendships you had in New York around this time?

BUSHNELL: Well, yeah, my friends and I always joked that we would never be friends with Charlotte.

KELLY: The very sweet - she's super sweet, goody two shoes, yep.

BUSHNELL: She's the Darren Star creation.

KELLY: Darren Star - the producer of the show you're talking about.

BUSHNELL: Right. But Charlotte was always the one that didn't fit in. And we are always like, huh? I mean, Charlotte would have gotten eaten up and chewed up and spit out for lunch.

KELLY: (Laughter) Well, let me move you to how you think about this now and how the show kind of registers now. Another listener we heard from pointed¹¹ out that the show was not as inclusive as it might have been. This is Wren¹² Murray. She's 20, and she says she's got some conflicting feelings about "Sex And The City."

WREN MURRAY: It definitely taught me so much about being a woman and being a sexual being. But it definitely did not teach me about my own identity as a brown, bisexual female.

KELLY: She's pointing out the show's been criticized for having very few characters of color, for not representing LGBTQ community in a very positive light. I mean, looking back, do those strike you as flaws? Or was it the way those characters would have seen the world at the time?

BUSHNELL: I mean, the world of "Sex And The City" that I was writing about in the city - it was diverse. I think as the show went on, you know, there was more awareness¹³ and more of an attempt to address that.

KELLY: I wanted to follow up on when you were talking about being single after 35. Is part of what the show did, part of the legacy¹⁴ of it saying to women it's OK to be single after 35, to be out making your way in the world and not have a man at your side?

BUSHNELL: Absolutely, absolutely, And you know, for me, the point of writing "Sex And The City" was trying to get at this idea of, can we have other goals than just finding a man? You know, there are criticisms of the show of course. But, you know, largely it made women feel like, I'm OK, and I'm not alone.

KELLY: Well, Candace Bushnell, thank you. This has been fun.

BUSHNELL: Thank you.

KELLY: Candace Bushnell - she wrote the "Sex And The City" column which inspired the book which inspired the TV show which debuted 20 years ago this week.

1 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

9 portrayals   

n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 )；描述；描写；描摹

参考例句：

• And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网

10 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 wren   

n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员

参考例句：

• A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
• My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。