Was Samantha Jones Really the Main Character?
As of recent, the Gen Z culture has grown to value the ideal of a new trend coined as the “main character”, attempting to embody said persona in their day-to-day lives. As the revival of Sex and the City in it’s new form of And Just Like That will go on without Samantha Jones’ portrayer Kim Cattrall, I had the thought: was Samantha Jones really the main character?Although Carrie Bradshaw most certainly held the allotted title of protagonist in the Sex and the City series, her counterpart, PR pinnacle Sam Jones no less held the esteem of a main character.
What constitutes a “main character”?
In technical terms, a main character is defined as the fictional persona that which the story centers around. In addition, the point of view comes from them, and the title of the story can also define who they are. In Sex and the City, not only are the voice-overs all from Carrie Bradshaw’s perspective, but the title of the television series and two movies is the headline of her weekly column in the fictional newspaper ‘The New York Star’ as well. This all seems to align towards a main character role in theory.
How has the definition of a “main character” changed?
Colloquially this term has, as many things do in our social platform-centered world, become a trend on TikTok in which people try to embody their life as a protagonist of movie. Just searching the term in question will reveal the hashtag #maincharacter as the top result with over 5 billion views on TikTok. With upwards of 85,000 videos created under the “main character” sound on the app created by Ashley Ward, she voices over the song A Moment Apart by ODESZA. In the monologue she says, “You have to start romanticizing your life. You have to start thinking of yourself as the main character. If you don’t, life will continue to pass you by, and all the little things that make it so beautiful will go unnoticed. So take a second and look around, and realize it’s a blessing for you to be here right now.” This reinvented form of a main character still poses the original question: Does Samantha embody more of a main character than Carrie?
What makes Samantha THE main character?
Considering this new perspective, and just observing her first appearance in episode 1 of Sex and the City, she says, “The right guy is an illusion, you understand that? Start living your life!” It may just be me, but this is certainly a main character view on life. Not only does she seldom lose sleep over a man, she carries a room in every scene knowing her presence is valued because of her self-value. As an individual who has seen every episode more than I’m willing to admit, I lost count of how many times Carrie went crazy over what others thought of her. Be it a romantic or platonic individual, it began to get pathetic, especially the 10 year cat-and-mouse game with Mr. Big.
I can’t help but view Samantha as THE main character of Sex and the City. I am intrigued by the new reboot series, it most certainly will be interesting to see who will emerge as the “main character”.