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The plot summary of The Carrie Diaries is following a young and innocent Carrie Bradshaw in the 1980’s. We watch as she tries to balance her junior year of high school and new internship.  The show follows Carrie Bradshaw as she first discovers sex and new relationships while exploring Manhattan for the first time. Sex and the City is a show that lasted for six seasons on HBO. According to Imdb.com, Sex and the City is   “A sexual and ironic sitcom about four young, virtually inseparable New York bachelorettes who lead and confide in each-other about their ever changing and confusing sex lives, as different as their natures. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a charming, petite columnist, and often the narrator of the story.” This essay will analyze how The Carrie Diaries successfully follows the sequence of a prequel and how it fills in the blanks of the story’s arc. I will also be discussing the character development of this show.

According to Dictionary.com,   the definition of a prequel is “literacy, dramatic or film work that prefigures a later work, as by portraying the same characters at a younger age.” In this case The Carrie Diaries will be portraying Carrie Bradshaw and her best friend Samantha Jones in their younger years. The eccentricities of these characters are fully explained so the viewers are satisfied in what they are seeing in The Carrie Diaries because it explains why Carrie and Samantha are this way.  Carrie being the narrator throughout the show was an essential because it was a major part of Sex and the City.

The Carrie Diaries is considered a hybrid genre. This show is considered a comedy and a drama. The original Sex and the City series falls under the same category which is important because it attracts the same audience. Most of the scenes that provoked laughter were the discussions Carrie would have with her friends Maggie, Jill (Mouse) and Walt. All of their discussions started and ended with sarcasm and funny jokes giving the viewers no choice but to laugh. This is similar to Sex and the City because most of the scenes that are considered funny are the raw and unfiltered conversations between Carrie and her best friends. A majority of the drama in The Carrie Diaries were the situations that happened between Carrie and her love interest Sebastian Kydd or something dramatic happening to her in the city. Most of the drama that appeared in Sex and the City also dealt with Carrie and her love life and dramatic situations such as her being robbed in an alley. The structures of these shows are remotely similar. The reasoning for these similarities is for the viewers of Sex and the City to have nostalgia while watching The Carrie Diaries and becoming emotionally invested in the show.

Since The Carrie Diaries is considered a prequel, it is necessary that the text has characters and themes that relates to another text. According to Victoria O’Donnell , Intertextuality includes allusions to other television programs, films from the past, actors, songs, and news events is a regular feature in many television programs. Viewer enjoyment of a particular text can be informed by recognition of experience with other texts. It is the interconnection of meanings across different media texts as well as connections between meanings.”  Intertexuality is a key aspect of The Carrie Diaries because it contains characters that are from a previous text which in this case is Sex and the City. When you make connections in the text it makes the show much more enjoyable to watch.

Amy B. Harris is the creator of the show and opened the show in a way that Sex and the City fans can appreciate. In season one, episode one, the show opened up with young blonde haired girl walking in the crowded streets of New York City. You hear a female narrating the scene before realizing that it is Carrie Bradshaw that is talking. As, she is walking in a beautiful dress the scene continues by Carrie getting bumped into and being lost in the crowd. While this scene was happening an alarm clock rings, where you realize it was all a dream. The scene of Carrie walking in the crowded streets of New York City was a strong way to start off the first episode. This was a strong opening of the series because it was a replica of Carrie Bradshaw walking down the New York City streets in a similar outfit at the beginning of each episode of the original Sex and the City series. If you are a true fan of Sex and the City you will find this scene intriguing and want to keep watching.

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Since a prequel, is portraying the younger version of a character picking a cast that resembles the character is important. AnnaSophia Robb was casted as Carrie Bradshaw. Although AnnaSophia Robb shares the same petite body type and big, curly blonde hair as the original Carrie Bradshaw played by Sarah Jessica Parker it was difficult to accept she was portraying Carrie. Sarah Jessica Parker has such a distinct look and has been the face of Carrie Bradshaw for years making it difficult for people to see another face portray her. You would relate with the show in an easier way if they found someone who looked more similar to Carrie Bradshaw. There is no expectation for the casting director to find a clone of Sarah Jessica Parker but the casting director could have found someone who had less of a baby face than Anna Sophia Robb.  The more episodes you watch of the show you start to get use to Anna Sophia Robb and it becomes easier to accept her as Carrie Bradshaw. The costume designer on The Carrie Diaries did an awesome job picking out outfits that embraced and attributed to Carrie’s personality. Most of Carrie’s outfits on were bright and filled with patterns. She wore a lot of skirts and dresses and her outfits were daring compared to her friends. In Sex in the City Carrie is known for taking risks with fashion and her impressive shoe selection. Watching The Carrie Diaries gives the audience a better take on how Carrie got into fashion and seeing that she always had a passion for it.

Samantha Jones character in Sex and the City is known for being blonde, slim and filled with life. Lindsey Gort is the actress who portrayed Samantha Jones. Lindsey Gort has a striking resemblance to Kim Cattrall who is known for playing Samantha in Sex in the City. The fact that the casting director found someone who looks like the original actress makes your viewing experience much more effective. You do not have to use your imagination in order to connect with the character because of the resemblance between the two actresses.  The character that plays Samantha looks older than Carrie which is good because it follows the storyline of Sex in the City that she is the oldest of the group. The costume designer of the show also did a great job picking clothes that attributed to Samantha’s personality. Most of the outfits that Samantha wore were tighter and more revealing than Carrie’s. These outfits were a representation of Samantha’s confident and daring personality.

In the first season and first episode of The Carrie Diaries, Carrie is introduced as a seventeen year old girl who lives in Castlebury, Connecticut. Early on in the episode you are informed that Carrie’s mother died a few months back from cancer leaving her dad to raise both her and her sister Dorrit. Being introduced to Dorrit you can see the difference between her and Carrie. Dorrit wears a lot of black and a lot of eyeliner. She rarely shows emotion and Carrie even found weed in her dresser. Later in the episode you find out  that she feels Carrie is trying to take their mother’s place. Carrie’s dad felt like Carrie needed a change due to the passing of her mother. This led him to get her an internship in the city where she ends up connecting and spending time with Larissa Laughton the style editor of Interview Magazine. You learn that Carrie has a very close relationship with her father. This can cause you to link this to the fact that Carrie has a hard time keeping a man in Sex in the City because she is too busy trying to search for the perfect man that can compare to her father.

While out at a party with Larissa in the city, Carrie saw two men kiss and nervously said “I’ve never met anyone gay before.” This is funny considering Carrie has a gay best friend in Sex in the City named Stanford Blatch.   This scene is an example of Carrie’s character development. In The Carrie Diaries you see how innocent Carrie is when she first encounters being around gay men. This scene shows the growth of Carrie Bradshaw’s character because being around openly gay men becomes a norm for her when she gets older. This scene is showing how Carrie was not always aware and comfortable in her surroundings. It reminds you that she was not always the Carrie Bradshaw that we all know her to be.

In the first episode you are introduced to Carrie’s three best friends Maggie, Walt and Jill who Carrie calls Mouse. The characters are introduced in a way where you meet all three of them at the same time. Carrie and her two girlfriends sat at a table in the library to have girl talk. They talked about boys and losing their virginity. When Mouse talked about losing her virginity she described it by saying “It was like putting a hotdog in a keyhole.”  Hearing this leads Carrie and Maggie to both squirm in their seats. This scene makes a connection to Sex and the City which is essential for a prequel. In the Sex in the City series Carrie and her best friends always end up sitting at a table and having girl talk. The comment that “ Mouse” made was nostalgic because it reminds you of the unfiltered comments that Samantha is known for making. Watching Carrie make time to have girl talk at such a young age can give you the interpretation that this is why girl talk is essential for her character in Sex in the City.

Later in the episode Mouse goes to Carrie’s house to confide in her and tells her how the guy she lost her virginity to is no longer answering her calls. Seeing Mouse talk to Carrie about this and not Maggie shows how much she trusts Carrie. Often in Sex in the City, Carrie’s friends would ask Carrie for separate advice outside of the group.  This is showing how Carrie’s character trait of being a trustworthy friend evolved with her character. Realizing that Carrie lost her mother at a young age forcing her to grow up, you can assume this is why Carrie is often the mother figure of her group of friends. Throughout the season you see how Carrie had to look after her younger sister which caused her character to evolve into someone who looks after her friends unconditionally.

The second season of the Carrie Diaries is when the iconic Samantha Jones is introduced to you. If you watch Sex in the City all you know is that Samantha and Carrie are friends and that Samantha is older than Carrie. The show never gave any details of how they met which made this season quite special. The first episode of the season consists of Carrie meeting Samantha outside the bar. You learn that Samantha is a bouncer at a club and that she knew a lot of people. This scene can fill in the blanks of how Samantha ends up being successful at her job in public relations. In this episode she mentions to Carrie that growing up she did not have a great relationship with her mother. This can lead you to believe that the lack of a relationship she had with her mother caused her to be highly sexual and refuses to commit when it comes to relationships. In episode two of season two, you learn that she moves in with Carrie in New York City and there is a scene where she confidently walks around the house naked in front of Carrie and Walt.  You can infer by watching this scene that Samantha has always been very open and comfortable with her body and sexuality.  O’Donnell defines enigma to be “a question about narrative development.”  One of the many enigmas of Sex and the City is trying to understand Samantha’s overly sexualized behavior. Meeting Samantha is the second season of The Carrie Diaries helps answers these questions.

The demographics of The Carries Diaries were between the ages of eighteen and forty nine. This show appealed to younger audiences due to the storyline. Carrie was a fashionable young girl who was learning new things about herself which is something younger viewers can relate to. This show also appealed to an older audience because they can relate to some of the situations such as Carrie father trying to raise two girls on his own after losing his wife. I think this show generally attracts die hard fans of Sex in the City who cannot get enough.

Although this series is considered a prequel of Sex in the City it is not necessary that you have to watch it in order to understand it. The Carrie Diaries has a whole new story line and new characters that were never previously introduced. This is a positive aspect of a prequel because not only does it attract people already aware of the character but also new people who have no connection to the character what so ever.

There were a few things that were mentioned in The Carrie Diaries that are considered not accurate if you are familiar with Sex and the City. In the series Sex in the City Carrie made it known that her father walked out on her and her mother when growing up. This is a completely different story that was portrayed on The Carrie Diaries.  Also, Carrie having a sister was never mentioned in the six season series so fans of the show may find it difficult to watch when first being introduced to Dorrit. Although there were some differences after watching a few episodes of the show you start to accept it and become involved with the new storyline. Yes, there were some differences but it should not stop you from watching the show. The Carrie Diaries did a good job showing how the characters evolved into the person they were in Sex in the City. Everyone should get “Carried” away and tune into The Carrie Diaries.