Formative Performances: Cynthia Nixon in “Sex and the City”

[Women’s History Month, Day 28]

Between Golden Girls and Girls, there was Sex and the City. I have not written about Girls in this Women’s History Month series because I think everyone knows how I feel about that show by now, and even though I like Zosia Mamet as Shoshana, she’s not influential enough to me to include in my Women’s History Month posts. Golden Girls is a show that everyone tells me is amazing, and I believe them, but I somehow have gone through life without being a Golden Girls fan, and even though I fully intend on becoming a Golden Girls fan sometime in my life, I haven’t seen enough to write about the show yet.

Reruns of Sex and the City, on the other hand, were a staple during my college years. I liked Charlotte and Samantha, I…tolerated Carrie (but liked Sarah Jessica Parker’s acting), and I loved Miranda. Witty and smart, sarcastic and brittle, with a bigger heart than she ever admitted to having, Miranda was the only character I loved on that show.

The following clip is one of the few from Sex and the City that moves me every time I see it. I can’t even care that the bra saleswoman is a little too pushy, because the result – Miranda breaking down in front of a stranger and finding comfort from the same person – is just the best. Cynthia Nixon rocks.