So, I have to say that a guilty pleasure of mine is watching Sex And The City. My wife first got me into it years ago and before I knew it, I couldn’t get enough! With the arrival of the new season, I was keen to watch it and from the very first episode, it was interesting to see the writers playing out what appears to be one of the main characters, ‘Miranda’ with an addiction to alcohol. So far, we are on episode 3 and it hasn’t been made known to the other characters that she has an addiction and it also appears that Miranda is in denial about having an addiction. However, to anyone who has (or had) a problem with alcohol, there are some clear warning signs that have been displayed that highlight she does in fact have an addiction to alcohol. I wanted to explore some of the themes they are raising in this blog.

# Warning sign 1 – Early arrival at a bar

In one scene, Miranda is on her way to a meeting and as she gets off the subway, she walks past a bar and goes straight in. Upon sitting down, she orders a drink to be informed that alcohol isn’t served until 11am. She decides to wait as it is already 10:45am, so 15 minutes isn’t a big deal to her. Drinking at this time of the day is a clear warning sign that there is an alcohol addiction present where she can’t start the first part of her day without having some alcohol. Furthermore, her character doesn’t show any sign of shock or embarrassment that she is too early for the bar to even serve her a drink.

# Warning sign 2 – Piano playing

There is a scene where Miranda and the other main cast attend an event where Charlotte’s daughter is playing the piano. Miranda pulls a bottle of wine from her bag and starts to pour herself a drink and anyone else who decides they would like one. Not only is this environment not a place you would expect alcohol to be served, but she also had the foresight to bring her own bottle as she likely knew there would be nowhere for her to easily obtain alcohol.

# Warning sign 3 – The Funeral

This could be a spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t started watching it yet, so I won’t give any major details away. However, there is a funeral that Miranda attends and she is the first one to the bar area for a drink before the funeral has taken place. The staff inform her that the bar isn’t open to guests until after the service, however, she insists and they do serve her a drink. She also expresses the urgency of being served and it is likely that she is trying to secret away her drinking from her husband and friends who are also present at the funeral.

# Warning sign 4 – The Restaurant

Whilst Miranda and her friends are sitting and enjoying a meal, there is a brief scene where she orders more alcohol from the waiter. Nothing too telling in that on its own. However, within the space of 2 minutes from the waiter not having returned yet with her order, she is impatiently looking around and asking where the waiter could have got to with her drink.

# Warning Sign 5 – The Bag

Whilst Miranda is in a coffee shop with Charlotte, Miranda goes to the counter to order some food. Charlotte asks her if she has a charger and Miranda says to check her bag. Upon doing so, Charlotte discovers 3 mini bottles of alcohol which are all empty. Another sign of a drinking problem with having a secretive pouch in her bag with hidden empty bottles of booze.

At the time of writing this blog, we are only at episode 3 of the new season, however, it is clear to me that they are building Miranda’s character up to having an alcohol addiction and something that she appears to not realise herself. Right from early on I realised this was where they were going as some of the actions of Miranda are characteristics I have recognised in myself when I was heavily drinking. Especially the secretiveness and the impatience along with ensuring that I always had alcohol at hand if I knew I would be somewhere where alcohol would not be readily available.

I do think it is a great that Sex And The City are causing awareness to such an important issue. Especially if it makes viewers sit back and look at their own drinking behaviours if they realise they are not too dissimilar to Miranda and the warning signs she is displaying of an addiction. I knew when I first started watching it that I wanted to write a blog on it. I would also love to hear from you in the comments section below. Have you watched it? If so, how well do you think they are portraying addiction so far? If you haven’t watched it but you are concerned about your drinking or that of someone close to you, then do any of the warning signs above resonate with you? Please do get in touch as I would love to hear from you.