The sassy and candid mind behind the HBO series, "Sex and the City," Candace Bushnell, spoke last Thursday about her adventures as a wide-eyed, adventurous young adult living in New York City.
Bushnell created "Sex and the City" as a column for the New York Observer and was the Kennedy Political Union's first speaker of the year. "City" became one of the most risqu? and provocative television series on HBO, with clever and sexually charged dialogue, about the misadventures of four women in New York.
Every Sunday night for six seasons, "Sex and the City" entered the rooms of women and men of all ages and raised questions like "Are men in their twenties the new designer drug?," "Does a string of bad dates really equal one good one?," and "Are threesomes the new sexual frontier?"
True to form, Bushnell immediately broke the ice with a comment befitting for the storytelling ahead of sex and love, exclaiming the "microphone needs to be longer and bigger!"
She spoke about her childhood and quickly moved on to her disappointment of college life at Rice University, leaving soon after to New York City, full of ambition and dreams. She began as an aspiring actress but soon turned to writing freelance for a magazine called Beat, writing articles about Studio 54's nightlife. Her nights were spent partying at Studio 54 becoming familiar with the social scene and began the adventure of many relationships, monogamous and platonic, which later became the fuel for the stories of "Sex and the City."
In an animated voice, she expressively impersonated the many authoritative figures she encountered as a young writer before becoming reputable. She also imitated her real life "Samantha," with an accent, portraying her as the fashionable, sex-loving friend who would not think twice about sleeping around.
During the question and answer session, Bushnell reminded the audience that having a "Mr. Big," Bradshaw's true love, in our life is not always the best decision to make. Men and women need to love themselves first before getting involved with someone. In addition, Bushnell tried to convey to the girls in the audience that they "don't have to be an emotional mess" when it comes to having an ex-boyfriend. She suggested to just "be cool" with former flings instead of letting them affect their emotions.
KPU Director Emily Fuller said that she wanted to start the year with an unconventional speaker, different from the organization's typical roster of domestic and international political speakers. "I was looking for a fun speaker who could kick off the year in a different and entertaining way," Fuller said. "I thought she was a really fun person and obviously 'Sex and the City' is such a huge phenomenon and I knew she would turn out a huge crowd."
According to Fuller, about 450-500 people attended the event in the University Club, but only around 400 were able to get in. "The speech was great, she was really fabulous and she signed people's books and posters," Fuller said. "I only wish we were able to fit more people in the room"
