Note: If you haven't seen the movie, and intend to, this has spoilers, so you are warned.
When I first heard of Sex and the City I said "What?! that sounds shallow" but my mom watched it all the time because of the cursing and humor, so to spend time with my mom I watched it too and it turned out to bring up some pretty good points, though I didn't agree with most of their actions, the issues were interesting. So when the movie came out I went to watch it with my mom a couple weeks ago and had a few thoughts about it.
So or those of you who haven't seen the movie or are unfamiliar with the show, Miranda meets Steve at a bar and uses him as a one night stand (she just likes him for sex). Steve, however, actually likes Miranda so they kind of date for a while and then she gets pregnant with his kid so they get married (this is still in the series). During the movie Miranda doesn't have sex with Steve, insisting that she's too busy (which is ironic because when they first met their relationship was entirely based on her wanting sex). So they go for 6 months without sex until Steve finally cracks and cheats on her in a one night stand. He feels so guilty about it that he tells Miranda and she immediately kicks him out and refuses to talk or even see him except for when they're trading off the baby.
I don't think that cheating is ever okay, but I do think that sometimes it's understandable. In this case I think that Miranda just used Steve as a toy instead of a human being, she played with him until she got bored and then put him in a closet. Like any living creature put in a closet, he essentially peed in the corner. Metaphorically speaking (I guess) any guy that would come into your house and pee on the carpet is wrong, but there is a difference between a guy who just chose not to use the toilet and the guy who was locked in the closet and had to pee in the corner. Relationships (especially marriage) is give and take, Miranda only took from the relationship, she never empathized and considered how Steve felt. Does this make it Miranda's fault that Steve cheated on her? No, Steve is still responsible for his own actions (which were still wrong), but because of the circumstances it could be fixed with just a little more understanding from Miranda. (Although it did work out in the end) I think that Miranda was too hard on Steve.
It is debatable whether sex is a required bodily function the way going to the bathroom is, but I think it's different for everyone. For some people I think that sex is somewhat necessary for their mental health. Other people would rather go play golf or go watch a movie than have sex. Based on the fact that (in this fictional series) Miranda and Steve's whole relationship started because they needed sex, I would say that Steve was the former. Although having a kid dampened Miranda's lust, it apparently didn't effect Steve (at least not as much as her). The thing is, that Miranda never considered Steve's needs, yet she always expected him to be acutely aware of hers. But in the end it all worked out, so yeah, this is pretty much just a rant. I guess there are different levels of cheating, just like there are different levels of love (at least in my book).
Which is worse, physical cheating or mental cheating? In other words is a one night stand better, worse, or the same as cheating of the mind (like if your spouse loved another person but never had sex with them). An example of mental cheating would be Ethan Frome. (I don't even know if mental cheating is the right word for it, but you know what I mean).
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