This article by author Naomi Wolf suggests that Carrie Bradshaw, the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City, became "feminism's foremost philosopher." But how can you take Ms. Wolf seriously?
It's not because Bradshaw is what we quaintly used to call a "fictional character" and thus has no philosophy not given her by writers, Ms. Parker and show producers (one of whom I went to college with).
Nor is it because this fictional character was a shoe-obsessed airhead who spent most of the show chasing after a man (Chris Noth's "Mr. Big") who, from what I hear, frequently treated her poorly.
No, it's far simpler than that. Second paragraph, first sentence. Ms. Wolf says the show "centred not around a couple," using that funny British spelling because this article appears in a British paper. It is impossible, of course, to center or centre around anything. You may orbit around something, you may revolve around something, you may circle around something or you may wander around something.
But you can only center on something. Remember, the center of a circle is the point that is equidistant from all points on the circle. That means it has to be one location, and that means it can't be "around" anything.
Just a former reporter's pet peeve. I feel better now.
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