The MacDougal Scottish touch in “Sex and the city”
Whether you’ve binged it, or just heard about it, Sex and the city is one of the most iconic series of all times. Dealing with life in New York, relationships and friendship, this series is one of the first ones that reduced the taboo factor on sex talks. With Carrie being a columnist who writes about her encounters with men, Miranda being the sarcastic independent woman, Samantha being highly sexual and embracing it and Charlotte as the hopeless romantic, this series has it all.
But if we take a step back from the main characters, this series has a lot of secondary ones that show us many other perspectives. One that caught our attention is Trey Macdougal. Trey is Charlotte’s husband, and although their marriage is short, his portrayal in the series is long enough to add a touch of multiculturalism to the show. Trey has Scottish roots, and there are a couple of episodes where you can actually learn from the representation on Scottish culture.
A Scottish wedding
In season 3, episode 12, we see Charlotte fulfilling her dream of getting married. Although she gets anxious about it, the wedding goes on. This is an episode where you can see many Scottish cultural references. From Trey’s matrimonial outfit that includes a kilt, to the song that’s playing as Charlotte walks down the aisle. “The Skye Boat Song” is a 1800 scottish folk song that was also featured in the Outlander, and it’s a great representation of the MacDougal scottish roots. To enforce the Scottish representation, we hear a couple of jokes about Trey’s outfit and we also hear a very strong Scottish accent when Samantha gets with Trey’s cousin. All in all, this episode definitely has cultural touches, although Scottish people might argue about their accuracy.
The Highland Dance
One season later, after we see some ups and downs in Trey and Charlotte’s wedding, we see the beginning of their end. In season 4, episode 12, Trey and Charlotte are talking about attending a traditional event called “The highland dance”. Not only does Trey explain the importance of this event, but we get to see some traditional outfits and parts of the dancing. We see the Scottish reference in Charlotte’s outfit as well, as she is wearing a plaid patterned dress. Everyone we see at this event is wearing the same plaid pattern. If you’re interested in Scottish cultural gifts, you should check them out here: https://www.gaelsong.com/prod_detail_list/scottish-gifts The highland dance together with the plaid pattern are two of the most well known cultural references of Scotland, so we love to see them in the show. Trey’s mother even gives Charlotte a history lesson about the Highland fling that Trey and his brothers are dancing.
