xx The conversat ion t akes place in a hospit al. The participant s are Carrie
and Harry; Charlot t e’s husband. They are friends and t hey know each ot her. Charlot t e has just given birt h t o her child. Carrie com es and congrat ulat es t hem.
When Carrie is about t o go, Harry says som et hing t o her. He says t hat Big asked him t o ask Carrie t o call Big. Carrie is am azed. She ut t ers a com plaint t o him .
She st ill feels m ad at Big for w hat he did; cancelling t he w edding. In t his exam ple, t he hint st rat egy is used. In t his st rat egy, t he speaker
m ay or m ay not m ent ion t he com plainable direct ly t o t he hearer. Carrie ut t ers a com plaint because she st ill feels m ad at Big for cancelling t heir wedding. She
expresses his dislike using No Explicit Reproach strategy or Hint strategy. She
does not direct ly say t hat w hat Big has request ed t o her t hrough Harry is bad. She only expresses her disappoint m ent and indicat es t hat she is act ually st ill
m ad at Big. This st rat egy can be used t o prepare for m ore forceful st rat egies.
2. Expression of Annoyance or Disapproval Complaining Strategy
M IRANDA : How oft en do you guys have sex?
CHARLOTTE : M iranda please.
M IRANDA : What ?
M IRANDA : She’s t hree, she doesn’t know w hat it m eans. I’m fort y- one
and I st ill don’t know w hat it m eans. CHARLOTTE
: I know , but she’s repeat ing everyt hing. SAM ANTHA
: If I knew the girl talk w as going to be on “lock dow n, I w ouldn’t have flown tw o thousand miles
. CHARLOTTE
: No, w e can t alk, let ’s just not use t hat w ord.
M IRANDA : Fine. How oft en do you guys...
xxi CARRIE :... “ Color” ?
CHARLOTTE : Thank-you.
The conversat ion t akes place in a coffee shop. The part icipant s are M iranda, Charlot t e, Sam ant ha, and Carrie. They have t heir breakfast . Lily,
Charlot t e’s daught er is w it h t hem coloring a book. M iranda asks a quest ion t o her friends about how oft en t hey have sex. Charlot t e w ho is afraid of her lit t le
daught er’s developm ent asks M iranda t o avoid say t he w ord “ sex” . Hearing Charlot t e’s request t o M iranda, Sam ant ha feels annoyed. She com plains t o her.
Charlot t e get s shocked w hen she hears M iranda says t he w ord “ sex” in front of her daught er. She asks M iranda t o avoid using t he w ord. Sam ant ha
feels annoyed and com plains using Annoying strategy of complaining. In t his
st rat egy she does not say t hat Charlot t e is guilt y for prohibit ing t hem t o discuss about t heir sex life. But she says her disappoint m ent t ow ards Charlot t e’s
request . This st rat egy is m ore direct t han t he previous.
3.
Accusation Complaining Strategy
CARRIE : Right, and...well, Big and I decided to get married.
SAMANTHA : Really? CARRIE
: Yes. SAMANTHA : That’s great.
CARRIE
: You sounded more excited about the Botox.
SAMANTHA : Well, honey I am excited for you but you know me... I don’t really believe in marriage....Botox on the other hand
That works every time. SAMANTHA : Honey, I’ve got to go. We can catch up when I’m in town
next week.
xxii The conversat ion occurs in t he phone. The part icipant s are Carrie and
Sam ant ha. Sam ant ha is in her office w hile Carrie is in a bout ique. Carrie calls Sam ant ha and t ells her t hat she w ill be m arried. Samant ha is shocked w it h t he
new s. She responds it plainly. Carrie t hen com plains t o her.
The t hird exam ple show s t he Accusation strategy. Carrie ut t ers a
com plaint t hat Sam ant ha does not give her any excit em ent at all at her m arriage plan. This kind of st rat egy is m ore powerful t han t he previous
st rat egy. From t he exam ples above, it can be seen t hat t here are m any different
com plaining act s found in t he dialogue of t he film . Those com plaining act s are classified int o som e kinds of st rat egies. Besides, t he analysis of com plaining act s relat es m uch
w it h responses of t he hearers w hich have cert ain t ypes and t he reasons. Therefore, t he researcher is int erest ed t o analyze t he com plaining responses used by t he charact ers in
t he dialogue of t he film ent it led “ Sex and t he Cit y” . Therefore, t he t it le of t his research
is AN ANALYSIS OF COM PLAINING RESPONSES USED BY THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM ENTITLED SEX AND THE CITY A Socio- Pragmatics Approach
B. Problem statements
