And so … it’s been 17 years since we said goodbye to Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia nixon), Charlotte (Kristin davis), Samantha (Kim cattrall) and HBO’s version of New York on the hit series Sex and the city. Throughout its 94 episodes, the show made groundbreaking television while championing a wide variety of female themes that today sound very outdated in the television world, such as “Can a woman prioritize her career? “ Y “Does being single at 30 say something about you? “
We cannot forget or ignore the impact that Sex and the city on culture, normalizing women by talking and having sex weekly (or daily), just as men were “allowed” to do long before that. On top of that, she still had a lot of layers, reminding us viewers that women can be funny, horny, shallow, critical, great friends, great professionals, fairytale princesses… you name it.
In essence, what Sex and the city What feminists have stood for is what feminists have been screaming at the top of their lungs for several decades: You cannot reduce a woman to her preferences, habits, or body parts. And, throughout its six seasons, the show made this point remarkably well. However, we cannot deny that HBO’s success was also a product of its time and, therefore, it failed to fully explore or outright ignore many problems that today it is mandatory to recognize in the universe of television.
So while Sex and the city He dictated the trends and transformed television, sequel series And so … you have a chance to catch up on the type of television you put in motion, if you only pay attention to a few important elements.
Diversity
It’s sad but true: Sex and the city it was a revolution of upper-class white female empowerment. The show’s New York only welcomes characters who can pay rent, buy expensive clothes, work hard, hit the gym, and still maintain an active social and sex life. Poor people? Is that even a thing?
But that’s not the worst part. Sex and the city She made it to the finish line without featuring a single relevant black woman as the main character or even as a supporting character. Instead, black characters were reduced to stereotypes like the angry black woman and hypersexualized black men with huge … er … personal allusions.
You could argue that Blair underwood, who played Miranda’s love interest in some episodes, is the exception to that rule, but come on. While white men were portrayed with a wide variety of shades and personalities, the show felt it was enough for this man to represent an entire community. This type of choice is the symbolism of textbooks; furthermore, it suggests that the only acceptable black men in that circle were the wealthy and successful, while struggling figures like Steve (David eigenberg) and Skipper (Ben weber) were admitted because they have a good heart and for white men that is enough.
The original series didn’t do much for the gay community either: Stanford Blatch (Willie garson), one of Carrie’s best friends, never got over the gay best friend trope and her biggest story only came years later in Sex and the City 2, when she married Anthony (Mario cantone), the only other male gay character in the series, Why? Why not. And transgender characters … ugh. The rendering was disrespectful at best, so let’s not even go there.
Is safe to say that And so … will do its best to repair at least some of these past errors, if not all: Grey’s Anatomy alum Sara ramirez has already been confirmed to join the cast as a non-binary stand-up comedian. Not having diverse characters (especially in New York) is simply not acceptable right now, and hopefully Ramirez’s casting isn’t the show’s only attempt to address this.
A suitable return
In 2004, Sex and the city ended up pretty good. It’s true that some viewers were annoyed that, for a show that weighed so heavily on female independence, it put too much emphasis on stable relationships being the characters’ end goals. The movies didn’t help at all. And I don’t want to say anything. Weather Sex and the city it was a fun trip back in time to catch up with characters we already knew and loved, Sex and the City 2 it came out as a parody with one-dimensional fragments of what those characters once were. And if the movie version of Muslim women sounded judgmental in 2010, imagine now, eleven years later. Seriously, don’t see it again.
But what is worse is that, as relaxed as the first film and as abominable as the second, they had something in common: neither of them had anything to say. Considering the source material, how it influenced both the movies and television, and the years that had passed since the series ended, he felt like a screenwriter. Michael Patrick King He was more concerned with cramming an entire season into a two-hour movie than telling a true story. Both movies were full of episodic events that often didn’t connect, and while it’s fun to have multiple subplots across multiple episodes, in a movie this is just a waste of time.
So if in 2004 we were in a place where we felt grateful for what those women did and comfortable with saying goodbye, in the movies we would revisit them only to discover that they were precisely what the show was advocating against: women who are amazed. easily. by men and make them the center of their universe.
Now, in the age of shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, I can destroy you And in the wake of #MeToo, it feels good to bring back those who started it all (on cable) because Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte will definitely have a say in this. And then (I hope) we will get versions of these characters that resemble what we know about them and that will also match our expectations of where they would be in their lives now.
Sexuality
For a show about sex, Sex and the city Surprisingly, it did little to expand the conversation beyond direct regulation. For example, having multiple sexual partners was fine, but if those partners were both male and female, it suddenly became a problem. When Samantha started a relationship with another woman, her friends were extremely puzzled and confused about what her sexuality was supposed to be at the time. As progressive as it was, the series was still a product of its time, so at times it was almost ignorant on most aspects of sexuality.
Not that And so … you’ll have time to address all forms of sexuality (it’ll be ten 30-minute episodes after all), but if you’re at least willing to bring them to the table, you can feature asexual, pansexual, demisexual, and all of them. specters you can think of, like Samantha pointed out in 2000.
And that brings us to the greatest challenge for revival to overcome: Kim Cattrall, whose portrayal of Samantha Jones was widely regarded as the soul of the series, will not return for revival. This is not a surprise, as the actor has openly talked about “breaking up” with Samantha. But how is the show going to work around his absence? Maybe with big guest stars in each new episode? It seems like a good way to do it. Until And so … premieres, we can’t help but wonder.
Warner Bros. to produce at least 10 films exclusively for HBO Max in 2022
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