Okay folks. I did it. I bit the bullet and watched all of
“And Just like that” and I’m here to tell you all about it.
Remember how Sex and the City was just a great exploration of 4 extremely fabulous women,
that were very different from each other, who still managed to have beautiful deep friendships,
all while sipping manhattans and exploring their fascinating dating lives. Remember
how the dialogue was so clever, the men super sexy, and lessons so deep and poignant? Yeah?
Well they took all that out of the reboot.
And just like that they left us with just a whole lot of boring. How was it boring?
Okay, I’m going to tell why in full detail today. So this is your spoiler warning
for the complete season of And just like that. God that title does not fit well into
sentences. Who came up with it? Was it the first title pitched during the brainstorming meeting?
Okay, let’s start with the most obvious reason for why And Just like that was so boring - the tone.
Now, here’s spoiler number one, so if you’re still here and don’t want spoilers,
get out of here. Trust me, you don’t want to find out how Peleton accidentally triggered a major
drop in their share prices because of a misguided sponsorship. I’m not joking this really happened.
So for a show that kicks things off with a BIG death, it was clear that
maintaining the light hearted tone of Sex and the City would be impossible. But the result
was that the episodes were very… quiet, missing Carrie’s much needed rumination
on everything that she and her friends were going through.
Instead, there were plenty of scenes of Carrie texting people, going into her closet,
texting more people, going into her closet again, putting on rings, taking off rings,
putting on rings and then taking off rings, and putting big on a shelf with her shoes.
I understand that these were meant to be very emotional scenes,
capturing how lost carrie felt, but instead i just felt lost - lost of any interest.
And the little “And just like that” moments at the end of each episode, really didn’t help.
"And just like that have fun i was up for a dance" Okay That doesn’t really make sense. And DO NOT
tell me it’s poignant. It’s not! If you say it’s deep, you’re lying to yourself.
The second reason it’s really boring is because of the characters.
Carrie is fine. She’s in mourning so she’s just quiet a lot. but Miranda and Charlotte
seem like these infantile, flat versions of themselves. In the original series,
Charlotte was far more interesting and nuanced, than just an over eager prom queen. And Miranda,
was a stubborn, strong force to be reckoned with. And let’s not forget
the healthy dose of skepticism that she ate for breakfast every morning.
But now in And just like that. What happened to Miranda? No seriously,
why is she so smily and apologetic, and a pandering people pleaser?
This is the woman that could eat anyone alive if she wanted to,
and hold her corner like nobody’s business.
And that’s what made Steve such a great match for her - because where she was hard, and rigid,
he was understanding and placating. And together they were able to create a great partnership.
For this video, I went back and rewatched the two movies. I didn’t love them when I had first seen
them in theaters, but compared to the reboot, the movies were far better at capturing the tone and
the character journeys! While Steve and Miranda navigate some choppy waters, they come through,
and in the second movie there are very cute moments between them where in typical steve
fashion, he’s able to get miranda to step away from a professional situation that
was making her sick. He’s sexy and clearly madly in love with Miranda.
But in the reboot - what happened to Steve? - because hang on what happened to him?
So he’s geriatric Steve now? He can’t hear anyone talk. Probably can’t hear
himself either which is for the best because he sounds like this now.
"I have been dying to meet you you are the only person i know who intimidates her."
And this is sort of true for all the men in this show. They’re either dead, or boring.
Remember when the men on the show were hot and interesting,
even if they only came around for an episode? Now we have to deal with men like boring Peter,
who teaches the history of boring, at boring high.
Not to be confused with boring bachelor no. 2 who’s name i can’t remember and I
don’t care to look up because you guessed it, he’s boring.
What happened to the sexy men? There was one sexy male character and
one interesting flirtatious exchange that Seema got to partake in.
Some of the newer female characters have depth to them, but the men are just flat.
Their desires, their wants are easily written off as mansplaining.
"i went for the ball which you had literally just mansplained me to do. wait what now?"
Even when Andre shows his desire for a child, instead of being explored,
it’s just marginalized and written off as “programming”. As if his
desire doesn’t matter, especially if it contradicts what Nya wants.
Let’s talk about reason number 3 and that is that the story lines were a little immature.
Don’t get me wrong - there were plenty of deep topics the show brought forth - like
the struggle of alcoholism, or losing your husband and dealing with acceptance, like the
struggle between a husband and wife when the husband wants a child and the wife is not sure,
or unable to have one. Or a relationship feeling a little redundant and boring after years and
years. Difficult circumstances like children considering changing their gender and identity,
and the parents finding out from teachers.
And these were all very interesting themes, but they were all under explored. In fact,
they were just quickly swept under the rug after being brought up,
except for the safest one and that was Carrie’s bereavement.
Miranda’s alcoholism was a big deal, and she dropped it in an instant
by pouring out her supply, and that was it. Any desire to discuss the issue by
charlotte was just brushed aside by carrie as awkward and unnecessary.
Miranda’s singular, one, single attempt to work on her marriage was it. After
that she was ready to walk away from her most significant relationship to be with someone who
uses the fact that they smoke a lot of pot and that’s why they didn’t respond to a DM.
And why are you guys talking about DMs? You’re in your 50s! Why can’t you just call it messaging??
The immaturity of Miranda’s entire approach to her marriage, her willingness to just throw Steve
away, her willingness to just tell Che she loves them, despite not knowing anything about Che.
Even when Che says to Miranda - hey I can’t offer you anything traditional - the sceptic
in Miranda would normally ask - wait what does that mean? What exactly am I taking on here?
Instead, she just gushes and says it’s fine,
and is already mentally drawing up divorce papers that I’m sure she will DM Steve later.
The Steve storyline really upset a lot of people, with
Justice for Steve making the rounds on twitter.
I get it though, I’m sure the writers really wanted to pursue a non traditional relationship
on the show since diversity in the original show has been questioned in recent years.
And while Miranda seemed like the obvious answer - a better answer would have been
to use a new set of characters for that, and leave Miranda and Steve’s relationship intact
since viewers had fallen in love with the two of them over a very long time.
Definitely a big miscalculation on the writers part - but continuing this issue
of immaturity - Carrie’s entire conflict with Natasha, and the discovery that Big had left
his ex-wife some money was another instance of the show over emphasizing a non issue.
With 15+ years passed since Big and Natasha’s marriage ended,
I found it a little hard to believe that Natasha was still holding onto an intense
grudge and stabbing little carrie voodoo dolls in the privacy of her office.
Natasha is clearly a very successful woman,
and has a family - how is it that she’s not mature enough to answer an
email from a grieving widow who’s looking for an answer after her husband’s death.
And how come Carrie is not able to see that maybe
Big left Natasha money because he was feeling guilty. Instead,
she questions her entire marriage on the basis of this one thing and a photo of a dog.
And needs to hear FROM Natasha that Big loved her.
But honestly, this entire storyline pales in comparison to Carrie’s obsession with
her younger neighbor. And her desire to be cool. Isn’t that a little immature? In fact,
the girls had a much better perspective on this in their 30s.
But here we are again, 20 something years later, where carrie is craving the validation of a 20
something who is having public messy/half naked fights with her so called boyfriend.
Look I’m nitpicking here but let me ask an important question - which audience is the
show targeting? Is it the original audience from the Sex and the City show? Because those folks
are in their 50s, 40s and 30s now. And this immature rubbish is not interesting to them.
So is the target audience Gen Z? Because I can guarantee it that they
are not interested in hearing about the struggles with widowhood and menopause.
And yet, we get moments where Miranda is acting like a school girl,
chasing after Che rom-com style.
So taking a step away from And Just Like That… let’s talk about Sex and the City and what made
that show so successful and interesting. Aside from the swanky lifestyle, hunky men,
and clever writing - the real draw of the show was the exploration of varying viewpoints. The
four women were fascinatingly different, and the meat of each episode was their discussion
of their differences. Samantha was the sexually evolved confirmed bachelor, who often butted
heads with the conservative charlotte who was on the hunt for a fairytale love life.
Miranda was the ultra independent career focused pessimist, and Carrie was somewhere in between,
able to see all of their perspectives and use that to navigate her love life.
It’s these diverse view points that made women everywhere see themselves in these characters
since the characters were arguing issues, and concerns that were facing the modern woman.
Most episodes tackled important questions like Are we all sluts or Do women just want to be rescued?
And the women challenged each other - and the whole episode follows the arguments playing out
on screen - with finally a conclusion from Carrie that ultimately offered a transcendent view point.
A great example of this is the episode where charlotte is
finally tired of Samatha’s overly sexual talk.
Clip What I love
about this episode is that Charlotte walks away from the table convinced that Samatha
is wrong about how she views sex. And Samantha is convinced that Charlotte is too much of a prude.
As the episode plays out however, Charolette discovers her inner Samantha,
and where she needs to let loose and be more open to experiences, while Samantha
discovers that she has her own limits to what level of expression she can tolerate.
And let’s be honest it’s these conflicts and compromises that made the show
fascinating! Because it was talking about things that weren’t commonly talked about,
but still there was a realism in how friendships are maintained - and that
is by seeing other’s viewpoints and accepting where you are wrong.
But fast forward to 2022, where the cultural landscape has dictated that while genders and
sexual orientation can be fluid and non-binary, opinions need to be anything but that. It’s
quite black and white. You’re either with us or you’re the worst person that has ever existed.
Looking back on Sex and the city,
a lot of the opinions voiced on the show are now considered toxic.
The girls teasing Samantha for her weight gain in the movie is considered toxic.
Asking the question “are we all sluts” is considered toxic.
The result of the current woke lens on the original Sex and the City show is that
save for Samantha, all the other women’s opinions are unacceptable. Even Miranda,
who was an exemplary career oriented woman is now looked at as a corporate shill,
who is overly judgmental and harsh in her critique of other people’s behavior. Carrie is now looked
at as messy, self obsessed, and insecure. And charlotte, well, charlotte is apparently
the worst of them for being so conservative in her desires for a husband and children.
And while Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte have been downgraded in their standing,
Samantha has been elevated to god-like status for her forward thinking vision
and willingness to throw over any man to maintain her independence.
Unfortunately, for the show, she was very clearly missing in action from And Just Like that.
So no wonder the rest of the characters sound like flat and boring versions of themselves.
Culturally, they’re not really allowed an opinion. At least not without being burned at the stake.
So what does that translate to - well no conflict, lest we offend anyone.
Here’s a great example of this new no conflict philosophy.
Remember at the end of season six in Sex and the City, when Carrie abandoned her work,
her city, and even her voice to go be in Paris with the Russian?
Well she was thoroughly challenged by her good friend Miranda,
and came to see that Miranda was right, and that she had made a mistake.
Well what about when Miranda gives up an important internship - something
Nya worked hard to help her get - gives up her life, her friends,
to move across the country for someone who didn’t even give her a proper heads up.
When she tells her friends about her decision - they quickly move through
worry, annoyance, fear and straight to support - lest they be labeled as judgmental.
Sex and the City was about many things but truly it was about
friendship - and how friends can challenge you, push you, support you and love you. But that
crucial aspect of being challenged by the people around you now seems to have gone out of style.
Questioning people or challenging them to think through their decisions
is now looked at as undermining or even worse - controlling.
Miranda is drinking too much - We’re accepting of the fact that since the
current times can lead to people overindulging.
We don’t want to seem overly privileged and unsympathetic to people’s circumstances.
Miranda is leaving Steve for a person she barely knows - We are accepting of
extra marital affairs since we don’t want to judge someone’s relationship,
especially not from a privileged position.
The worst of this was when they broached the very awkward situation where Charlotte and
Harry find out about an important decision made by their daughter from the school administrators.
This is such a significant issue, but yet again the show is forced
to quickly sweep it under the rug lest they be labeled as bigoted.
And the men had to be boring. In the post me-too era, where Mr. Big has been cancelled,
there’s no room for sexy, interesting men - no they’re all on a leash - harmless,
pandering, unassuming. Apologizing for everything while the women dig in their heels.
What’s interesting is that Sex and the city had an episode called - Cover Girl - where
Samantha and Carrie have a falling out when Carrie witnesses Samantha getting
a little too friendly with the world wide express guy. The whole episode becomes an
exploration of what role the concept of judgment plays or should play day to day.
Carrie comes to realize that even if she would not participate in certain activities,
she should not judge and be more accepting of her friend, and Samantha realizes that the real
judgement she’s afraid is her own, and really she was projecting her insecurities onto Carrie.
But in a world where any sort of judgement, any sort of questioning of motivations
actions opinions is considered oppressive and controlling or worse - what is a show that became
successful for challenging people’s opinions and having loud personalities supposed to do?
I guess all that silence really does make sense now.