And Just Like That is an insult to Sex And The City fans – it’s boring, preachy and has totally lost its way
IT'S no secret that streaming has changed the entire landscape of TV.
In recent years we have seen reboots of all kinds of nostalgic and iconic shows in both the UK and US including, Waterloo Road, Gossip Girl, Saved By The Bell and Full House.
And while some of the reboots were excellent, others were frankly unwatchable.
Times and attitudes may have changed, but the latest fan favourite show to fall victim to TV bosses' virtue signalling is Sex And The City.
It may not have set out to be progressive in the 90s, however it’s undeniable that the comedy series was absolutely groundbreaking in it's approach to women's sexual issues.
The characters of Carrie (Sarah Jessica-Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) were beloved for each of their different qualities and the show soon gained a cult following.
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Viewers loved the show as it unflinchingly followed the characters' navigating single life in New York City. It was smart, funny, and often very graphic.
We loved watching Samantha Jones saying she was a "Try-sexual" as she playfully declared she would “try anything” and Miranda Hobbes pretending to be an airline stewardess, just so she could get a date to Charlotte York's first wedding.
On that note, we loved seeing the Park Avenue housewife struggle against her traditional mother-in-law. As for Carrie Bradshaw - she was messy, wrecked an unhappy home, navigated dating a man who was bisexual and struggled to grasp the concept of what makes a healthy relationship, all while writing (and narrating) a sex column for a newspaper.
What we have now in And Just Like That is nothing short of an abomination.
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Sex talk at the cafe has been replaced by Miranda barely knowing what to say for fear of offending.
Funny moments have been replaced by lessons about progressive issues, as though the writers have taken it upon themselves to educate an unsuspecting audience.
Indeed, in the first series alone we saw the previously confident attorney Miranda not knowing what to say for fear of coming across as a "white saviour".
We saw Charlotte make forced references to modern technology, bizarrely quoting Demi Lovato lyrics to express her excitement over a Peleton bike, which according to the series, was a ground-breaking moment.
And as for Carrie, the former Sex columnist who had her face plastered on the side of a bus saying she knows good sex and ‘isn’t afraid to ask’ - well we had podcast host Che Diaz (the self-proclaimed queer non-binary Mexican Irish diva), lecture her that she needs more dialogue when it comes to sharing her sex life.
Che then asked the male co-host of the podcast to ask a question like: “What can I, as a straight cis-male, personally do to eradicate the harmful patriarchal system of the gender binary and compulsorily heterosexuality?” Eerm... what? Do people actually speak like this?
It’s not the fact that this kind of subject matter is included. There are plenty of shows (eg The Bold Type) that specifically tackle these issues and speak to their audience in a way that feels authentic.
It’s the fact that progressiveness has been crowbarred into this franchise in an apologetic bid to right the wrongs of its past - jokes that do not tow the woke line.
And it seems the fans might agree with me on this point, as one viewer noted: "The writing making me want to crawl up my wall and stay there #AJLT."
A second said: “Now characters have a hysterical edge and they don’t make sense. The writers are going woke at the expense of character development, and I like woke! #AJLT"
"#AJLT lost me with the overly woke storylines", exclaimed a third.
Whilst a fourth commented: "Like the movies resisted the And Just Like That series. Now watching it. And its just too woke for its own good. At every turn."
Perhaps most apt of all is this damning summary: "Carrie, Sex Columnist: Hates talking about sex. Charlotte, Gallerist: Hates hanging art in her home. Miranda, Attorney: Hates using her brain or wisdom."
Samantha eyeing up the visiting sailors for Fleet Week has turned into lessons about the dangers of objectification and is shoved down viewers' throats whether they like it or not.
What was a touching story of Charlotte converting to Judaism was used as a battering ram for her non-binary child Rock, complete with a ‘TheyMitzvah’ and, naturally, a trans rabbi.
It was all utterly nonsensical and (from a religious perspective) unheard of. As someone of Jewish Faith, I was almost offended as I felt traditions of my own religion were mocked purely for the sake of "moving with the times."
I so wanted the second series of the show to be better, I prayed that the writers would see the feedback of the viewers and take the show back to its roots, even if Samantha was not fully involved.
With the knowledge of a cameo further down the road by Kim Cattrall, the first scenes of the season looked promising as each character had their own graphic moment in a montage set to Elton John’s reworked track of Tiny Dancer with Britney Spears.
But just as I got a little hopeful, my dreams of a believable reboot were ruthlessly crushed when the character of Rock (formally known as Rose), declared: "I won’t be party to upholding the patriarchy and the hetero-normative standards of beauty."
All she was asked to do was to help lace up her mother’s corset as she got ready to attend the Met Gala.
The exaggerated references to modern culture are back as Carrie's producer and lover at one point declared: "It will take you from dry to wet a** p***y, in reference to the and Meghan Thee Stallion song.
Then there is Lilly (who has grown up from being an adopted baby who was rescued from China) singing about being trapped in a gilded cage, living a lie and confined on Park Avenue streets in a song titled, The Power of Privilege... yes, REALLY!
The massacre of Miranda also continues as her once ballsy, no-nonsense, straight-talking Brooklyn attitude is nowhere in sight. These days she's a whimpering mess.
This is the woman who would interrupt strangers' conversations to declare “he’s just not that into you,” and viewers fell in love with her sarcastic and sometimes cutting quips.
Those scenes have been replaced by conversations with an activist friend, who complained she needed to leave a save the planet event early due to a drama over a ‘microaggression’ at her kids' school.
Once again, the fans are in agreement. One said: "Why have they turned Miranda in to a clunky, insecure, naive & clingy character?
"Miranda was always strong willed, independent & ambitious in the original. This is all just so wrong!"
"How has @CynthiaNixon been persuaded to accept this neurotic, clingy, seriously dumb version of Miranda? And an even more stupid version of Carrie? Michael Patrick King is trolling his own characters now, right?" pondered a second.
A third fan noted: "In SATC she was always a powerhouse attorney, confident, smart, sarcastic, witty. Now she's a nervous, needy, wreck. Her character arc is simply horrid."
Meanwhile a fourth viewer commented: "So, so true! Turning Miranda, a previously strong, confident women (and lawyer) to an unrecognizable bowl of jelly. New #SATC so disappointing."
And a fifth added: “#AndJustLikeThat I couldn’t help but wonder why the writers decided to completely destroy the character of Miranda."
The problem is that these new stories are just not believable and it’s clear the fans don’t buy it.
They feel alienated by the fact that a once-funny sex obsessed show, has been totally re-directed to become an issues-first lecture that preaches moral life lessons to its audience.
Gone are the days of the laugh out loud moments like Miranda suffering in a tantric sex class. Instead we have Charlotte worrying that her dinner party is not 'diverse' enough.
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I’m not surprised that Kim Cattrall stayed away for so long - if I read that script, I would too! This is simply not the franchise that so many around the world grew to know and love.
And just like that … the legacy of a beloved show is ruined.
