Shortly before the end of the TV run of my beloved Sex and the City, I was discussing the show with a friend of my mother’s, a smug yuppie then obsessed with getting her son into Harvard.
With the odd air of triumph that comes from crushing someone else’s fantasy, she explained, “They’re too old.” What she meant was: They can’t be running around sleeping with strangers anymore, drinking until 3 a.m., baring their midriffs.
Filming is due to start any day now on And Just Like That…, an upcoming 10-episode run that reunites most of the cast with showrunner Michael Patrick King for Carrie’s fresh take on a brave new world.
But looking back, I’m shocked by how casually the purportedly queer-friendly show threw trans and bi characters under the bus when it wasn’t using gay characters as props or punch lines.
Sex and the City’s most memorable moments may have been the frothy, flirty sexual escapades, the hot clubs, the on-trend workout classes, and the to-die-for footwear, but what animated the series from the start was the specter of obsolescence.
Because of the intense pressure to “settle down” and reproduce, the unmarried woman was assumed to be in a state of rebellion, even if all she wanted was that exact domestic fantasy.
One of the most beautiful things about Sex and the City was that it was an act of defiance against this idea of what a woman could be.
The rift between Kim Cattrall and the show stretches all the way back to SATC’s run on HBO, when Cattrall reportedly felt she deserved more money for her role.
If Sex and the City crossed any boundaries or broke any barriers, it used Samantha to do it while the other characters looked on dumbfounded: She dated a woman, fell for a Black man, got Botox, sneered at marriage, complained about children, and most importantly, lived like a horny teenager well into her 40s, even through the breast cancer treatment she got in the last season.
Maybe Cattrall’s absence will be explained away by suggesting that Samantha died in the intervening decades? If And Just Like That… can’t have her, I hope it will have her spirit.
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