I recently watched a couple of episodes of the Sex and City reboot, And just like that. What a disappointment. I was in my 20s when I first watched Sex and City, I loved it. Cutting edge, different, in your face, total New York escapism. Four young (fish) women living in their fancy apartments. Talking about sex, wearing expensive shoes and designer clothes. Cool jobs and sexy men.
Now, I'm sat here in 2022, married, three children, life experiences, world travel, career in digital marketing; and I’m watching three old white ladies fumble around New York trying to stay relevant. It felt so contrived. Is this new series aimed at me? Or did I completely miss the brief? Sorry Carrie and pals, you did not read the room.
In 1998 Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, were influencers, before being an influencer was even a thing. In 2022, Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte feel completely irrelevant. (But maybe that's the point?)
one who exerts influence : a person who inspires or guides the actions of others.
Podcasting
Carrie's obsession with podcasting and staying hip felt overplayed and ridiculous. In New Zealand we'd call her a "try-hard". The way she was talking about her podcast you'd think it was a innovative new technology. Podcasting is not a new thing, it's been around for a while. In fact, podcasting was around in the 1980's, when it was called audioblogs. It began to start taking hold in 2004, ironically about the time Sex and City series called it a day.
Lockdown record collection
Lot's of tV and film now have pop up mentions of lockdown, and I can deal with that. But the out of touch conversation how they listened to a new record every day. Chosen from Mr Big's very extensive and what appeared to be very expensive collection. WTF? That didn't feel like a lockdown reality. I had to navigate my way through lockdown working from home, shopping for my parents, dropping food parcels at the gate and zoom calls. All while my husband and I managed three small children. Stressful to say the least.
Then there was the very obvious conversation about the breakdown of their friendship with Samantha. Who, stopped talking to all of them? All of them? Even though her issue was with Carrie. This felt very immature and unrealistic.
Death
Oh my god, just call an ambulance. He's still alive.
Growth
I was disappointed with the lack of character growth. Charlotte hadn't changed at all. Still self-obsessed, high maintenance, and concerned with appearance. Trying for force her daughter to wear clothes she didn't like.
Miranda and her dysfunctional relationship with Steve and her son, and now what felt like a dysfunctional social skills. How can a seasoned lawyer be so out of touch, fumbling and stumbling with her lecturer on multiple occasions.
"Am I the only one who remembers he was a prick to her?"
For me, the format isn't working. They need to grow up. There are bigger issues going on in the world, than which shoes should you choose, "pretty" dresses, and if you should dye your hair. It all felt like very surface topics, there was no substance.
Maybe I was expecting more, I thought perhaps the storyline would have grown up and gotten a little bit older, just like me and just like the characters. I wanted more thought provoking conversations, career development, pressure of being a parent, relationships, politics, menopause, health issues.
I tried to love the show, I really did. But I can't.
