To not find Sex and the City actually that 'problematic'?

[whyorwellmatters]

It seems to be in vogue to take shows like Friends and SATC, and decide they're problematic by today's standards.

Currently rewatching season 1 of SATC, and have noticed nothing especially bad.

What's all the fuss about?

'Problematic' really is a buzzword, isn't it? So I wouldn't take it that seriously. Anything done in the past, that is viewed by today's standards, will have some element of being 'problematic'. Same with 20/30 years from now, some of the things we're currently doing/saying and the way we think now will have evolved to better/more, hopefully.

The main thing is that we all learn from the past and move on to do better. No need picking apart fictional stories (unless for lessons), no need recreating them either. Let them be what they were.

None of these shows are problematic if you look at them in the context that they began 20-30 years ago. I find it totally bonkers that people try to apply the storylines and Standards to today's world.

Friends uses homophobia as a punchline throughout all the series. It’s pretty dated now and would probably not use many of the same jokes if it were released now.

The second SATC film is pretttttttty racist if I remember correctly.

I liked both of these shows at the time and they’re good for a nostalgia watch but god only knows why anyone thinks bringing SATC back (and bringing it back without Samantha!) is a good idea. Leave it in the past.

I would have liked it to be more diverse and also Carrie was an awful friend but I still love it.

@NonagonInfinityOpensTheDoor

Middle aged?? The women in it or the viewers? MissDotty said middle CLASS not middled AGED.

It’s very dated and I would say a lot of things are very “problematic” today. The racial stereotyping of any character that wasn’t white! The way Charlotte goes from nice little wasp to push bolshy Jew, her entire personality wouldn’t change like that. But the trope that Jewish women are like that is still being pushed upon her for no reason. The bisexuality comments as PPs have said. . The “fabulous” gay bbfs only there to serve as some sort of fanboy for Carrie. Plus Carrie just being a generally vile person and the toxicity of a lot of her relationships being portrayed as normal.

If they carry on with the same lazy writing it won’t last long.

Yes SOMEBODY has already SAID that

I hated Carrie from Day 1. She just fawned over herself a lot and expected that from everyone, including the viewers. Nothing special to fawn over.

Loved Samantha's crassness, not something I'd like in real life but for entertainment purposes.

Liked Mr Big, not so much his character or worse, his relationship with Carrie but just...well, Chris Noth is a handsome man. That's all I have to say about him.

it's not problematic, it's just shit

Sorry @Missdotty, I have been putting off an eye test 😂

Urgh Season 1 is the worst OP...it gets sooo much better than that! I usually don't watch episodes earlier than S3 now, which is when it hits its stride.

I've seen them all thousands of times. S1 isn't bad?

I don't get why people hate Carrie so much!?

I don't think she was a shit friend, she loves her friends! And the times she was a shit friend - sending Aiden round the help Miranda or going on and on about Big - she was called out on it.

I feel like she just comes across as self-obsessed because the show is from her POV only.

It’s just people finding anything they can to be offended by. PC gone overboard. If you don’t like it don’t watch it.

@whyorwellmatters

Urgh Season 1 is the worst OP...it gets sooo much better than that! I usually don't watch episodes earlier than S3 now, which is when it hits its stride.

I've seen them all thousands of times. S1 isn't bad?

I just didn't like it stylistically and felt it was quite far away from what the series eventually became. Didn't like the whole talking to the camera thing.

Also hate the episode with the blatantly Australian woman whose supposedly English LOL.

I feel like she just comes across as self-obsessed because the show is from her POV only.

Exactly. I think they're all self obsessed at one point or another, just like all humans

*Also hate the episode with the blatantly Australian woman whose supposedly English LOL.

First episode!

I get what you mean, I quite like the unpolished-ness of the earlier seasons

@freddiesmoustache

Google Woke Charlotte

oh thank you - that's brilliant!

One of my favourite programmes. Never found it problematic or in any way offensive. However, when rewatching it recently I realised that Carrie really isn't a nice person. But then again, she was never my favourite, I just LOVED her style.

Oh to be in my 30s again instead of a menopausal 40 something 🤣

I'm planning on rewatching them all (even the second film) before the revamp comes out. I don't think it's problematic at all but I do choose not to be offended by things that I could easily be offended by. It's just a TV show🤷‍♀️

I'm rewatching some episodes on Comedy Central at the moment. Loved it when it first came out as a singleton in my late twenties and early thirties.
I remember I used to be insulted when people said I was just like Miranda, but now watching it she's the only one I'd go for a coffee with. As to why anyone wanted to go out with Carrie at all - on rewatching it's a total mystery - particularly Mr Big . I did shed a tear when Harry proposed to Charlotte though - that was a nice storyline.

I like Mark Kermode's review of SATC 2 :)

Jo

I was 20 when it was first on.

I thought it was a load of shit.

@JoBrodie

I like Mark Kermode's review of SATC 2 :)

Jo

Did you sign off you post?

*your

I wouldn't say problematic, but it's very much a show of its time and target demographics. I was a teenager when it first came out, and it was quickly one of my mother's shows (she had a thing about John Corbett), so it seemed outdated and 'old' to me even back then like most things I think of as "her shows".

Even now I'm "old" (about the same age my mother was then), I've seen a bit more, but I still don't click with it. It and a few other HBO shows around the same time fed into her ideas of gay and bisexual people, which others have already commented on - that made things very awkward after my sister outed me to her (I wasn't living with her at the time) and it still feels like my mother's humour and point of view rather than mine even though we're now very different ages.

@KevinTheBird

I don’t see it as problematic. It’s annoying though in that the main character who you’re supposed to relate to is the most narcissistic bimbo ever created. It wasn’t until I rewatched it a couple of years ago that I realised what an awful person she was.

I agree with this, it's a toss up between Carrie and Ally McBeal for the lead character whose show would improve the most if they weren't actually in it...

Ally McBeal was just awful. Carrie was at least good at her job.

But I hate Calista Flockhart on principle because she stole Harrison Ford from me.