We Don’t Want a Sex and the City Revival—Especially One Without Samatha
Sex and the City is apparently being looked at for a limited series revival for HBO Max, according to rumors shared by Page Six. My response to this news is:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Sex and the City, the iconic HBO series that told the stories of Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York, aired from 1998 to 2004. It was, for all its flaws, a big deal when it came out, as it provided some frank conversations about female sexuality and relationships, but it also gave a gilded and wish-fulfilling look at New York City that young people are still unpacking all these years later.
With these rumors, it has been said that while Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie), Kristin Davis (Charlotte), and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) would return for this continuation, but not Kim Cattrall. Cattrall, who played Samatha Jones, has long said that she is over the Sex and the City franchise and is not interested in a third movie, and I’m sure even less in a limited series. And she is absolutely correct.
As far as I’m concerned, even if you are Team Aiden (which I get, but did Carrie deserve him? No), Sex and the City (the series) ended perfectly. Everyone ended up growing into a better place, except Carrie, because she’s, well, Carrie, and the movies only served to regress everyone’s stories by adding in silly conflicts that only spat in the face of the final season.
Not to mention Sex and the City has not lost relevance. It is still the subject of think pieces, a huge part of pop culture film analysis, and memed endlessly online. There is literally nothing a revival could do that would improve upon the status of the show. In fact, all it could do is either harm the series, be “surprisingly okay,” or serve to highlight just how dated the original series is—which, let’s be clear, it is.
For a sex writer, Carrie is freaked out by bisexuality and herself deals with a lot of internalized issues that serve to create stressors in her own couplings. The transphobic language, the lack of diversity … it goes on and on, but people have gritted their teeth and focused on the good because it is a product of its time. So, let it stay there.
Sex and the City isn’t “nostalgic” for me. I watched it for the first time a few years ago, and I truly fell in love with the story and the characters, despite its issues. It became a love language among my friend group who all watched the show, and even now, we can reference episodes and talk about it for hours. It is okay to let the series end because, let’s face it, they had two chances to continue it already, and they failed miserably.
(via Page Six, image: HBO)
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