Well, looks like the Sex and the City revival is getting some diversity in front of the camera, as well, replacing Samantha Jones with three women of color. Yay?
It has been shared that in this upcoming HBO Max reboot of the popular, groundbreaking sitcom will have half of the forthcoming sequel series’ writing team (led by returning showrunner Michael Patrick King) composed of non-white writers.
TVLine has now reported that King and Co. “are dramatically expanding Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte’s social circle with roughly a half dozen new characters. And three of those newbies will be full-fledged series regulars and women of color.”
HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys noted that Parker and King “didn’t want to tell a story with all-white writers or an all-white cast” because “it’s not reflective of New York. So they are being very, very conscious about understanding that New York has to reflect the way New York looks today.”
Except what group of white women in their 50s just randomly becomes friends with a group of women of color after spending the majority of their lives in solidly white spaces? Especially when they are not like a gentrifying, privileged force.
It is hard to discuss this reboot and the changes it is attempting to make right now because it isn’t out yet, and on paper, the show is attempting to do the right things. Adding diverse writers, adding more BIPOC people, and all that is “good.” But at the risk of sounding like Angelica Schuyler, I’m just not satisfied with anything being said yet because it just feels like money, creativity, and talent that could be put into something else.
Of this trend of rebooting super successful television franchises from the ’90s and 2000s, how many of them have gone on to be as successful or beloved as the original? Even ones that are considered good, like Saved by the Bell, are trapped behind a streaming service that limits it from having the same sort of broad appeal that the originals have. The CW’s Charmed has its own fanbase, but it will never be as popular as the original Charmed if only because, numbers-wise, the CW just doesn’t pull the same way it used to.
With a few exceptions, most of these continuations range from okay to almost running the legacy into the ground.
I just want this reboot to be okay and I don’t want it to suddenly become something it wasn’t because they are trying to be “modern.” That has been exhausting to watch in a lot of reactive series. I’m going to just cross my fingers and hope that these new female characters fit in organically into the story and that Aiden doesn’t end up with Carrie.
Please goddess no.
Also praying they cast darker-skinned WOC.
(via Jezebel, image: HBO)
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Published: May 5, 2021 04:13 pm