The cultural legacy of Sex and the City is still alive and well. The series not only revolutionized television with its unabashed approach to women’s love and sexual lives, but also redefined the concept of feminism in the 21st century. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha became icons, proving that women can be complex, independent and succeed in a big city like New York.
Although it also had to face a lot of criticism, something that And Just Like That…, the spin-off, has also suffered from. In this context, Cynthia Nixon, who plays lawyer Miranda Hobbes, has responded to all the critics of both series.
During his recent appearance at the Annual Drama League Awards, Nixon acknowledged to Page Six that, although it has fallen into oblivion, the original series did not get off to a good start: “I feel like ‘Sex and the City’ is now so ingrained in the memory and sentimentality, but people hated us at first.”
Additionally, Nixon has mentioned how the original series was criticized for its way of presenting female sexuality, even going so far as to use homophobic slurs. “They said over and over again: These aren’t really women, they’re gay men in disguise. Women don’t talk like that. “Women don’t talk about sex this way,” she explained.
In this sense, the actress has warned that the “passionate” reactions of fans have always been part of the Sex and the City phenomenon and that was not going to change with a new series. And, above all, whether to try to do the same as her mother.
One of the plots that has caused the most controversy in the new series is the inclusion of the non-binary character Che Díaz, played by the Mexican Sara Ramírez, to become Hobbes’ lover.
Along these same lines, Nixon has explained that And Just Like That… continues to challenge norms and provoke a healthy dialogue about the progress, or lack thereof, in society. “What’s great about And Just Like That… is that we keep pushing the boundaries. We are not going to do the same old things that were once shocking and that you have now become accustomed to,” she shared.
Ramírez herself, upon seeing that her character was not liked too much when it was introduced in 2022 to give more diversity to the series, assured The New York Times that she had to be strong in the face of all the hatred that came upon her and justified her arrival to the series: ”I am very proud of the representation we have created. We have built a character who is a human being, who is imperfect, who is complex, who is not here to be liked, who is not here to obtain anyone’s approval. “They are here to be themselves.”
