WHEN did we all become such angry, frothing-at-the-mouth TV critics? Or rather: when did everyone start getting their underpants in a twist and forget that sometimes telly is merely about entertainment and escapism, nothing more, nothing less?
It is something I have been acutely aware of while watching the debut series of Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That … in recent weeks.
Viewed through the modern gaze, the original run of Sex and the City has rightly come in for a lot of flak for being too white, too heterosexual, too privileged. Much of that criticism is spot-on – yet, by the same token, it is always easy to censure with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
The comedy drama is among a glut of late 1990s and early noughties TV offerings – alongside Friends and Seinfeld – that haven't aged particularly well. What was seen as edgy and boundary-pushing back then, now feels cringy and out-of-touch.
When making And Just Like That … the show's creators have attempted to forge a new path by actively addressing issues regarding diversity, sexuality and gender identity head-on. The upshot? It has been widely pilloried for being too "woke". Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
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That isn't to say the reboot hasn't got some things terribly wrong. Such as the episode where Carrie – played by Sarah Jessica Parker – is invited to attend Diwali festivities and her decision to wear a traditional Indian lehenga (bizarrely described as a "sari" in the show) is clumsily explained away as "cultural appreciation" not "cultural appropriation".
And just like that … we are back in the 1990s where ethnicity was a punchline to bad jokes. Heads should roll in the writers' room. That isn't clever.
However, there are some gripes and grumbles about the series that do feel disingenuous. Not least the raised hackles among those who claim it lacks realism or that the plot has diverged in a direction that seems unfaithful to the original story arc.
Yes, it is outlandish and exaggerated and frothy and a bit slapstick daft in bits, but, ultimately, And Just Like That … does what it promises on the tin and provides the much-needed wit and vim and escapism that all decent telly should.
So, if there's a scene, like the one where a post-hip replacement Carrie wets the bed because her friend Miranda, rather than playing nurse, is getting hot and heavy with a love interest in the kitchen, it is perfectly fine to crack a smile.
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That's the idea. It is meant to be funny. The show is airing on Sky Comedy not Sky Documentaries. This isn't gritty, fly-on-the-wall reality. Shake it off. Allow yourself a giggle.
What happened to the notion of being able to cheerily suspend disbelief and simply allow ourselves to be entertained for half an hour? When did life become a steely-eyed exercise about finding flaws and languishing in soul-sapping negativity rather than seeking enjoyment?
Laughter is still the best medicine. It does no harm to remember that.
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