As a disclaimer, I’m not a fan of Sex and the City. I don’t hate the show or anything, but I’ve never watched a single episode before jotting down this article. Of course, I’ve checked out a couple just to get a feeling of the characters and world, namely Miranda Hobbes, but this article isn’t a stab at the show nor is it a review of the reboot. I understand the context of the Miranda Hobbes scene thus my focus is on that specific moment, not the other stories in that episode. You’ve likely heard about that infamously cringey scene involving Hobbes oddly spouting non-sense at the site of her Black professor, Nya Wallace. It’s a bad scene, there’s no other way around it. I looked to check if Miranda was any sort of racist and this moment made her character even stranger. I understand that Sex and the City didn’t particularly have strong supporting Black characters during its initial run, but it’s 2021. Do you mean to tell me that Miranda Hobbes has never seen a Black woman in a power position throughout her 50 plus years? Honestly, this scene would’ve still been cringe if it was played during the original run of the series. We’re not fresh off the slavery days. It’s nearly impossible for me to believe that this woman has not at least seen one Black professor. This is how being woke goes wrong. And I get that Miranda is a feminist. I’m not going to rant about that characteristic because it was already established in the previous incarnation of the series. However, this scene felt random and the episode, in general, feels like the writers were trying to correct an issue that was never a factor in the first place.
We get it, modern Hollywood feels bad for excluding Blacks, minorities, and the LGBTQIA community for so long and I’m generally happy that more diverse roles are opening up, but this isn’t the way to fix the mistakes from the past. Hollywood seems to be aggressively trying to make up for their past mistakes, but unfortunately, it’s coming off as cringey and bad. There’s no reason that this scene should happen in 2021. This is a woman in her mid 5o’s and she’s stunned over the notion that a Black professor is leading a class? Hollywood doesn’t have to keep trying to acknowledge that Black people exist. Can we just have great characters who happen to be Black, or minority, or even gay or lesbian? Omar Little isn’t a popular or memorable character because of his skin color. He’s a badass with a strict moral code who happens to be gay. The same thing with Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris. The guy is a corrupt douchebag who abuses his authority. That has nothing to do with him being Black. Even Aibileen from The Help is a good character that isn’t based off her race. She’s a good-hearted and strong woman dealing with a racist class of society. Yes, the color of her skin is what’s holding her back during this time period, but it doesn’t define who she is as a person.
Plus, that scene went against the overall character of Miranda. Again, I’m not some Sex and the City expert so I don’t know everything about Miranda Hobbes, but the general basis of who she is a fiery, ambitious, cynical, yet caring and loving person. I get that people grow and evolve as time passes by. It’s rare that someone in their 20’s is the exact same person in their 40’s or 50’s. However, there’s nothing about her not understanding Black people, or specifically Black women with braids. Nor are there any traces that she grew up in a world where they don’t exist. To randomly insert this scene just to show the diversity in And Just Like That… damages who she is as a character. She’s never had a cynical worldview on race (at least based on my research). Hollywood, you have to stop shoving your wokeism in our faces. As I previously mentioned, there’s nothing wrong with the show adding diversity into the mix. Our world is a colorful place filled with all walks of life and it’s great that movies and television want to reflect our growing society. But you don’t have to keep telling us that Black people exist. Or minorities. Or anyone from the LGBTQIA community. Focus on layered and nuanced characters who just happens to be Black, a minority, or a member of the LGBTQIA community.
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