Clapping back. More than 10 years after Sex and the City originally wrapped up on HBO, the And Just Like That revival was announced as a way to explore the main characters in the present day.
The series follows Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) as they figure out the next chapter of their lives in their 50s. Ahead of the show’s debut in December 2021, Parker called out the online hate that revolved around her appearance.
“Especially on social media. Everyone has something to say. ‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles,’” she explained during an interview with Vogue in November 2021. “It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly OK with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better,” she continued. “I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?”
The same conversations were happening on the HBO Max series when Miranda defends her updated look after Charlotte comments that “the gray [hair] ages you.” In response, the TV lawyer says, “No, you think the gray ages you, because if we are friends and I am this age, you can’t be whatever age you’re pretending to be.”
The character’s real-life counterpart praised the decision to have Miranda not return to her signature red hair.
“Michael Patrick King, who is our chief writer and director, he was like, ‘You know a lot of women during the pandemic, they couldn’t get out to the beauty parlor, and they decided to go gray and then they decided that they liked it. So, if it was going be one of the women, we think it would be Miranda,'” Nixon recalled during an episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan in December 2021.
Even though not every viewer was on board with the vision for And Just Like That, Parker previously shared what she missed most about playing Carrie.
“I love the friendships. I love the time that they have for their friendships. I don’t really [have that]. Most people don’t have time to meet that frequently for brunch or lunch. So, I’m envious,” the fashion designer exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2021. “I wish I could somehow integrate that into my life, but I think the thing that has always touched me the most is our relationships and how necessary they are — and that is certainly true in my life as well.”
Scroll down to see every response to the ageist And Just Like That criticism: