‘And Just Like That’ Turns Miranda Into Kendi-Quoting Anti-Racist In ‘Sex And The City’ Sequel Series

No one knew quite what to expect from the highly-anticipated “Sex and the City” sequel series, “And Just Like That.” But anyone who’s been paying attention for the past few years must have known that the HBO Max series was destined to include woke messaging to update a show that’s been deemed “problematic” by modern standards.

The interesting detail about “And Just Like That,” however, is how the series addresses these new plot points. Instead of weaving leftist values into the storyline and making them seem natural, writers turned Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) into a total anti-racist wannabe. As the former lawyer tries to assimilate into her new role as a student at Columbia University, she makes a total fool of herself in part because the rules are so different now. 

Miranda’s shame-fest begins during her very first class at Columbia. After “misgendering” a fellow student, she admits to not recognizing her black teacher Dr. Nya Wallace (Karen Pittman) because of her braids. What follows is the most cringe-worthy speech in defense of her actions, where Miranda keeps saying the wrong things while attempting to justify her initial statement. And none of it even slightly resembles the confident, accomplished career woman from the original “Sex and the City” series. It’s almost like Miranda’s never seen a black person before.

Later, Miranda runs into her teacher attempting to get into a building without her ID. Even after embarrassing herself once before, Miranda leaps into action, subtly accusing the security card of being racist for refusing Dr. Wallace entry. But the professor chastises Miranda for getting involved.

“One of the important takeaways I got from ‘How to Be an Antiracist’ is if you see something, you have to speak on it. You have to call it out,” Miranda tells her prof.

“Well that’s very noble of you, even if a tad bit white savior complex, but the reality is you just inflamed a situation that was perfectly fine,” Dr. Wallace replies. 

“And Just Like That” writer Samantha Irby said during an interview with Deadline that the first two episodes of the new series “really lean into the uncomfortable conversations.” Apparently that means turning Miranda into a clueless “Karen” who can’t help quoting Critical Race Theory from Ibram X. Kendi.

Besides the racial themes, the new series introduces Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) new colleague Che Diaz (Sarah Ramirez), a “queer non-binary Mexican-Irish diva” podcaster with a clear agenda. At one point, Che says, “What can … a straight cis male personally do to eradicate the harmful patriarchal system of this gender binary compulsive heterosexuality?” with no trace of sarcasm. 

And once again this new, modern character is placed into the script to make the original “Sex and the City” ladies appear old and out-of-touch. When Carrie refuses to divulge to Che during a live broadcast if she masturbates, the podcast host becomes frustrated and says she needs to start sharing more graphic details of her sex life.

By the end of the episode, Carrie seems more willing to at least consider talking more openly about her masturbation habits. But this exchange is also introduced as a way to make the original “Sex and the City” ladies look incredibly clueless, which used to be Charlotte’s role to fill exclusively. 

There’s a good chance Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte will all get progressively more woke as the series progresses. But did we expect anything less?

“And Just Like That” airs Thursdays exclusively on HBO Max.