Let me just start off by saying that I'm a massive, ride-or-die Sex and the City fan. I've seen every episode (and both movies) multiple times, I can recite exact dialogue, and I still haven't gotten over Post-It-Gate, tbh.
That being said, I'll be the first to admit that as great as the show is, some aspects haven't aged all that well. Particularly, its classicism, toxic relationships, slut-shaming, and stereotypical minority and LGBTQ characters, to name a few.
But, one thing that stands out is the show's complete lack of diversity, especially since it took place in such a metropolitan area as NYC.
It occurs to me that Napoleon Dynamite, a film set in rural Idaho, may have had more racial diversity in it than Sex and the City, a movie set in NYC.
Carrie Bradshaw being asked about diversity in SATC
I’m on season 2 episode 12 and I don’t think I’ve seen any black people. Not even in the background....in New York??? #SATC
Ahhh the 90s - when diversity meant adding a redhead to a blonde-blonde-brunette trio #SATC
Throughout the show's entirety, there were only two diverse characters featured in more than one episode: Robert Leeds (played by Blair Underwood) who dated Miranda, and Maria Diega Reyes (played by Sônia Braga) who dated Samantha.
Well, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Darren Star — the show's creator — addressed the lack of diversity throughout the series, admitting, “That's the one thing I probably would have liked to have done differently."
“Hopefully it transcended that, but looking back, wow, that would have been another way to make it feel more groundbreaking.”
“The show is very much a product of its time and I think the show is a time capsule. You can only think about shows as representing the time that they are being made."
“TV has evolved in being much more inclusive and I think that people do now think about series that way,” he concluded.
In recent years, some of the show's stars have spoken out on the issue as well. In 2018, Sarah Jessica Parker told THR that "it would be certainly interesting to see four diverse women experiencing NYC their way."
And in 2017, Kim Cattrall — who refused to do a third film, causing a ton of cast drama — suggested the show recast her character Samantha with a woman of color.
"It’s a great part. I played it past the finish line and then some, and I loved it," she said in an interview with Piers Morgan. "Another actress should play it — maybe they could make it an African-American Samantha Jones or a Hispanic Samantha Jones.”
Welp, I love SATC and always will, but hopefully it can be a lesson to future shows because #representationmatters!
