Since we last caught up a lot has happened.
Where do I start?
There's been so much confusion that it appears "New Normal" has been put in the miscellaneous box with that COVIDSafe app we all signed on to, then had no idea what its role was, apart from making everyone crazy mad that the gazillions spent on creating it could have been thrown at a gazillion other issues. I was going to list a few suggestions that kept springing to mind as I was trying to work out whether I would spend a week's wage on a piece of steak or half a tank of petrol, but I could feel my blood pressure soaring as high as recent prices.
Thank god I've had something to distract me. I've been watching Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte in And Just Like That.
Getting this Sex and the City reboot up and running was looking dubious when Kim Cattrall took Samantha out of the equation. But I'm not missing the character, thanks to some new women, namely Seema, who has sass, style, and a side-eye that would slay a dragon. She's divine.
I gotta say, it's hard to enjoy a bit of escapism entertainment these days if you engage in social media.
The online wall of sound and fury has turned life into a replay of high school when everything you did, watched, said, and listened to was judged.
Online chatter is easily ignored until it is adopted by a mob who claim the top floor of the moral skyscraper and, like a body corporate, start issuing "cease and desist" notices. And just like that, some people who may have been enjoying a show or movie are second-guessing whether it's OK.
Well, hold on to your Manolos, because here's my chatter on a few criticisms of AJLT.
The stars look too old. Compared with what? When the original series started about 25 years ago? Apparently there are women who are over 50 on TV these days. Some are the subjects of successful series. In AJLT's world these women make mistakes, do reckless things and have ditched "sorry" as their default reaction. They also have sex, they drink, smoke, and some don't have (or want) children. How strange.
Chris Nothsexual assault allegations. Thanks to Big's over-zealous workout on a Peloton bike, we don't have to deal with worrying about whether we should be watching a show where the actor who plays a central bloke may or may not be a dangerous sleazebag. Sexual assault is never OK. But if an entertainer's body of work is going to be "cancelled" because they have proved to be shady, unethical, a perverted grub, or a basic criminal, we aren't going to have much material left to enjoy. Imagine exploring the personal lives of past and present rock/pop gods (and the odd goddess)? Where would we start? Where would we end?
To be honest, because of the nature of the allegations against Noth, I'm finding it difficult to separate the actor from the character in this instance. I might have to put it in the Watch This Space shoebox.
A Holocaust 'joke'. It wasn't a joke about the Holocaust, it was a reaction to someone who's a guest in a Jewish household and shows himself to be a Holocaust denier. The scene's hilarious. I can't think of anyone I know who wouldn't have had the same reaction as the blindsided Anthony.
The series is too woke. It does seem to have scrambled to tick every major diversity box. I did find it strange that the original series didn't have more characters who weren't young, rich and white, considering that it is set in one of the world's quintessential melting pots. Che, a non-binary character, is copping a lot of heat. I don't have a strong opinion about them. Che's story line with Miranda is OK, but there are more engaging scenarios being played out on the show.
Che might eventually steal the limelight.
Time will tell.
And that's the thing. Shows like this need a good run to develop. I hate to think about all the sitcoms/series that could have really gone somewhere if they'd been allowed to find their feet. I hope the fabulousAJLT gets another run (in high heels).
I'm loving it.
deborah.richards@newcastleherald.com.au
Twitter: @RichMissDeb2000
