How did the series endear itself to Generation Z?

More than two decades after its debut, “Sex and the City” continues to be a cultural phenomenon, sparking new interest, especially among Generation Z, now that it has arrived in the Netflix catalog.

Released in 1998, “Sex and the City” revolutionized the way television series portrayed women and their relationships. Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, is a journalist who openly discusses the love and sexual lives of women in New York, challenging the norms of the time with frank discourse on topics considered taboo.

However, it has been interesting to observe how many people who were not even born at the time the series began appearing on TV, now watch it with a certain revisionism of problematic content – disregarding, in a way, the context of the moment of its creation .

With that in mind, I decided to rewatch the first season with new eyes and understand what happens between the excitement of the new generation and the nostalgia of the last generation.

Episode 1: An Introduction to Carrie’s Life

In the first episode, we are introduced to Carrie Bradshaw, a journalist who writes about the complexities of being a single woman in New York in the late 1990s. The series begins with a bold narrative about sex and relationships, an approach that was revolutionary for the era. What draws the most attention is the unconventional presentation of the characters, especially the male ones, who are portrayed through common societal stereotypes.

The narrative is also very exciting, making it seem like we are watching Carrie’s column come to life on screen, complete with interviews, analyzes and the protagonist’s personal opinions.

Episode 2: Beauty Standards and Self-Image

The second episode introduces the “modelerengos”, men who are only interested in women who meet a strict beauty standard. This episode highlights the destructive influence of media aesthetic standards on female self-esteem, and reveals how even the protagonists, considered outside the standards of the time, defy these norms.

Of course, there are problematic issues, such as the character who appears in this very episode just to talk about the sexual relations he filmed without consent and is not even questioned – but, again, it is something that makes us reflect on how we move forward as a society in portraying certain behaviors. in fiction and audiovisual in general.

Episode 3: The Difference Between Single and Married

In the third episode, Carrie begins a column exploring how single women are viewed and treated differently from married women, both in social and family settings. The episode deepens the discussion about the stigma surrounding single women and how it affects their social interactions and perceptions of themselves.

Here we begin to notice more incisive comments about women’s dilemmas at the turn of the millennium. Although some of his narratives are considered dated or less progressive by today’s standards, it is essential to recognize the role he played in bringing topics that were rarely discussed openly to the general public.

For this matter, it is not necessary to rewatch the entire season to understand how the work offers a valuable social overview of what it was like to be a woman in the 1990s and early 2000s, at a time when many of the debates about gender that are common today they were just getting started.

Sex and the City questioned standards, paved the way for new forms of dialogue about femininity, and helped shape current conversations about gender equality and sexuality.

It’s worth rewatching the series today as a starting point for important discussions about how the media and its representations of female imagination influence social expectations. Sometimes something there can seem dated, but in art that’s often the idea: to talk about a generation and encapsulate it in an episodic format.