Go Girl, Give Us Nothing!: Why Hollywood Undervalues Original Storytelling
Why do studios keep pumping out sequels, reboots, and remakes of the same old IP?
After three seasons steeped in cringe, And Just Like That has been put out of its misery. Packaged as a spinoff of Sex and the City, the show followed Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) as she navigated her 50s. Debuting in December 2021, the series premiere opted for an immediate water cooler moment: Carrie’s husband, Mr. Big (Chris Noth), has a fatal heart attack while riding his Peloton. At first, this narrative decision seemed primed for rich storytelling. How would widowhood irrevocably change Carrie, and how would she process her grief? But that initial promise of introspection and nuance never materialized.
Instead, as the first season progressed, AJLT made narrative decisions that were completely antithetical to the character arcs in Sex and the City. Carrie built her career on writing frank explorations of sex, dating, and relationships. No topic was too taboo, from orgasms and masturbation to threesomes and fetishes. The AJLT version of Carrie has devolved to feed into society’s misogynistic shaming of women’s bodies. In the second episode, Carrie, now a podcaster, refuses to read an advertisement about a vaginal odor product. She’s too embarrassed to say the word “vagina.” Foregoing this ad leads to the podcast’s cancellation and the entire studio shutting down.
Hollywood’s aversion to original stories isn’t a bug; it’s a long-standing feature.