Eight Things That Happened When My Fake Son and I Watched AND JUST LIKE THAT

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Someone tweeted one day (sorry can’t recall the exact tweet/tweeter) that they hated the (largely bad) new Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That so much yet they were always eager for the next episode to come out. My Fake Son and I felt exactly the same way: it was terrible, but we watched every episode the instant it came out. (My Fake Son grew up watching the original with their “real” mom, who is my age, and has gone full QAnon.) These eight observations aren’t just about the show ITSELF but about HOW IT WAS FOR US.

1. In addition to liking me a lot, my Fake Son, who is queer, poly and non-binary, also looks at me as an old straight non-queer person who understands nothing. When the show began, I kept complaining about Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) and I think they thought I was hating on Che Diaz’s non-binaryness/queerness but I was like “No, I just can’t stand this storyline because it’s so forced also diverticulitis does not sound like dyke in any universe.” I really was nasty about ol’ Che Diaz and my Fake Son is not as online as I am so maybe they didn’t know everyone was mad about Che D not just old straight fake moms. In the end, my Fake Son and I came to agree that what was wrong with Che Diaz was shitty writing — if they were a comedian, why weren’t their jokes funny? Other people on the show were funny, sometimes, they couldn’t make the one comedian funny, sometimes? I also sent my Fake Son some Che Diaz memes to help us come together as a family.

2. My Fake Son and I both found Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) so cringey but it was worse for them than for me, every time Miranda came on the screen they looked as if they might stop breathing and just die right there before finishing the vegetarian meal I painstakingly created for them, my beloved Fake Son. While I was fully on their side I also felt quietly implicated in their dislike of Miranda because we are the same age, we are both white, tall, with gray hair. I developed a pretty on-the-spot imitation of Miranda that I would employ to entertain my Fake Son and I guess also to set myself apart from Miranda which is sexist and ageist but I gotta survive out here.

3. We agreed that Carrie’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) necklace stacks were amazing and I began to work on my necklace stacks to impress my Fake Son and it worked. I really do have to say that a lot of this show really missed the mark but Carrie’s necklaces knocked it out of the park every time, my Fake Son and I would re-watch for them alone.

4. There is a scene where Charlotte (Kristin Davis) who is straight, goes to her friend Anthony (Mario Cantone) who is gay, because she is worried about her child, who has changed their name from Rose to Rock and doesn’t want to be a girl. Basically Charlotte is freaking out because she thinks “My kid is a girl I want her to be a girl because that is what she is in my mind.” I wouldn’t say her reaction is the worst ever — she is not hateful or mean — but she is definitely attached to her child’s gender and whatever, she is your basic straight married person who is only slightly up on things. Anthony basically tells her not to worry about the situation too much, that Rock is a kid, Charlotte doesn’t have to do anything right now, that it’s no reason to panic and to give the kid space. I thought this was “what a 55 year old gay man would say to his 55 year old straight friend especially since his schtick as a comedian is being brusque and dismissive.” My Fake Son thought this was irresponsible of Anthony, and that he was just encouraging Charlotte to ignore her child’s needs and desires. I didn’t think that the idea was necessarily that you were supposed to think what Anthony said was the correct thing to say, only what he would say. I don’t think of things characters say and do as recommendations for proper behavior and I have to say it frustrates me when people do. I didn’t say anything to my Fake Son though, because I was afraid they would think I was like Miranda.

5. We agreed, easily, that a very disturbing part of the show was that every time a white person did something racist (or NOT non-racist, certainly) they were very quickly/readily either forgiven or told not to even worry about it by the non-white person involved. At times the project of the show (like I mean the entire reason it existed) almost seemed to be establishing that racist behaviors were always easily forgivable and/or not a big deal and/or “we are all just people!”

6. We both thought that when Miranda went off to Cleveland to surprise Che Diaz she’d find Che Diaz in bed with at least two people and were extremely disappointed when she did not.

7. One night watching the show we both were so crossfaded and I became convinced that the showrunners would reshoot the final episode with a twist ending that Mr. Big was a sexual predator just like Chris Noth, who played Big. I remained absolutely sure this was going to happen and couldn’t believe it when the season just ended with Carrie throwing Big’s ashes in the Seine. My Fake Son didn’t get that Carrie was in Paris for this exact purpose, they thought Carrie was just going out to dinner in an evening gown and said, “Wow, Carrie is really extra,” and I felt defensive of SJP, which proves I’m even worse than my Fake Son thinks on their worst day.

8. I groaned a lot during the first? Che/Miranda sex scene partly because I thought it was cringey like everything to do with these two and partly because who wants to watch a sex scene with their fake son. Then a few episodes later during a heterosexual coupling I muttered “why won’t she just show her tits.” My Fake Son was like “during the gay sex scene you were like “ew” and now in the straight scene you’re like “show her tits.” I was forced to explain my not also saying “ewww” during the straight sex scene was purely an oversight, my apologies, they were both gross and embarrassing to me. As for the tits part I merely meant it saddened me that actresses had to be so careful about showing normal body parts on television in America, not that I was merely frustrated that this actress was not giving me my HBO Plus $14.95 a month’s worth by denying me a look at their breasts. I think my Fake Son believed me. I don’t blame them for thinking the worst of me sometimes. It is the way of the world. That said, I will make sure to groan audibly during all sex scenes going forward as our relationship develops through more TV watching.
   
   I can’t wait to hear what my Fake Son’s “real” mom, the QAnoner, thought of this show.